www1.internetwire.com

LOS ANGELES, CA -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- 03/19/2003 -- Internet Wire, the most cost-effective distributor of company news, today announced a new line of products that reach major media outlets in Latin America, including local, national and regional newspapers, as well as all major broadcast stations and networks.

“We’re pleased to be adding this to our rapidly expanding product offerings,” said Jim McGovern, President & CEO of Internet Wire. “Latin American distribution is becoming more important to a growing number of our clients -- and we’re excited to be able to provide them with a great product at prices 20% to 30% below other U.S.-based newswires.”

Latin American distribution products include full translation into Spanish and/or Portuguese, and delivery methods consist of a combination of fax, email and FTP feeds. In addition to distribution to individual countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile or Mexico, iWire offers several Latin American packages:

- Latin America Completo -- Distribution to over 1,500 different
  media outlets in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
  Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
  Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay,
  Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Spanish and
  Portuguese translation included.

- Spanish Latin America -- Distribution to over 1,000 different
  media outlets in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa
  Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
  Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto
  Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Spanish translation included.

- Central America -- Distribution to newspapers and broadcast
  outlets in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
  Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Spanish translation included.

- Andean Pack -- Distribution to key media outlets in Bolivia,
  Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Spanish translation
  included.

- Mercosur Pack -- Distribution to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay,
  Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia. Spanish and Portuguese
  translation included.

About Internet Wire Internet Wire is the most cost-effective distributor of company news and financial announcements, providing real-time newsfeeds to AP, Dow Jones, Yahoo!, CBS MarketWatch, Motley Fool, Lexis-Nexis, Factiva and thousands of other leading Web sites, wire services, and databases. Internet Wire’s newsfeed is also sent directly to more than 30,000 individual journalists. The company has more than 2,500 clients, including American Airlines, USA Networks, Hallmark, Volvo, Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble, as well as over 300 public relations firms.

A full listing of the company’s products and specific distribution points can be found at www.internetwire.com.

Contact: Pia Gandt Company: Internet Wire Title: Marketing Director Phone: 310-846-3722 Email: pgandt@iwire.com

www.idg.com.sg By Juan Carlos Perez IDG News Service, Latin America Bureau 17-03-2003

MIAMI - Digital subscriber line (DSL) will continue growing by leaps and bounds both in terms of revenue and accounts in Latin America in the coming years, as consumers and businesses adopt this broadband technology to improve their Internet use, according to a new Pyramid Research Inc. report.

Consumers who are heavy Internet users and medium-size businesses are the main adopters in Latin America of DSL, a broadband technology that allows subscribers to use a regular telephone line to simultaneously access the Internet at high speeds and make and receive voice calls.

Because DSL connections to the Internet are faster and more stable than dial-up connections, DSL subscribers enjoy a better Internet experience than their dial-up counterparts, especially with regard to more sophisticated content and applications, such as multimedia.

DSL growth in Latin America should spur a wider availability of multimedia content and applications, such as gaming, from regional and local providers, although Pyramid doesn't expect this development to be massive. Video represents a good opportunity for local providers of broadband content, but it remains scarce, according to the report, titled "Latin America: DSL's Swift Uptake."

In the long term, broadband content and applications will be fundamental for the growth of DSL in the region, but not in the short term, since at present the speed and stability of DSL connections are enough to attract subscribers, according to Pyramid.

Latin America had about 900,000 DSL accounts at the end of 2002, a figure expected to rise to about 6 million by the end of 2007, said report author and Pyramid analyst Gabriela Baez on Thursday.

Excluding connection fees, revenue from DSL services in Latin America amounted to about $300 million in 2002, or 13 percent of the region's total Internet service revenue, which includes dial-up, broadband and leased line services, she said. Pyramid expects DSL services revenue in 2007 to reach around $2.3 billion, or 40 percent of the estimated total Internet service revenue in the region for that year, she said.

Currently, DSL is the broadband technology with the most accounts in Latin America, and ranks second in revenue, behind leased lines with dedicated Internet connections, Baez said. However, Pyramid expects DSL to move into the top spot in revenue by early 2004, Baez added.

DSL's growth in Latin America is being fueled by investments in its roll out from incumbent carriers, which benefit from the technology because DSL accounts generate more revenue per subscriber than dial-up accounts, according to the report. Incumbent carriers have also found in DSL a vehicle to counterpunch cable companies, which provide a competing broadband option using their cable infrastructure.

On the downside, DSL does compete against the business of leased lines with dedicated Internet service that the incumbents also market, Baez said. DSL also eats into the incumbents' local service revenue because it removes the local per-minute fees that dial-up Internet calls generate, she added.

As usual, Brazil has the largest number of DSL accounts (70 percent). About 92 percent of DSL accounts are concentrated in Brazil, Chile, México and Venezuela.

For this study, Pyramid took into account the Internet service markets of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.

www.gamblingmagazine.com March 15, 2003

On the tiny island of Curacao, 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela, a computer hummed along on Bon Bini Ave. Over the course of three years in the late 1990s, the Caribbean server's Internet connections racked up more than $400 million in sports wagers - on college basketball, professional football and everything in between.

The profits lined the pockets of two Americans, one of whom ran the international gambling ring from Nelsonville, Wis., a one-stop-sign town about 15 miles east of Stevens Point. The federal investigation into the Wisconsin-based online betting service was just the third such case ever prosecuted in the United States. It was the first time the IRS used wiretapping hardware - specially designed at the request of investigators in Wisconsin - to monitor e-mail.

So far, six people have been convicted of federal crimes in connection with the three-year investigation. A seventh, accused of helping the bookies hide their profits in offshore banks, is scheduled for trial in May. Christiansen Capital Advisors, a New York market research firm, estimates that about $6.4 billion will be wagered on athletic competitions this year, much of it via about 1,400 Internet sports betting sites.

About 5 million people get a piece of the Internet action. The men's NCAA basketball tournament, which starts next week, is the second most popular gambling draw after the Super Bowl. Except in Nevada, betting on sports is illegal everywhere in the U.S., including at Indian casinos, according to Daniel J. Graber, assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Under the federal Wire Act of 1961, using an online sports book (even if the server is in a foreign country) is a felony, since it uses interstate telephone lines. The law is difficult to enforce, however, because it's often impossible to tell who is operating a particular Web site, Graber said.

Unfortunately for Duane Pede, 52, of Amherst Junction, Wis., and Jeff D'Ambrosia, 42, of Henderson, Nev., several coincidences and an intense investigation led the feds to their door. Thomas Manske was on trial for federal drug charges in 1998. He told the jury all those secretive meetings in bars were not to sell drugs but to collect bets. Their interest piqued, the authorities began working their way up the criminal food chain toward Pede and D'Ambrosia.

Meanwhile, the U.S. attorney in St. Louis busted up an Internet gambling ring based there. Two defendants told authorities they were just small fish. Pede had started out in the sports information business, printing scorecards for bookies and giving them the point spreads on various games. D'Ambrosia's business began as a "tout" service - a way for gamblers and bookies to get recommendations on how to bet.

Both enterprises constitute legally protected speech under the First Amendment. Pede and D'Ambrosia eventually ran four tout services. Pede and D'Ambrosia courted trouble when they decided to branch out, starting a gambling service they could advertise to the people who used their other services, authorities say.

"They figured, 'We know all the people calling us are gambling, why don't we market them?" said Graber, who, along with assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy O'Shea, prosecuted the case. The direct mail was easy because Pede also ran a small printing company in Nelsonville, Signature Press, where the two could print all their advertising materials for the new business.

One of those brochures, stamped by a postage meter at Signature Press, fell into the hands of the Portage County Sheriff's Department and was forwarded to Graber. Authorities now had a tenuous link, but the fact that the server was in the Caribbean was problematic. To minimize the government's losses, they bet against each other.

To prove the Americans were in charge, the U.S. attorney's office and the IRS needed help from the FBI. The government often wiretaps telephone calls to gather evidence in an investigation. But IRS agents had never before wiretapped e-mail. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Wisconsin Department of Justice also assisted in the investigation.

The intercepted e-mails were a gold mine that clearly showed Pede and D'Ambrosia troubleshooting and giving instructions to employees of both the tout services and the gambling operation. Pede and D'Ambrosia both pleaded guilty in December 2001 to federal gambling and tax charges and assisted authorities in the prosecution of four co-conspirators.

Both are serving five-year federal prison terms. Each man was fined $100,000; together they were ordered to pay nearly $1.5 million in back taxes. Pede and D'Ambrosia's financial adviser, Florida attorney David Hampton Tedder, has pleaded not guilty to seven federal felonies and is scheduled for trial in May. Authorities believe Tedder helped the Internet bookies hide the rest of their millions.

Authorities say that although this case is coming to a close, it has opened a whole new avenue of prosecutions, proving an Internet gambling ring can be shut down.

icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk Feb 19 2003 By The Journal   Tony Blair yesterday put his leadership on the line over Iraq by declaring he would do "what is right" irrespective of the political risk to himself.

The Prime Minister staged his monthly press conference yesterday in the wake of new polls showing 52pc of people opposed to war and his own personal ratings on the slide.

But he faced down mounting public pressure by insisting he was willing to take military action against Saddam Hussein even if it costs him his job.

Asked about the threat to his own leadership, he declared: "There are certain situations in which you've got to say to people this is what I believe and this is what is right." Mr Blair's defiant comments followed remarks by his Chief Whip, Durham North West MP Hilary Armstrong, that he was "aware of the risks" to his position.

Senior North-East MP and former armed forces minister Doug Henderson warned Mr Blair his stance on Iraq could cost him the premiership.

"I think he possibly is putting his leadership on the line but I think he is very wrong to do so," the Newcastle North MP told The Journal. "He has failed to take account of Labour Party opinion and the leader of the party should do that. If he does not, they won't support him," he added.

Mr Blair's speech came the morning after an inconclusive EU summit in which France demanded UN weapons inspectors be given more time.

In a careful performance he sought to keep up pressure on Saddam while still saying there was "no rush to war". But his attempt to reassure the public was last night undermined by news the US administration is drawing up a fresh UN resolution authorising military action.

Yesterday's polls showed only 35pc of the public is satisifed with Mr Blair's performance, compared to 49pc a month ago.

Celebrity support for the anti-war movement was further boosted by designer Katherine Hamnett, with t-shirts bearing the slogan "Stop War".

Mr Blair said anti-war protesters should listen to the testimony of Iraqi exiles on the horrors of life under Saddam.

In an attack on French leader Jacques Chirac Mr Blair warned a split between America and Europe would endanger world security. Mr Blair reaffirmed his backing for a UN resolution but refused to be drawn on a timetable for one.

Newcastle Central MP Jim Cousins last night praised Mr Blair's courage. "Whatever view I take of the Prime Minister's position, I recognise it as an honourable one he is prepared to see through, and I respect that," he said.

But Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said: "Mr Blair implies anyone not yet persuaded of the need for war is somehow less moral than he is. A lot of people will resent that."

Council set to oppose war

Tony Blair will this week face fresh opposition to his stance on Iraq from one of his own flagship North-East councils.

Labour members of Gateshead Council will be tabling a tough anti-war motion to Friday's council meeting.

It will say a pre-emptive attack on Iraq is "neither necessary or justified and would produce incalculable risks to international peace and stability".

And it will call on the Government not to commit British forces to a pre-emptive attack on Iraq unless proof of weapons of mass destruction exists and the full support of the United Nations and Nato is forthcoming.

Labour member of the council's ruling cabinet Peter Mole said: "Participation in such an attack would be likely to have serious damaging effects on Gateshead's social and economic welfare and endanger the safety of its citizens."

Energy 'vital strategic concern'

A conflict with Iraq was partly about oil supply, a leading industry figure suggested yesterday.

David O'Reilly, chairman and chief executive of Chevron Texaco, said there was a view among some sections of the public the conflict was about nothing but oil and that was not a good enough reason to go to war.

But he said the diversity and continuity of the world's energy supply were vital strategic concerns.

"National security and energy security are not one and the same thing but they are clearly intertwined.

"It's hardly surprising that current events have put our industry in the spotlight," he told the Institute of Petroleum annual lunch at the Dorchester Hotel in London.

It was not unexpected that the Iraq conflict should be used by some as a vehicle to attack the industry.

"I am talking about the protests that say `no blood for oil'," he said.

"The slogan rests on two assumptions, first that the conflict with Iraq is about nothing but oil and second that energy security is not a legitimate reason - even as one among many - to go to war."

Mr O'Reilly said a recent Gallup poll showed that almost two-thirds of Europeans saw Iraq as a threat to world peace, and a "shocking" 70pc believe that oil is the main reason the US wants to intervene in Iraq. "You saw the many millions of people who protested around the world this past weekend and some of them surely hold that view.

"I would argue that `no blood for oil' has caught on partly because our industry's reputation is so impaired that the protesters can discredit action in Iraq simply by associating it with us."

He urged oil companies to boost their reputations and said the challenge would be with them regardless of whether there was a peaceful outcome to events in Iraq, crisis-wracked Venezuela or North Korea.

"If we don't act together to address this challenge our prformance will be impaired and our basic mission imperilled," he added.

www.lightreading.com FEBRUARY 13, 2003 PREVIOUS NEWS WIRE FEED

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J. -- Growth of consumer/SOHO (small office and home office) Internet connectivity in Latin America remains problematic, reports analyst firm Probe Research. With the exception of Chile and Brazil, the depressed economies in most of the Latin American countries are holding back the rates of growth seen in Europe, Asia and North America.

"Affordability is a real issue," explains Probe analyst, Alan Mosher. "Consumers are unable to afford computers, and carriers hang on to high per-minute local call tariffs for dial-up connections. Consequently, connecting to the Internet can be an expensive proposition for the vast majority of households in Latin America."

According to Mosher, the cost of computers and a lack of cheap access have led to a growing number of Internet cafes. Users who need to get online but lack home connectivity make heavy use of these Internet cafes or access the Internet for personal needs from work or school.

Nonwired types of Internet access such as fixed wireless and satellite would seem to be natural services in the vast rural regions of many Latin American countries, and these are beginning to appear. But fixed wireless is an expensive technology and needs a solid base of enterprise users to make it economically viable. Satellite is also expensive for the end user.

Probe's report "Latin America Global Access Model," the latest in the Global Internet Service Provider Markets series, fully examines consumer/SOHO Internet connectivity in this market. It provides a forecast by type of consumer/SOHO connections for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and the rest of Latin America.