The week ahead: Napster's fate, HP software launch

Following are some of the notable tech-related events scheduled for the week of Feb. 12 to 16.

Three judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will determine the fate of the controversial file-swapping start-up Napster on Monday when they issue a long-awaited ruling.

The judges will either uphold a lower court's injunction and force the site to stop facilitating the trade of copyrighted materials, or they will overturn the injunction allowing Napster to continue until a full trial ensues.

Also, Hewlett-Packard will launch a new software initiative in San Francisco. Bill Russell, vice president of HP's Software Solutions Organization, will unveil a new family of software products Tuesday that HP boasts will be the largest portfolio around.

The move could help HP, which is trying to ramp up revenue from other areas of its business besides low-end hardware sales. In January, HP warned that its first quarter earnings would fall short of expectations. At that time, CEO Carly Fiorina said HP was "aggressively pursuing growth opportunities."

The following information was gathered from First Call, Hoover's Online, CCBN's StreetEvents and CNET Investor.

Other events scheduled this week:

	Tech Events

Monday, Feb. 12

• The DEMO 2001conference will take place at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs in Phoenix, Ariz., Feb. 10-13. The conference serves as a launch pad for new products Speakers will include General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner.

• Goldman Sachs will host its annual Technology Symposium in La Quinta Calif. Feb.12-15. Speakers will include Siebel Systems CEO Thomas Siebel and Ray Lane, the former Oracle president who is now a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

• The Applications of Software Measurement Conference will take place at the San Diego Paradise Point Resort in San Diego, Calif., Feb. 12-16. The conference will focus on using measurement to control software projects.

• VoiceCon2001 will take place at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 12-15. The conference will focus on moving telephone networks to the Internet, and the transmission of voice, video and data over the Internet.

• Frost & Sullivan will host the Annual Next Generation Internet Executive Summit, which will take place at the Marriott La Jolla in San Diego, Calif., Feb. 11-14. Companies presenting include Digital Island, IBM and VTEL.

• The Mobile Commerce Conference will take place at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, Calif., Feb. 12-13. Speakers will include Sridhar Ranganathan, the general manager of Yahoo Everywhere.

• The Churchill Club will host the 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards dinner Monday night at the Santa Clara Marriott in Santa Clara, Calif. A panel on "Leading the Way to the Future: Moving Forward in the Entrepreneurial Spirit" will take place in conjunction with the program, which will feature discussions on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur today.

Tuesday, Feb. 13


• Forre ster Research's Automotive Summit will take place at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif. Topics at the conference will include the evolution toward built-to-order autos, online buying and inventory matters. Speakers will include Elizabeth Frost, group manager of MSN CarPoint.

• The ASP Channel Conference & Biz Dev World conference will take place at the South San Francisco Convention Center Feb. 13-14. Speakers include IBM vice-president Terry Thomas and Lindell Wilson, manager of SunTone for Sun Microsystems.

Wednesday, Feb 14


• The O'Reilly Peer-to-Peer Conferencewill take place at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco Feb. 14-16. The conference will explore the technical, legal, and business dimensions raised by peer-to-peer Internet applications. Companies represented at the conference will include Napster, Gnutella, Freenet and Infrasearch.

• The Black Hat Win2K Security Briefings will take place at Caesar's Palace Hotel in Las Vegas Feb. 14-15. The conference will provide in-depth technical presentations with specific solutions to security issues.

Thursday, Feb. 15


• The Commerce Chain Conference and Exposition will take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center Feb. 15-16. The conference will discuss how to maximize business profitability in B2B Exchanges through partnering, marketing and sales.

• The Websourcing 2001 Conference & Exposition will take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Feb. 15-16. Web-sourcing strategies and options will be discussed as a way to drive profitability and increase market share. Speakers include Mark Breier, who has held executive positions at Amazon.com and Beyond.com.

	Earnings

Monday, Feb. 12


• DrKoop.com operates a health information Web site. Per-share consensus estimate: N/A.

• Women.com operates a network of Web sites directed at women. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 35 cents.

• MarchFirst is an Internet consulting company that provides application hosting, e-commerce computing design, software development, and network infrastructure implementation. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 30 cents.

• ValueClick is an Internet advertising firm that operates on a cost-per-click basis. Per-share consensus estimate: breakeven.

Tuesday, Feb. 13

• HotJobs.com is an online recruiting site. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 20 cents.

• Viryanet makes software used by the field services personnel of telecommunications, utilities and high-tech companies. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 9 cents.

• Sycamore Networks makes optical networking products that boost fiber-optic network capacity for communications service providers. Per-share consensus estimate: 5 cents.

• Applied Materials manufactures equipment used in semiconductor factories. Per-share consensus estimate: 63 cents.

• NBC Internet operates Web sites that include NBC.com. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 81 cents.

• Sequoia Software companies organize information from disparate sources, publish it online, and index it so people can search for specific information. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 17 cents.

• JDS Uniphase makes optical networking components for the telecommunication industry. Per-share consensus estimate: 21 cents.

Wednesday, Feb. 14

• PeoplePC sells computers that can be upgraded every three years for a monthly fee. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 63 cents.

• Loudeye Technologies makes software to convert audio and video for Web publishing, create streaming-media slide shows and syndicate streaming media online. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 19 cents.

• WebEx Communications sells software that lets companies orchestrate meetings over the Internet. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 45 cents.

Thursday, Feb. 15

• Pricelineoperates a name-your-own price e-commerce site selling everything from airline tickets to home mortgages. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 7 cents.

	Economic Reports

Tuesday, Feb. 13


• Retail Sales for the month of January are expected to rose 0.4 percent compared with December's gain of 0.1 percent. Excluding automobile sales, Wall Street expects retail sales to climb 0.4 vs. no gain the previous month.

Wednesday, Feb. 14

• Business Inventories represents the percentage change in the amount of goods in inventory in the United States as reported by the Department of Commerce. Wall Street predicts that this number will rise 0.4 percent in December vs. a 0.5 percent jump in November.

Thursday, Feb. 15

• Initial Claimsrefers to the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits each week as reported by the Department of Labor. Claims will be reported for the week of Feb. 10.

• The Import and Export Price index from the Department of Commerce indicates the percentage change in import and export prices for any given month.

Friday, Feb. 2

• The Producer Price Index is expected to rise to 0.2 percent in January. The core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, is expected to fall to 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent the previous month. This Labor Department index tracks the cost of what manufacturers pay for raw goods to make products.

• Housing Starts are expected to reach 1.55 million for January, down from 1.575 million last month, as reported by the Department of Commerce.