Compuserve Inc

CompuServe Inc. Agrees to Buy Spry Inc.: The on-line service has agreed to acquire Seattle-based Spry, a provider of Internet access applications, for $100 million in cash and stock, CompuServe's parent H&R Block Inc. said. Spry will become the CompuServe Internet services division and it will be headed by Spry President and founder David Pool, who will become an executive vice president of Columbus, Ohio-based CompuServe, Block said. The transaction is expected to close within 30 days.

In a surprise verdict that could stunt multimedia growth in Germany, a Munich court on Thursday convicted a former CompuServe regional manager of pornography charges for failing to block pornographic material available on the Internet. The court convicted Felix Somm, even though prosecutors had reversed themselves and asked for his acquittal.

On-Line Computer Services Reach 3.9 Million Homes: The number of households subscribing to such services jumped 10% in the past six months to nearly 3.9 million, according to a semiannual survey published by a trade newsletter. The homes are primarily in the United States, according to the Washington-based Information and Interactive Services Report. The survey attributed part of the increase to strong sales at America Online Inc., which gained 130,000 users, or 59%, and CompuServe Inc.

CompuServe Corp. pioneered and dominated the commercial online service industry, but in the end the struggling company lost out to a swift-footed competitor with a bolder vision of an indispensable computer network used by everyday Americans. The $1.27-billion deal announced Monday that would split CompuServe's assets between rival America Online Inc. and telecommunications powerhouse WorldCom Inc.

Closing in on a pair of important victories in what promises to be a long war against personal computer software giant Microsoft Corp., Netscape Communications Corp. has licensed its Internet browser software to online provider CompuServe Inc. and says it is on the verge of a similar deal with America Online. The CompuServe deal will enable that service's 4.

CompuServe Inc., one of the pioneers of the computer online services business, said Thursday that competition has become so intense that it's abandoning efforts to chase a consumer mass market. CompuServe executives said they doubted their service's ability--and that of rivals such as America Online Inc. and Microsoft Corp.--to make money by aggressively recruiting subscribers through free trial offers and bargain pricing.

Germany's biggest Internet provider cut access Friday to neo-Nazi propaganda posted on a Northern California electronic server--and to nearly 1,500 other sites there ranging from financial services to Santa Claus Online. Computer users accused Deutsche Telekom, the national phone company, of overreacting and said such action could stifle the free flow of information that the Internet is meant to foster. The block was imposed Thursday.

After months of pressure from shareholders who felt its stock was undervalued, H&R Block Inc. announced Tuesday that it will spin off its CompuServe Inc. online services company. Block said it will make a public offering of less than 20% of CompuServe stock in April. It will distribute its remaining ownership through a tax-free spinoff within about a year. CompuServe would become the second stand-alone online services firm. The other is its larger rival America Online Inc.

After 36 straight hours at work and dozens of cans of Pepsi, programmers at Telegrafix Communications Inc. came up with a way to bypass a widely used, patented code for transmitting photos and graphics between computers. As it turns out, the small Huntington Beach company may never send out the program. Still, the staff at Telegrafix sees itself as having struck a blow for freedom in on-line software distribution. Compuserve Inc.

Efforts by governments to censor the Internet will ultimately be in vain, despite the likelihood that more countries will follow Germany's lead in trying to control access to objectionable material, cyberspace experts said Friday. Also, CompuServe Inc. and other online services are not likely to be hurt in the long run by CompuServe's recent decision to temporarily restrict access to more than 200 Internet newsgroups at the behest of German authorities, they said.

America Online, CompuServe and Prodigy Services on Thursday settled government allegations that supposed "free trial" offers resulted in unexpected charges to consumers. The Federal Trade Commission voted 5-0 for the agreement requiring that--among other things--companies get written authorization from consumers before tapping their checking accounts electronically. No fines were levied against the three. AOL, CompuServe and Prodigy said in statements that they are now complying with the law.

America Online, the largest consumer online service, may be considering a bid for No. 2 CompuServe, the company that launched the commercial online business. Rumors of AOL's interest in CompuServe swept financial markets Tuesday after a New York securities research firm, Wall Street Strategies, said a deal may be in the works. The report sent CompuServe shares up $1.14 to close at $11 in Nasdaq trading. The rumors also boosted AOL's stock by $3.25 to $45.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.

CompuServe Inc., one of the pioneers of the computer online services business, said Thursday that competition has become so intense that it's abandoning efforts to chase a consumer mass market. CompuServe executives said they doubted their service's ability--and that of rivals such as America Online Inc. and Microsoft Corp.--to make money by aggressively recruiting subscribers through free trial offers and bargain pricing.

H&R Block Inc. on Wednesday postponed the spinoff of its remaining stake in CompuServe Corp., hoping to raise the stock price before giving the money-losing unit to shareholders. To separate CompuServe from its tax-preparation business, H&R Block intends to improve CompuServe's performance by cutting costs and stemming customer defections to cheaper Internet services.

Last week I looked at America Online's new version 3.0 interface, and one reader sent e-mail saying, in effect, "What about CompuServe?" Well, who says this column isn't interactive? It so happens that CompuServe has just released a beta, or testing, version of its new version 3.0 interface. As a long-standing CompuServe user and fan, I was eager not just to try the new program, but also to find out what CompuServe is doing to counteract the phenomenal success of America Online and the Internet.

CompuServe Names Interim Chairman: The nation's second-biggest online service named a former Hallmark Cards Inc. and BAT Industries executive, Henry F. Frigon, to replace Richard H. Brown, who recently agreed to become chief executive of the telecom concern Cable & Wireless in London. The move comes as CompuServe Inc., with about 5 million subscribers, repositions itself in a market dominated by Internet-based technology. CompuServe also elected Frank L.

The fast-changing world of online computing lurched in another unexpected direction Tuesday as software powerhouse Microsoft Corp. agreed to help CompuServe, the nation's second-largest online service, move its operation to the Internet's World Wide Web.