@database "XXXXX.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine Special Auction Issue -- April 21, 1995" @{" Turn the Page " link MENU} ### ### #### ### ### ## # # # # # # # # # # ## ### ### # # #### # # # # # # # # # ### # #### ### ### # # #### ## # # ### ### ### ## # # ### ### ### # # #### # # # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # #### # # # # # # # #### # ## ## # # ### # # # # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # # ## ### # ### ## # # ### ### ### ## #### _______________________________________ _ ____ ___ ______ _______ _ d# ####b g#00 `N##0" _agN#0P0N# d# d## jN## j##F J## _dN0" " d## .#]## _P ##L jN##F ### g#0" .#]## dE_j## # 0## jF ##F j##F j##' ______ dE_j## .0"""N## d" ##L0 ##F 0## 0## "9##F" .0"""5## .dF' ]## jF ##0 ##F ##F `##k d## .dF' j## .g#_ _j##___g#__ ]N _j##L_ _d##L_ `#Nh___g#N' .g#_ _j##__ """"" """"""""""" " """""" """""" """"""" """"" """""" ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ######## TM ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## #### ## ## ## #### ## ## ## #### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ### ###### ## ###### ## ### ## "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" Copyright 1995 FS Publications All Rights Reserved // =====================================//==================================== == April 21, 1995 \\// Special Issue == =========================================================================== @endnode @node MENU "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc MAIN =========================================================================== == Main Menu == =========================================================================== @{" Editorial " link EDITORIAL} The unhappy truth of the matter... @{" Summary of Events " link SUMMARY} @{" Detailed Descriptions " link DETAILED} An overview of the past two days Individual news items and sources @{" Other Information... " link OTSTUFF} Sundry things you might like to know... @{" About AMIGA REPORT " link ABOUT} Contact Information and Copyrights ______________________________________________ // | | // ========//====| Amiga Report International Online Magazine |======//===== == \\// | Special Auction Issue April 21, 1995 | \\// == ==============| "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" |============= |______________________________________________| @endnode =========================================================================== == The Amiga Report Staff == =========================================================================== @node JASON "Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == EDITOR == =========================================================================== Jason Compton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Address -------- ------- jcompton@cup.portal.com 1838 Chicago Ave. #419 jcompton@bbs.xnet.com Evanston, IL 60201-3806 USA Fax Phone --- ----- 708/491-4064 708/332-4599 @endnode @node ROBERT "Senior Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == SENIOR EDITOR == =========================================================================== Robert Niles ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Address -------- ------- rniles@Wolfe.NET 506 W. Orchard Selah, WA 98942 FidoNet Fax ------- --- 1:3407/103 509/697-5064 @endnode @node KATIE "Assistant Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == ASSISTANT EDITOR == =========================================================================== Katherine Nelson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- Kati@cup.portal.com @endnode @node SEAN "Games Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == GAMES EDITOR == =========================================================================== Sean Caszatt ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- Sean.Caszatt@f512.n2601.z1.fidonet.org @endnode @node EDITORIAL "compt.sys.editor.desk" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == compt.sys.editor.desk By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} == =========================================================================== It hasn't been easy keeping a cheery disposition since April 29, 1994. Now, the liquidation chapter of Commodore's existance is all but closed. Barring an amazing development in the Bahamas Supreme Court, which has all but promised to echo the decision of the US court, Escom AG will become the owner of the assets of Commodore International. What does this mean for us? I don't know yet. Early indications aren't what I would call promising. Out of the "big three" bidders, two were never very far away...Alex Amor was always good to hold an online conference, and David Pleasance could be counted on for a nice UK magazine article whenever public lethargy warranted. But Escom has done everything in its power to avoid Amiga users, has lied to the press, and in general made itself unavailable. With their manufacturing partners' locale and the clear, stated intent to restart production of the Commodore 64 for the Chinese market, as well as plans on the board for a Mac and PC clone under the Commodore name, where can we possibly fit into Escom's plans? That, of course, is largely up to Escom. But there's no rule against telling them how displeased you'd be if things don't go your way. Unfortunately, contact with Escom isn't available to me at the moment. As soon as I know how to reliably get a hold of them-don't worry, you'll know too. And I STRONGLY suggest that we start to put the screws to them now, before it's too late. The Amiga's future was never guaranteed, not in 1985, not on April 29, 1994, and certainly not on April 21, 1995. But I'll be damned if I'm going to give up now. Jason PS- Any week now, print magazines will start hitting the shelves, bringing you their version of the events that have transpired these past two days. Doubtless, many of you will buy them. But as you do, please try to remember what magazine has been bringing you consistent, innovative, up-to-date information on this liquidation all along-for free. @endnode @node SUMMARY "The Summary Of Events" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == The Summary Of Events == =========================================================================== A quick breakdown, based on the best information available, of how Thursday and Friday transpired- Thursday: Auction Day The liquidators declare that no bids with conditions will be attached will be accepted. Alex Amor of CEI does not submit his bid based on this restriction. Computer Connection of California submits a bid for the assets that is rejected for lack of a $1 M deposit. Dell Computers, a US-based clone manufacturer, submits a bid for the assets that is rejected because a condition is attached. Escom, holding the only valid bid, finds their original signed contract for $5 million accepted. Somewhere Thursday Night: The C= UK MBO issues a statement formally withdrawing for the running, citing the overwhelming resources of Escom and Dell. Alex Amor and Dell form a coalition bid. (It seems that Dell's primary interest is in Commodore's patents, presumably to wage profitable lawsuits with. Alex Amor convinces them to combine bids, allowing him to rein over the Amiga.) Friday Morning: Court Date The objections against the sale are heards. The IBM and Netherlands Trustees (of Commodore BV/Philippines/UK) objections are heard, but very little comes of them. The C= US Creditor's objection is heard. The result of this was unclear. Dell offers $15 million for the assets. The creditors, the liquidator, Dell Computers, and Judge Garrity all seem to agree that, given the unusual circumstances, a new auction should be held, perhaps on Tuesday. Escom is not in agreement. Friday, During Lunch: Escom ups its bid to $10 million. Friday Afternoon: Court The creditors announce that Escom has increased its bid to $10 million, which is acceptable to them. The deal is approved. [My sources indicate that Alex Amor and Dell disappeared fairly quickly after lunch.] @endnode @node DETAIL1 "Mini-Conference, IRC, the evening of April 20th" @toc DETAIL ========================================================================== MINI-UPDATE: Jason Compton, IRC #auction ========================================================================== [Last night, I held a brief conference to update the users on IRC channel #auction of the day's proceedings. -Jason] The News, as best as I can present it, as of 4-20-1995, about 10:00 PM Eastern US time... OK. Today, the only valid bid presented to the liquidators was from Escom. Two other bids were presented. One, from a California-based dealer was rejected because they could not put up the necessary deposit. The second, from Dell (PC-clone manufacturer) was rejected because it dictated a 7-day investigation period on patents. The liquidators ruled that any and all conditions were unacceptable, which is why Alex Amor and presumably David Pleasance did not bid. So, Escom's standing bid of $5 million was accepted. NOW-Tommorow Judge Garrity will be ruling on the objections to the sale. In addition to the objections from the C= US creditors, the liquidators of Commodore BV/Philippines/Netherlands/UK, and IBM... He will ALSO have objections from Alex Amor, very probably from Dell, and possibly from David Pleasance. Essentially, Dell and Amor are both willing to offer more than the Escom $5 million and can't fathom why their bids have been rejected or invalidated. Amor told me he hopes to get the judge to open the courtroom floor for bidding right there and then. How likely this is, I have no idea. That's all I know. Jason Compton Editor-in-Chief, Amiga Report Magazine jcompton@xnet.com @endnode @node DETAIL2 "Dan Stets' April 21 article on auction outcome" @toc DETAIL ========================================================================== GERMANS BID, AND LAND A BARGAIN: ARTICLE SUMMARY ========================================================================== [Dan Stets, the Philadelphia Inquirer journalist on hand for the auction, put out an article on the outcome this morning. This is the point-by-point summary by Bill Zimmer. -Jason] "Germans bid, and land a bargain" Escom AG submitted a winning bid of $6.6 million for Commodore's assets. A judge, however, still must approve it. By Dan Stets Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer a. Escom purchased Commodore's assets for $6.6 million yesterday during the auction. b. A half-dozen or so companies were at the auction but only Escom and Dell Computer Company submitted bids backed by the required $1 million security deposit. c. Dell attached some unspecified conditions to there bid and consequently it was disqualified. d. Escom will resume manufacturing the Amiga and other Commodore products and begin to make Apple-compatible and IBM-compatible clones with the Commodore name on them. The manufacturing will be in a plant near Beijing, China. e. Escom will attempt to produce a Commodore PowerPC. This will be manufactured in Europe. f. Escom has no plans to resume any of Commodore's American manufacturing operations. g. Both the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York City and the Supreme Court of the Bahamas must still approve the sale. h. Both IBM and the trustee for Commodore's assets in the Netherlands, UK, and the Philippines are objecting to the sale. i. A hearing will be held today, Friday, April 21, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to consider the proposed sale to Escom and the objections of the above (h) creditors. j. Since Commodore's creditors are owed more than $100 million and previous estimates of Commodore's auction value were put as high as $20 million, the creditors may have reservations about the low sale price generated by the auction. k. A standing-room-only crowd of 65 attended the auction. Two creditors, Prudential Insurance and Microsoft were in attendance. Representatives from two Chinese electronics companies, New Star and Tietsin Trust & Investment Company also were in attendance. l. Escom plans a joint venture with Tietsin to manufacture Commodore's products. m. Also at the auction were representatives of Computer Connection of Stockton, California. They submitted a bid but did not include the required $1 million deposit. There bid was, therefore, disqualified. n. CEI apparently teamed up with Dell in its unsuccessful bid. o. The Commodore UK management buyout team withdrew before the bidding began. p. Dell's representative at the auction, Mr. Dalton Kaye, stated that his company had not yet given up its attempt to purchase Commodore. He further stated that he was not aware until two (2) weeks ago about the auction and had insufficient time to evaluate either the bid documents or Commodore's assets. In its latest fiscal year (which ended in January), Dell's sales rose 21 percent to $3.5 billion and profits rose to $149 million. q. The amount of Dell's bid and the amount of the bid made by Computer connection were not made public. The conditions which Dell attached to their bid were also not made public. -- Bill Zimmer - zim@ibx.com Moderator, comp.binaries/sources.amiga @endnode @node DETAIL3 "C= UK MBO Withdrawl" @toc DETAIL ========================================================================== COMMODORE UK MBO WITHDRAWL ========================================================================== [Almost immediately after the auction's conclusion, this statement was issued. -Jason] Title: Press Release April 21st 1995 PRESS STATEMENT --------------- Commodore/Amiga UK Management Buyout During the last few days leading up to the bidding process it became clear that ESCOM and their associates or DELL COMPUTERS would have the financial muscle to overbid our independently financed offer. In the circumstances the UK Management Team took the decision to withdraw early and work with the winning bidder. In this way our ability to achieve our original objective of re-establishing the Amiga in a prominent position in the marketplace would be maximised. ENDS [I'd just like to take this time to point out...by the corporate structure of Commodore, Commodore UK will become a WHOLLY OWNED subsidiary of Escom. Their room to maneuver in that capacity could be rather limited. -Jason] @endnode @node DETAIL4 "Mini-Conference, April 20th, IRC #auction" @toc DETAIL ========================================================================== MINI-CONFERENCE WITH JASON COMPTON, IRC #AUCTION, APRIL 20TH ========================================================================== [To help clarify the day's events, I held a short conference on IRC #auction. The edited transcript appears below. Thanks to panther@gate.net for compiling this. -Jason] This is the my log (using grapevine, powersnap, and a custom arexx script to put it all together) of the #Auction conversation with Jason Compton, editor of Amiga Report magazine on April 20, 1995. This is the shortened version... Just Questions & Answers -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin Log -------------------------------------------------------------------------- «Join» jcompton (jcompton@jobe.shell.portal.com) has joined the channel. jcompton OK. Today, the only valid bid presented to the liquidators was from Escom. jcompton Two other bids were presented. One, from Creative Computers (NOT CEI, a California-based dealer) was rejected because they could not put up the necessary deposit. [NOTE: I was wrong, it wasn't Creative Computers.] jcompton The second, from Dell (PC-clone manufacturer) was rejected because it dictated a 7-day investigation period on patents. jcompton The liquidators ruled that any and all conditions were unacceptable, which is why Alex Amor and presumably David Pleasance did not bid. jcompton So, Escom's standing bid of $5 million was accepted. jcompton NOW-Tommorow Judge Garrity will be ruling on the objections to the sale. jcompton In addition to the objections from the C= US creditors, the liquidators of Commodore BV/Philippines/Netherlands/UK, and IBM... jcompton He will ALSO have objections from Alex Amor, very probably from Dell, and possibly from David Pleasance. jcompton Essentially, Dell and Amor are both willing to offer more than the Escom $5 million and can't fathom why their bids have been rejected or invalidated. jcompton Amor told me he hopes to get the judge to open the courtroom floor for bidding right there and then. How likely this is, I have no idea. jcompton That's all I know. jcompton Sorry I don't have better news. HammerD jcompt: will this be all said and done tomorrow or do you think it will take longer? jcompton Well...I mean, Garrity could throw out all of the objections and then we're stuck. Or, he could accept them... JosherII Why is this bad news? jcompton Josher: Because nobody has the first clue what Escom wants. Intrd jcompton but is that you that said that ESCOM is willing to give out tehcnology to poeple like CEI? jcompton Intrd: Wasn't me. CEI and Escom have had talks, but apparently Escom was acting very coldly towards Alex today. Zool jcompton: shit...what else would Escom want to do with the tech? jcompton Zool: We don't know. HammerD jcompt: was alex pissed? jcompton HD: "Exasperated" would be the word. At the end of our talk, he put me on hold for a few minutes, told me he got some new good information and that there was still hope, and left. jcompton HD: I don't know if he's just being dramatic or what. Pappy Escom is incabable of continuing the Amiga(esp. development) jcompton Pappy: They seem to have enough money to do it, but they don't seem to have the inclination. Menacer Jcompton: Are Dell just after patents or are they intrested in selling Amiga's ? I live in Austin TX (where dell is based) and know quite a lot about the company .... jcompton Menacer: We don't know word #1 about Dell. This is the first I've heard of them interested, even in the wildest fantasy of false information. Intrd Jcompton but is it aT DELL or Compaq tjhat some ex-Engineer of C= working on the AAA were engaged? jcompton Intrd: That's Tim McDonald at Compaq. Pappy jcompton: Honestly, do you see Escom winning the entire auction? jcompton Pappy: As of now, they HAVE. I'm hoping the good grace of the judge overturns it because it's silly. NiteFlite JCompton, so what's on Comp.sys.Amiga.misc is true? jcompton Nite: More or less, yes. JosherII JC: If they aren't planning to do any R&D do you think they would be willing to sell the rights to do so? jcompton Josher: I know nothing about them. jcompton Nite: Alex objects and hopes that the judge overturns the Escom deal and opens the floor for more bids. NiteFlite JC, so CUK and CEI did not bid because they are banking on the objections to be upheld. jcompton Nite: No, Alex did not want to submit a bid without any conditions. HammerD did not objections have to be in by last week? jcompton HD: Objections to the sale PROCESS, but if you were a bidder, you can object to the bidding process as it happened. NiteFlite Alex, will then just wait to see who wins and negotiate with them? jcompton Nite: No, I JUST SAID, Alex will hope that he can put in a bid            on his own terms tomorrow. jcompton Nite: I don't know what Pleasance is doing. I'd ask him if I knew what hotel he was staying in. :) Intrd jcompton so you know where is alex? jcompton Intrd: Yes... HammerD jcompt: you going to talk to Amor again tonight? jcompton HD: No, I think he'll be in meetings until he goes to sleep. (He had a meeting at 2 am this morning, if that gives you any indication...) fallous_ The ONLY fucking way that the Amiga production would be slowed is if Escom won, and of course they did. Goddamn, this is complete bullshit. jcompton fallous: You could have Dell if you prefer. :) fallous_ jcompton: I'm still trying to figure out why Dell wanted it. jcompton fallous: Patents for lawsuits. jcompton fallous: Set-top technology, maybe. jcompton Mitchman: On the contrary, Commodore UK is up for sale, they're part of Commodore International. NiteFlite JC, did Alex say how much he was willing to go? jcompton Nite: No. toymaker are all the companies at the auction listed in that news file? toymaker (in other words, is there another outside party besides Dell and IBM) jcompton toymaker: Everyone who bid or should have bid, not counting the people who showed up to try to bid piecemeal but never really did. skyman JCompton: so did anyone not show that was expected to? jcompton skyman: No. jcompton toymaker: IBM's not bidding, they're objecting. Gazer jcompton: Cool, nect think you know we will get the soapie "AMIGA: the true story" jcompton Gazer: Well, the prospects for a book keep getting better... skyman JCompton: were you there? how long was the session today? jcompton skyman: I wasn't there. Once it started, it only took a few hours because they just rejected everything but the Escom bid and everyone had to go home. jcompton Mitchman: The patent license [IBM's license on Commodore patents] is VERY broad. I tried calling IBM's lawyers to get some clarity, but they never returned my calls. fallous_ who set the terms on whether a bid is accepted or not? jcompton fallous: The liquidator and his lawyers, subject to the approval of US Bankruptcy Court Justice William Garrity, Jr. oleg Amiga might have had a hope if Dell won ;) toymaker oleg: why is that? oleg toymaker, because Dell is a gigantic, solvent computer maker with credibility. HammerD oleg *PC* company. oleg hammerd, what's your point? they are big, they are solvent, and they want Amiga jcompton oleg: They want Commodore's assets...that's not necessarily the Amiga, especially at these prices... oleg i don't think CEI has the $$ to compete. pure and simple. the best they will dois startup 1200/cd32 lines, saturate the marketplace, tehn sell off the technology jcompton oleg: You could well be right. Of course, nobody knows who's backing Amor or Pleasance, either. AH jcompton: Again, Thank You! YOU should get a Medal or something. :) Well, off to spread the news in My Home Boards... :) jcompton AH: I'd prefer a job... Number1 oleg: One of the press releases I received from CEI (several months ago) said they were prepared to spend $20 Million on advertising during the first year if they won. jcompton #1: That's invalid now. They don't have that sort of money to blow. Ahzwon jcompton: So, out of all this, your *personal* opinion of tomorrow's outcome? jcompton Ahz: As usual, it's not up to me. I HOPE the judge does what seems to be the right thing, and re-open the bids. Intrd jcompton didtn you said that Alex got support from IBMM supposly to get amifa manifacture? jcompton Intrd: They signed on IBM as a contract manufacturer. But no mention of capital investment. jcompton Intrd: Same thing they do for the Atari Jaguar. They take the plans, build the machines, and take their money. dib wots the countdown to the auction, I wouldnt know wot time it is in the US ( it midday Friday 21st here :) jcompton dib: The auction is over. The court hearing commences in 11 hours, 30 minutes. skyman jcompton: who does have the most money ...or offered to spend the most? jcompton skyman: Unknown. Amor seems to be able to spend at least $7.5 million, around what he thinks Dell offered. toymaker jcompton: well doesn't that make it sound like the only way it could be resolved tomorrow is if Escom wins jcompton toymaker: Not necessarily. If things go Amor's way, the courtroom floor will become the bidding ground. I presume there's some precedent his lawyers have informed him of, I doubt he made that up himself. jcompton toymaker: I'll wait another week if it's not Escom. A company as relucant to talk to ANYONE about ANYTHING as they are just doesn't make me feel better. toymaker jcompton: Such a scenario could be set up in a day? jcompton toymaker: Again, I'm not a bankruptcy lawyer. But he seemed convinced that it was at least possible. NewOrde who is dell and what are there plans toymaker NewOrde: Dell is a PC clone manufacturer jcompton New: And nobody knows what they want. JosherII jcompton: What, in your opinion would be the next viable system to invest in.. A PMac or a Pent. on OS/2? jcompton Josher: Whatever makes you feel good. Seriously. I haven't switched because at the moment I'm having a great time doing this on my 3000. Play with both and see what you like. HammerD jcompt: what time is the hearing tomorrow? jcompton HD: It's supposed to start at 10:00 EDT, so in 11 hours 30 minutes. Intrd jcompton hey if i come during lunch time do you think i might have some scoop? jcompton Intrd: Maybe. Zool is going to the hearing and hopes to have a laptop, but...well, for the authoritative, condensed, summarized, AR'ed version, you have to wait. :) toymaker I wonder if anyone's videotaping the auction. :) toymaker that would be interesting to watch... jcompton toymaker: No cameras allowed. No recording equipment of any kind allowed. JP jcompton: who exactly made the decision to accept Escoms bid, the Judge? jcompton JP: No, the liquidator and his lawyers. jcompton JP: The judge hears everything tomorrow. mUb Ahzwon: Thats what im trying to say to these people, it may not be so bad after all..... jcompton Mub: Escom has rejected all contact with Amiga users. jcompton Mub: Does THAT makes you feel good? HammerD jcompt: he may take time to "rule" on these objections.. :((( jcompton HD: He's had a week to read half of them... mUb JC: Indeed no, CBM were just like that.... jcompton Mub: I have had AR reps call, other perople have tried...they have lied about their interest and now just won't talk about it. steiner jcompton: so I was correct? E! won't make/sell Amigas? jcompton steiner: Well, we don't know at all. toymaker Is Gould at the auction? jcompton toy: I don't think so. toymaker jcompton: yah.. his life would probably be at risk or something.. :) NewOrde Does anyone know anything about the AOS project that C=Uk have had underway for a while know is it gonna be released with the A4000 and A1200 jcompton NewOrde: Commodore UK's head of developer support forwarded a letter from David Pleasance saying "We think what you're doing is great, hey, we're going to get the Amiga so we'd like you to help develop for us." steiner for info on AOS project: http://www.hyperreal.com/music/machines/Analogue-Heaven/ «Quit» jcompton has signed off (Leaving). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- End Log -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Email panther@gate.net for comments on this log. @endnode @node DETAIL5 "Interviews! Important ones!" @toc DETAIL ========================================================================== INTERVIEWS: Bernard van Tienen of Escom, Colin Proudfoot of C= UK Conducted by Josh Galun and Giorgio Gomelsky jgalun@maple.mis.net gio@phantom.com ========================================================================== (Josh Galun, editor of Amiga Link Online magazine, and Giorgio Gomelsky of the AMUSE Amiga user group were lucky [or unlucky enough, depends on your viewpoint] to be at the hearing today...they got two candidates for interviews, too...-Jason) Interview with Bernard van Tienen ESCOM. Friday April 21, 1995 [van Tienen is a former vice-president of Commodore International.] by Josh Galun (JG) assisted by Giorgio Gomelsky (GG) JG: How much can you say about your plans for the Amiga? BvT: We are setting up a group of advisors to advice us which products we should produce and we are digging into every product solutions not only Amigas but other products like Commodore products, TV set-top boxes, we are considering PowerPCs with Amiga, we are considering everything at the moment. JG: How soon do you think you'll be able to have Amigas in production? BvT: We haven't decided yet, but we have all the links with the factories. Escom is a big European group at the moment, we assemble our own machines, we have all the contacts with the manufacturers, we spoke already with them, the only thing is which product should we produce, which quality an then we get started. We presume we'll have the first products, the first Amiga products on the market within 3 months... JG: As I understand it, ESCOM is one of the biggest computer-sellers in Europe, I assume AMIGAS will be in all their stores, is that true? BvT: Not only Amigas but we will also produce Commodore PCs, ja, and of course we will use our own stores in Europe but besides that we will distribute products into other countries and also to other dealers in Europe... JG: The Amiga has a very vibrant community as well as many public domain programmers, do you plan to use them in any way or contact them and ask them what they think... BvT: Of course, of course, ja... JG: With the developers as well? BvT: Ja, ja, everybody will be involved...as many as possible to advice us on the Commodore and Amiga products... JG: Do you plan to attempt to hire any of the technicians who used to be with Commodore? BvT: Of course, we are already busy with it and already have some contracts. But a lot of Commodoore people are already working for ESCOM, for instance I was vice-president of Commodore International, Peter Tachenko... I think there are already roughly 100 ex-Commodore people working for ESCOM at the moment. JG: Do you have a position on whether you would license the Amiga technology and software to clone-makers? BvT: Not only to clone makers but also to people who want to produce products and need some of our licences. We are already busy with that, we've made some principal contacts, ja, on that. JG: How long have you been working to try and buy what was left of Commodore? BvT: We started with it, let's see, eh, last year in August 1994. JG: Had ESCOM been interested in the Amiga before the buy-out, in having Amigas in their stores? BvT: The point is that ESCOM. ...must have lasted 3/4 years. We sold Amigas in the past in our stores... JOSH TAKES A BREAK GG: You are aware that the Amiga has a tremendously loyal following? BvT: We know Commodore very well because I was vice-president of Commodore International and I know everybody and everything about C= of course... GG: Do you intend to use this energy that comes from the passion of the Amiga users? BvT: Of course, of course, the biggest asset is not only the name and the products but also the user-groups. There are millions of Amiga users and even more 64 users still, ja. We are also planning to roll out products in China and other countries... GG: How would you achieve this contact with the users? Would you put up a site on the Internet? BvT: We haven't decided yet but everything is possible. Also we would use the magazines of course, there are hundreds of magazines, so ok, we haven't got the deal yet, but as you heard in the court now it looks like we'll get the deal in a couple of weeks, we have planned a lot but now we'll be able to roll it out, ja? So give us some time, ja, we'll consider everything... GG: Could the users be in touch with you, say over the next month or so and communicate their concern? BvT: Ja, we will install people everywhere, in Europe, in the States. Call me and I will tell you who and where they are. We are aware of the frustrations users had under the old management... JOSH GETS BACK JG: Do you have any plans already in place or being discussed with CEI about working with them on the Amiga? BvT: We can't disclose that at the moment. JG: Was C= UK part of the buy-out? BvT (pointing at Colin Proudfoot passing by): That's C= UK... "Ok, Colin, see you next week, ok?" It's not part of the deal at the moment, but next week we have an apoointment with C= to see what we can do with them. We are talking with them... JG: Do you have plans to work with them or to possibly buy them out? BvT: Both are possible... GG: My main concern is for the users, this has been a long slog... BvT: Yes, I think it is a good thing that finally there is this sale. We already wanted to buy last year, but we couldn't proceed, we couldn't hurry it up, ja, it took so long... JG: Can I ask you a bit of a personal question? Do you own an Amiga yourself? Which one" BvT: I don't own an Amiga at the moment... JG (smiling): But you're planning on getting one, yeah? BvT: I,I,I..I've used Amiga in the past, ja, in my office. I'll get a new one that's coming out, we don't know what spec it will be, we are working on it hard at the moment... JG: Do you have any plans to have some online chats on the Internet? Do make more use of the Internet? BvT: Of course the Internet is going around right now, it's very popular in the States, also booming right now in Europe, so ja, something will happen... We will set up support groups to get to know what is going on all over the place... JG: Do you plan to make separate Amiga packages with software bundles, let's say a Modem Package, a Game Package, as C= UK has done in the past? BvT: It worked very well out in the UK, I know the figures because I was involved and everything is possible...but we can also bring out other products under the Amiga name, ja, we can also bring other technology into the Amiga, if you want, ja, we haven't defined it yet but we are considering everything and we expect a lot from Commodore and Amiga, otherwise we wouldn't have bought it, ja? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday April 21, 1995, outside US Bankruptcy Court building 4:15pm Interview with Colin Proudfoot of C= UK by Josh Galun Missed first question CP: C= UK is waiting for this thing to be over. We then look forward to working with ESCOM and reviewing their plans for the future of Commodore cause they're gonna drive the technology and in effect they are quit likely to end up the owners of the C= UK business. JG: Do you believe ESCOM will buy C=UK as they exist right now or do you believe they will license you as clone-makers? CP: I don't think ESCOM will leave C=UK outside its organization, so it's a technical question in acoounting terms whether it's expedient for them to keep the corporate identity as it is today or create a new corporate identity or use their existing structure and merge the C=UK within that. I think that was is key is that they will retain a lot of the staff from the UK organization because we have the expertise on the market place. JG: If you were allowed to make your own plans for the UK market of the Amiga, what would they be? If ESCOM gave you that, how would market the Amiga and make it viable again? CP: I don't think that is a realistic question because if you look at the market place as a whole you can't exclude the UK from the rest of Europe or the rest of the world. Computing nowadays is very much a global market and we would have to fall in line with ESCOM. A regards to what marketing plans we would see, David Pleasance has outlined the plans he would have for the market place and the products and how it would develop. In fact he will be talking to ESCOM about these things next week and we will see how many of those ideas they will wish to adopt. JG: So you're saying that there is nothing that separates the UK market from the rest of the European market or the global market? CP: Europe is now a common market and there are no technical bounderies for free movement of goods and services so a product that's launched in the UK one day we'll find in Germany the next day, or in Holland or in Danmark. JG: I heard that C=UK has good developers' relationships. Have you been talking to them about the buyout and what information have you gotten from them that might be helpful to ESCOM? CP: Well the UK has a very strong software community and a lot of developers are based in there and we've been talking to them throughout the buyout, we've been discussing ideas for eventual new products and I think ESCOM will be very interested in the discussion that we had and the results of those discussions. JG: Is there any technology that C=UK has that has not been released or that it still owns the rights to? CP: C=UK has never owned any of the rights to the technology, it's merely been a licensee. All rights have always been held by CEL in the Bahamas or Commodore-Amiga in California. To come back to the developers, we recognise and I think the ESCOM people recognise how important the relationships with the development community are and on behalf of David and myself I wish to thank the development community for their support over the last 12 months. It' been absolutely tremendous, we couldn't have asked for any more support or any better encouragement from the guys all around the world. Hopefully we're looking forward to working with ESCOM working with the developers' community and putting the Amiga back on top of the market place, which is what we wanted all along. JG: The US is a very competitive, intense and big market. Do you think ESCOM will want tto and are able to attack it properly? CP: You should ask them. I can only speculate and have a personal opinion and I would say the following: ESCOM have been phenomenally successful as a PC vendor in Europe and they have grown the business tremendously. Where do they go from there? They look to North America. How they penetrate the American market? Can they do it with a "me-too" computer? No they can't! So therefore they need a product to differentiate themselves from the rest of the competition and just maybe, just maybe, the Amiga is that product. JG: What are your personal feelings about the end of the buyout? CP: I'm very glad it's over! JG: Are you an Amiga user yourself? CP: I have a CD32 at home and in the office a Commodore 486 PC. JG: Do you have any plans of switching to the Amiga? CP: I am not a technologist I am a businessman. What I do is I talk to David Pleasance and the rest of the guys in the UK to get an understanding from them about the technology and its applications. My job is business. @endnode @node OTSTUFF "Other stuff..." @toc MAIN This is the end of an era, certainly. But it's not the end of the Amiga-not yet. We'll still be here for quite some time...after all, the overhead on Amiga Report is pretty low. :) For those of you lucky enough to get this in time, everyone is welcome to come to the IRC conference on channel #auction being held at 11:00 PM EDT (Eastern US time), where we will present the information as we know it, and members of the New York Amiga user group AMUSE and Amiga Link editor Josh Galun (who were all present at the hearing) will give their interpretation of the day's events.) Amiga Report 3.09 will be out in about a week...working up to this auction has distracted us from normal operations. Sorry. @endnode @node MAILLIST "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc WHERE =========================================================================== == Amiga Report Mailing List == =========================================================================== If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in @{"UUENCODED" link UUENCODE} form each week as soon as the issue is released. To be put on the list, send Email to jcompton@bbs.xnet.com and in the body of the message ask nicely to be added to the list. ie: Please add me to the mailing list for Amiga Report magazine. My addresss is . Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy. For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages. ** IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over ** ** 100K! We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a ** ** 100K size limit for incoming mail. If we get a bounceback with your ** ** address in it, it will be removed from the list. Thanks! ** *** The following is only for Australian readers! *** To circumvent the new pay-per-megabyte system for Australian Internet communication, Paul Reece has been kind enough to set up an AUSTRALIAN-ONLY mailing list, to save his fellow countrymen some money. You can join the list by sending mail to: majordomo@info.tas.gov.au with the single line (in body of message): subscribe ar Amiga Report will then be bounced to you. @endnode @node UUENCODE @toc MAILLIST =========================================================================== == UUDecoding Amiga Report == =========================================================================== If you receive Amiga Report from the direct mailing list, it will arrive in UUEncoded format. This format allows programs and archive files to be sent through mail by converting the binary into combinations of ASCII characters. In the message, it will basically look like a lot of trash surrounded by begin and end, followed by the size of the file. To UUDecode Amiga Report, you first need to get a UUDecoding program, such as UUxT by Asher Feldman. This program is available on Aminet in pub/aminet/arc/ Then you must download the message that it is contained in. Don't worry about message headers, the UUDecoding program will ignore them. There is a GUI interface for UUxT, which should be explained in the docs. However, the quickest method for UUDecoding the magazine is to type uuxt x ar.uu at the command prompt. You will then have to decompress the archive with lha, and you will then have Amiga Report in all of its AmigaGuide glory. If you have any questions, you can write to @{"Jason Compton" link JASON} @endnode @node AMINET "Aminet" @toc WHERE Aminet ~~~~~~ To get Amiga Report from Aminet, simply FTP to any Aminet site, CD to docs/mags. All the back issues are located there as well. Sites: ftp.cdrom.com, ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.tas.gov.au, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk @endnode @node WWW "World Wide Web" @toc WHERE World Wide Web ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AR can also be read with Mosaic (in either AmigaGuide or html form). Reading AmigaReport with Mosaic removes the necessity to download it. It can also be read using programs found in UNIX sites such as LYNX. Simply tell Mosaic to open the following URL: http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/mjw/Computer/Amiga/News/AR/index.html Or, for those in Europe, the Polish site is: http://sun1000.ci.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/ Amiga information can also be accessed at this URL: http://www.prairienet.org/community/clubs/cucug/amiga.html Mosaic for the Amiga can be found on Aminet in directory comm/net, or (using anonymous ftp) on max.physics.sunysb.edu Mosaic for X, Macintosh(tm) and Microsoft Windows(tm) can be found on ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu @endnode @node COPYRIGHT "Copyright Information" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== == _ _ __ ___ _ == == /\\ |\\ /| || // \ /\\ == == / \\ | \\ /|| ||(< __ / \\ == == /--- \\| \/ || || \\_||/--- \\ == == /______________________________\\ == == / \\ == == Amiga Report International Online Magazine == == April 21, 1995 Special Auction Issue == == Copyright 1995 FS Publications == == All Rights Reserved == =========================================================================== Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of FS Publications. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must, _without exception_, include the name of the publication, date, issue number and the author's name. Amiga Report and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. However, translation into a language other than English is acceptible, provided the editor is notified beforehand and the original meaning is not altered. Amiga Report may be distributed on privately owned not-for-profit bulletin board systems (fees to cover cost of operation are acceptable), and major online services such as (but not limited to) Delphi and Portal. Distribution on public domain disks is acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. no more than $5 US). Distribution on for-profit magazine cover disks requires written permission from the editor. Amiga Report is a not-for-profit publication. Amiga Report, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate. Amiga Report, its staff and contributors are not and cannot be held responsible for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained there from. Amiga Report is not affiliated with Commodore-Amiga, Inc., Commodore Business Machines, Ltd., or any other Amiga publication in any way. All items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair Use Provision of the Copyright Laws of the United States Penal Code. Any Electronic Mail sent to the editors may be reprinted, in whole or in part, without any previous permission of the author, unless said electronic mail is specifically requested not to be reprinted. =========================================================================== @endnode @node GUIDELINE "Amiga Report Writing Guidelines" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== == Amiga Report Writing Guidelines == =========================================================================== The three most important requirements for submissions to Amiga Report are: 1. Please use English. 2. Please use paragraphs. It's hard on the eyes to have solid screens of text. If you don't know where to make a paragraph break, guess. 3. Please put a blank line in between paragraphs. It makes formatting the magazine much much easier. Note: If you want to check ahead of time to make sure we'll print your article, please write to the @{"Editor" link JASON}. @endnode @node DETAILED "Detailed Descriptions" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Detailed Descriptions == =========================================================================== @{" April 20th Mini-Update " link DETAIL1} A short file describing the day. @{" Germans Bid and Land... " link DETAIL2} The summary of Dan Stets' article. @{" C= UK MBO Withdrawl " link DETAIL3} Pleasance and Proudfoot concede @{" Mini-Conference " link DETAIL4} Discussing Thursday's events @{" Interviews! " link DETAIL5} Interviews held with Escom and C= UK execs @endnode @node ABOUT "About AMIGA REPORT" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == About AMIGA REPORT == =========================================================================== @{" AR Staff " link STAFF} The Editors and writers @{" Writing Guidelines " link GUIDELINE} What you need to do to write for us @{" Copyright Information " link COPYRIGHT} The legal stuff @{" Where to Get AR " link WHERE} Where to pick up the issues @endnode @node STAFF "The Staff" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== == The Staff == =========================================================================== Editor: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} Senior Editor: @{" Robert Niles " link ROBERT} Assistant Editor: @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE} Games Editor: @{" Sean Caszatt " link SEAN} @endnode @node WHERE "Where to Get AR" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Where to Get AR == =========================================================================== @{" The AR Mailing List " link MAILLIST} @{" Aminet " link AMINET} @{" World Wide Web " link WWW} @endnode