BUSINESS DIGEST
By Unknown Author
New Chip-Making Process Is Expected From I.B.M. I.B.M. is expected to announce today that it has perfected a new manufacturing process to produce semiconductor chips that can achieve either higher speed or significantly lower power consumption. The new technique is known as silicon-on-insulator, or S.O.I., technology. This is the third major advance in semiconductor design and fabrication that I.B.M. has announced in the last year. The company's top research executives said that the latest advance should give I.B.M. a one-year to two-year lead in the highly competitive industry. [Page D2.] An Internet Site Focuses on Women Candice Carpenter, who created the World Wide Web site iVillage.com with a group of investors and has raised $67 million in financing, has turned it into the leading women's Internet community. It offers news, columns, advice, tips and opportunities for women to contribute their own views through chat sessions and message boards on topics like ''Sex After Kids'' and ''Anger Management.'' [D6.] Congress Must Reconcile 3 Tax Bills The Senate Finance Committee passed a version of the Internet Tax Freedom Act that proposes a two-year moratorium on taxes in cyberspace. It also voted to force states and local governments that tax Internet access to end these taxes. But the group's version differs from the bills passed by the Senate Commerce Committee and by the House. [D5.] NBC Offering Shows on PC's NBC will invest in and supply programming to a start-up on-line service that is providing movies, television programs and music on demand to personal computers. [D4.] Journalists Gain Respect on the Web Many journalists, both established and fledgling, are writing for the Internet and gaining recognition. Moreover, while by no means a consistent trend, some major media companies now seem to be treating their on-line publications as more than just brand extensions. Industry View. [D6.] S.E.C. Contends Trades Concealed The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Sam D. Schwartz, a former top executive of a small long-distance telephone company called Incomnet, of filing false documents to conceal his trading in the company's stock. He bought about 1.1 million shares of Incomnet stock and sold about 900,000 shares from June 1994 through July 1995 without disclosing the transactions in a timely manner. [D4.] Utilities Provide Internet Access Ben Preusser, business manager for Cyber Trails in Phoenix, which is a subsidiary of Arizona Public Service, said utility companies are offering Internet access because they already have expertise in billing, customer service and computer networking. Also, 18 states have opened their power industries to some form of competition, and most others are expected to do so shortly. That means the utilities not only have to learn to compete, they have to seek new sources of revenue. [D3.] A Communications Chief Resigns Andrea Kaplan, the head of corporate communications at Conde Nast, resigned after reading in The New York Observer that Maurie Perl, the head of publicity at The New Yorker, would take over Conde Nast's corporate public relations operation. It had been reported that Steven T. Florio, chief executive of Conde Nast, was dissatisfied with Ms. Kaplan's handling of a Fortune magazine article. [D6.]
