Fears about Y2K dominated 1999, with doomsday scenarios surrounding the Millennium Bug almost impossible to avoid. Equally prominent were details of Microsoft's antitrust troubles during the "technology trial of the century". It wasn't such a good year for systems administrators, who found themselves under attack from "cyber-terrorists". The open-source movement fared better, with more manufacturers throwing their weight behind the Linux operating system. Vast amounts of money - mostly as stock - continued to change hands for ownership of scores of technology companies and online businesses. Web traffic continued to increase exponentially.
January: America Online is accused of following a "politically motivated" pro-British agenda after shutting down two dozen Irish Heritage message boards, claiming they included profanity and threats of violence. Young Scientist of the Year Sarah Flannery causes quite a stir with news of her mathematical encryption technique - as much as 30 times faster than the RSA encryption algorithm. Hackers intent on disrupting the East Timorese Internet domain, established by the East Timor Project, force the temporary closure of the Connect Ireland server. Intel announces plans for the release of the Pentium III chip amid controversy as privacy groups in the US complain about an intrusive processor serial number which has the facility to track people's movements online.
February: Yahoo announces plans to acquire GeoCities in a stock deal valued at about $3.6 billion and $1 billion more in options. A Galway-based information services company has its premises raided by gardai seeking pirated computer software. It is the first operation of its kind in the State. The European Parliament gives its full backing to artists concerned about the spread of digital media by voting to significantly strengthen legislation on online piracy.
If they succeed they will have created the social security number of the Web. - Barry Steinhardt, of the American Civil Liberties Union, on the Pentium serial number.
March: The Irish Times on the Web launches ireland.com. Apple becomes the first major company to give free access to the source code of parts of its operating system software for network servers. The Melissa macro virus surfaces, clogging email systems all over the world. Yahoo acquires Internet audio/video provider Broadcast.com in a deal worth $5.7 million.
I took the initiative in creating the Internet. - US Vice-President Al Gore staking his claim for immortality.
April: Dublin mathematician John Cosgrave discovers the largest known "Irish" prime number, which at 49,642 digits comes in at number 40 in the world primes league table. The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs receives an award from the Smithsonian Institute for its work on Y2K problems. On the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, a virus carrying the same name strikes, damaging 360,000 computers in China and costing $120 million.
May: An Enterprise Ireland survey on Y2K finds that Irish SMEs are completely out of touch, "firmly believing the computer industry will sort the problem out". An Post unveils a new e-commerce certification service, Post.Trust, to allow online transactions be authenticated with proper security. The European Parliament approves legislation designed to promote e-commerce by setting out rules in areas ranging from consumer protection to liability of ISPs. SGI, HP and Oracle all step up their commitment to use Linux. It takes Net users just hours to outwit Britain's intelligence services and make widely available a banned list of 116 secret service officers.
The Internet is impossible to control completely. Information can get through even the toughest government censors and filters. - Bobson Wong, executive director of the Digital Freedom Network, a website and action group set up to combat censorship and to protect human rights.
June: The final witness in the Microsoft antitrust trial acknowledges that the software giant's operating system would be "the only viable alternative" for most computer makers in the near future. The W32/ExploreZip worm affects a number of organisations in Ireland, deleting files as it spreads via email. Motorola and Sun Microsystems form a 10-year pact to develop equipment to allow network operators deliver a high level of wireless telephone service.
You have to admire them (Ocean) for doing this. They're going to get a lot of customers very quickly. . . It was just a question of who jumped first. - Colm Grealy, co-founder of ISP Ireland On-Line, on the BT-ESB alliance's move to allow people access the Net subscription-free.
July: Telecom Eireann launches a digital media venture under the name "rondomondo". Yahoo has to revise the terms of use for its GeoCities Web community after members protest that proposed copyright clauses rob users of control over the content of their own websites. A study by University of South Florida researchers concludes that fear of the Internet is replacing fear of communists or of the CIA as a favourite delusion of new psychiatric patients. The Government allocates £7.7 million to kick-start a range of projects in a continuing initiative to create an information society in Ireland.
We expect these machines to become increasingly appliance-like - like your VCR. When it breaks, you throw it out. - Intel executive vice president, Paul Otellini.
August: Computer cracker Kevin Mitnick is ordered to pay $4,125 to the companies he victimised as the judge completes the last sentencing detail in one of the most publicised computer crime cases in history. Microsoft decides to locate all its European online transaction services in Ireland. Plans for the establishment of a child pornography hotline and an Internet Advisory Board to oversee it are announced by the Department of Justice.
September: Computer crackers, calling themselves "United Lone Gunmen" vandalise the sites for Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange in an electronic affront to the world's financial markets. Argos declines to honour thousands of orders placed on its website for £3 Sony TV sets, blaming a software glitch for the appearance of the bargain-basement prices. A dispute between Dublin Corporation and several telecommunications companies is said to be delaying the rollout of high-speed broadband technology in Dublin. Esat buys Postgem/IOL for £115 million.
As more and more Americans are going online - particularly our children - it is critical that they are protected from online stalking. - US Vice President Al Gore, calling for a federal law to make it easier to track down "cyberstalkers".
October: The US House of Representatives votes to ban "cybersquatting", the bad-faith registration or trafficking in domain names that are identical to or confusingly similar to a distinctive trademark. Public access to and use of the Internet more than doubles in a year, according to a survey published by the Information Society Commission.
November: Microsoft faces an uncertain period following the legal decision that it used monopoly power to harm consumers. Lawyers across the US start filing class-action lawsuits, alleging that Microsoft used its control of the market to overcharge customers. The Irish Internet Association awards its inaugural Net Visionary award to Liam Ferrie, founder of Irish Emigrant Publications. The EU establishes standards for electronic signatures to be enforced by member-states. The European Parliament also asks countries with nuclear capabilities to disable their nuclear weapon alert systems over the New Year.
December: The Dublin Media Lab Europe which will see MIT establishing an independent research institute with an emphasis on the development of Internet and e-commerce applications in Dublin finally gets the go-ahead. David L. Smith, a programmer from New Jersey, pleads guilty to releasing the Melissa virus. Ericsson and Microsoft announce plans to develop Internet web browser and email access from mobile phones and handheld computers. Jeff Bezos - the e-commerce genius who set up online bookstore Amazon - is named "man of the year" by Time magazine.
Review of the year compiled by Conor Pope.
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