- What is your goal with Typhoon and how would you like to contribute to the Internet world as it is manifested in Japan today?

Our goal is to provide reasonably-priced and reliable services to our clients. This is reflected in the rates we charge for Internet access as well as the solutions we present to our corporate clients who retain our consulting services.

The Internet access rates we charge now were set when we first started to offer full Internet access in November 1995. We probably had the low estrates then. Although we no longer have the lowest rates, we believe our prices are reasonable because our fee of JPY20,000/year for a PPP account with unlimited access is probably standard in Japan now.

With our reasonably-priced Internet-connectivity solutions and services, we hope we can encourage more individual users and companies to get connected to the Internet and use it to their benefit.

- What is your advice to ISPs and end users who wish to reduce the amount of spam they are getting?

ISPs and corporations with an Internet connection should install anti-spam filters so that their SMTP gateways cannot be used to relay spam.According to our log files, our system is blocking a great number of spam from ISPs from around the world as well as major corporations. (I have noticed that spammers have gained access to SMTP gateways at some Fortune-500 companies to route SPAM.)

If more anti-spam filters are installed on SMTP gateways on the Internet, it would be much harder for spammers to distribute spam.

As for individual users, they should report every spam incident to their system administrator. For more information on what to do about spam, please visit:

http://spam.abuse.net/spam/

More information on Typhoon Inc. and press releases regarding the lawsuit,can be found by following relevant links on our homepage:

Japanese: http://www.typhoon.co.jp/

English: http://www.typhoon.co.jp/indexe.html

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Industry briefs

Results in on electronic cash trials

SMART COMMERCE JAPAN (SCJ), a consortium led by VISA INTERNATIONAL, has compiled the results of its two-month electronic money experiment in the Kobe area. Between October 1 and the end of November, SCJ distributed IC credit cards equipped with an electronic money function to 20,990 users who were then able to make either e-cash or credit card purchases at DAIEI Group supermarkets or at convenience stores, hotels and other retail outlets. The volunteer participants made 10,162 electronic cash purchases worth 18,071,000 yen ($140,085),and 2,185 credit card purchases worth 16,746,000 yen ($129,814). The average value of the electronic cash and credit card transactions were1,778 yen ($14) and 7,664yen ($59), respectively, clearly showing that electronic cash is preferred for small price point purchases and creditcards for larger purchases, according to SCJ.


UC CARD trying to scoop JCB

Leading credit card firm UC CARD will expand the scope of its ongoing Internet shopping experiment. The company started the experiment in summer 1996 with 10,000 volunteer participants, but in December will open up the program to all 13 million of its cardholders, who will be able to shop online at the company's 50-shop UC Mall on the Internet. Japan's consumer credit card firms are planning to start commercial use of online transaction settlement systems by summer 1998,but UC CARD hopes to get ahead start by quickly making online transactions available on an experimental basis to its entirecard holder base.


MASTERCARD to launch e-money experiment in Japan

MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL of the U.S. will launch a full-fledged electronic money experiment in Japan in 1998. Plans call for working with bank-affiliated card companies to issue smart cards and install dedicated terminals at stores. The company expects shortly to conclude negotiations with major card companies and get the experiment started next year.


Consortium lead by DC CARD to start Internet-based credit card transaction services in March

DC CARD, the consumer credit card firm of TOKYO MITSUBISHI BANK, has formed a consortium with NTT DATA COMMUNICATIONS, IBM JAPAN and CYBERTRUST and plans in March of next year to start offering Internet-based credit card settlement services using the SET 1.0 protocol. The consortium will soon start forging links with virtual malls across Japan under a plan to win approximately 60,000 consumer users and 200 online merchants the first year. DC CARD is already involved in field trials whose participants are primarily employees of MITSUBISHI Group companies.


More banks to join Internet field trials

Tokyo-based digital certificate issuing service JAPAN VERIFICATION SERVICES plans by April 1998 to increase to 30 the number of banks that are currently involved in Internet banking field trials. The company currently is conducting field trials with SAKURA BANK, BANKOF YOKOHAMA and 15 other regional banks, and plans shortly to issue digital certificates to a number of city banks that plan to start in-house field trials soon. JAPAN VERIFICATION SERVICES is building up its expertise in hopes of providing full-fledged commercial services around 2000, when it expects electronic commerce applications to be in widespread use.


COMPAQ to combine direct, indirect sales model on Web

COMPAQ (JAPAN) will on December 5 unveil Compaq Online Store, a Web-based mechanism for selling PCs via the Internet. The new Website will house current retailers such as LAOX and OTSUKA SHOKAI, who will take the actual orders. Users will be able to confirm pricing and delivery time information online, according to COMPAQ. Amid the growing number of PC manufacturers launching Internet sales, COMPAQ plans to maintain its indirect sales model by having dealers take the orders.


Low-priced Internet PC to debut

JAPAN COMPUTER (JCC) will in December release a dedicated Internet PC. The iBOX1 is an A4-size unit measuring 28x25x5cm and is available in two versions: one is powered by a 50MHz PowerPC403 and the other is based on a 66MHz PowerPC403. Though open-priced, the Internet PC will likely be priced below 50,000 yen ($394). The company, which has shipped about 70,000 Internet PCs since January 1996, plans to offer Internet content services including free video programs and a news photo order service in order to boost Internet PC sales to 150,000 units annually. Shipment is slated for December 15.


Listen to your e-mail?

KANSAI CELLULAR PHONE will on December 1 start soliciting up to 500 volunteer subscribers for EV Mail, a new service that will let cellular phone users listen to e-mail messages using their cellularhandsets. The new service, slated for full-fledged commercial startup in February 1998, will alert message recipients of incoming mail via an ordinary ringing tone on the handset, after which the sender's name and message's subject will be displayed. The recipients will then call a center and follow an automated voice guidance system to have the message read aloud. Confirmation of message receipt can also be accomplish simply pressing "5" on the handsets after listening to the message, according to KANSAI CELLULAR.


Long-overdue interexchange service starts

Tokyo-based JAPAN INTERNET EXCHANGE (JPIX), a consortium of 16 carriers and ISPs including KDD, will on November 27 start offering Japan's first commercial Internet interexchange service.The firm will offer 10Mbps, 100Mbps and 200Mbps services at monthly rates of 700,000 yen ($5,512), 1.2 million yen ($9,449) and 1.9 million yen ($14,961), respectively. There have to date been only two network service provider interexchange points in Japan, both operated by the WIDE Project, an academic organization, but soaring Internet traffic has produced strong demand for a commercial service. JPIX is aiming for first-year revenues of 100 million yen ($787,402).


NTT PC is top business ISP

NTT PC COMMUNICATIONS was ranked as the No. 1 Internet service provider for leased line service in a survey conducted with 2,097 firms listed on stock exchanges in September by NIKKEI BP. Ranked second was INTERNET INITIATIVE JAPAN (IIJ), followed by NTT. For dial-up service, TOKYO INTERNET outperformed others. NTT and IIJ ranked second and third, respectively.


AOL trying to turn up the heat

AOL JAPAN will on November 18 lower rates by nearly 80%. The company will introduce a service whereby subscribers can use its on-line service for up to 50 hours per month for 4,800 yen ($38.40) and another service which charges 980 yen ($7.84) for up to three hours monthly. The company will also introduce Mac software for its service November 21.


BIGLOBE to get bigger

NEC will beef up the content on its BIGLOBE Internet connectivity/commercial online service in a bid to win new subscribers. The company plans by April 1998 to add at least a dozen new lines of content that it hopes will appeal to a broader range of age groups and help build community among BIGLOBE users. The company will work particularly hard to win new women subscribers, who currently account for only a small percentage of all users. NEC also plans to boost beginner-oriented content and services to accommodate the rapidly growing number of new users. BIGLOBE had more than 2.44 million subscribers as of the end of September, according to NEC.


Real estate to be offered online

The Ministry of Finance, the National Land Agency and four other government agencies and ministries have decided to create an electronic real estate market on the Internet in 1998 to spur liquidity in the market. The project will provide information on the location, price and other details of properties for sale in Tokyo and Osaka. The information will also be available through terminals placed in banks and other places. The properties to be showcased will include idle plots owned by private companies and collateralized properties owned by financial institutions and housing lenders. A commission will be formed in December to work out the details of the project.


WEBTV staffing up in Japan

WEBTV NETWORKS (JAPAN) plans by spring 1998 to double its staff to approximately 60. The company will add marketing, technical support and other personnel to beef up its organization under a drive to achieve its three-year goal of one million household subscriptions to its simplified television-based Internet access service. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of WEBTV NETWORKS of Palo Alto, California, plans to start full-scale commercial services in December. SONY has already started selling a set-top box to support the service, and a number of other consumer electronics and communications equipment manufacturers plan releases of compatible set-top boxes next year.


DELL COMPUTER sets single day record for Internet sales

Kawasaki-based DELL COMPUTER (JAPAN) disclosed November 26 that it set a single day record for Internet-based sales of more than 50 million yen ($393,701). The company started selling its computers over the Internet at the end of March 1997, and sales have been growing rapidly, particularly from experienced users buying their second PCs and from SOHO customers. A DELL spokesman said that Internet buyers purchase higher-priced systems on average compared to those that use the telephone to order. Worldwide, DELL COMPUTER is selling $3 million worth of merchandise daily via theInternet, according to the spokesman.


Another online book service

The Tokyo-based Kanda Association of Used Bookstores will on November 6 start offering a free, membership-based service whereby used book inventories can be checked online. The 140-member association is receiving support for the new service from the New Media Development Association, a MITI affiliate. Initially members will send e-mail to the association to check on availability of books, but next spring the group hopes to offer online transaction and immediate mailing services as well. The association says new service will offer researchers and others the ability to search from the comfort of their homes for technical and foreign books that are not widely distributed in Japan.

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The darker side of electronic money

A lot of Japanese firms, particularly NTT, seem to be enthralled with the concept of electronic money. E-cash certainly provides convenience and utility, but there's a darker side to it that is almost never mentioned in the Japanese press.

With electronic money, you can be instantly located anytime you make a purchase anywhere in the world. Not only that, but an electronic record of all your purchases can be made, analyzed, bought and sold and otherwise exploited.

This already happens when you buy merchandise at a grocery store that is making use of a POS system, but if you think about it, e-money is essentially a homing device that tracks your position in real time at the point of purchase, in addition to creating the purchase record.

Any government agency, for example, could instantly find you, simply by noticing that you are now buying a train ticket at Shinjuku station, or a six-pack at Star Market in Honolulu. To me, its a very short step from electronic money to simple and comprehensive government and/or corporate monitoring and surveillance of citizenry. Maybe I'm getting old, but it seems like a giant step backward for civilization to me...

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Merry Christmas to 902

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all JIR subscribers. We wish you the greatest happiness and success and 1998!

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Tim Clark
Editor

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Copyright 1997 by TKAI and Digitized Information, Inc. All rights reserved

NOTE: Some JIR industry briefs appear later in Computing Japan magazine under modified titles.

JIR is co-sponsored by Digitized Information, Inc. of Tokyo, a leader in providing daily English language coverage of electronics industry developments in Japan.