Netscape Communications Corp

AOL, Netscape Consider Alliance: The talks between the companies are aimed at fending off a challenge from Microsoft Corp., sources said. Vienna, Va.-based America Online may license Netscape Communications Corp.'s browser, the most popular software used to navigate the Internet, as an early move in the partnership. Discussions are in the preliminary stage and it could be weeks before an announcement is made, the sources said.

Microsoft Corp. will pay AOL Time Warner Inc. $750 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the software giant unfairly crushed AOL's Netscape Web browser. In the settlement deal announced Thursday, the rivals also agreed to collaborate on digital media initiatives to thwart piracy, an important move as the Internet gains currency as an entertainment medium piping music and movies into homes.

Long after Microsoft's Internet Explorer won the browser wars, AOL's Netscape Communications division is launching another volley in its battle to stay relevant. Netscape 7, now available for downloading as a preview release, is more defensive than offensive: It fixes the bugs and improves on the speed of its predecessor while adding features others already have. That's not to say that Netscape has nothing new to offer.

Yahoo Inc. introduced a business-to-business directory that lists equipment and supplies that companies can buy on the Web. . . . Compaq Computer Corp. will put Microsoft Corp.'s Internet service on its Presario personal computers under a three-year alliance. . . . Netscape Communications Corp. said it will release a test version of its long-overdue Web browser, Netscape 6.0, within the next 25 days.

International Business Machines Corp., Lotus Development Corp., Netscape Communications Corp., Novell Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. plan to form a global Internet consortium. Novell said the goal of the consortium is to provide customers with Internet and intranet training and certification. The members of the consortium plan to name another company to administer the training and certification program, which will be rolled out in 1997, Novell said.

Netscape Communications Corp. will become a component of the Nasdaq-100 Index beginning Thursday, the Nasdaq Stock Market said. The Internet service provider will replace Gateway 2000 Inc. in the index, which is a benchmark for large-growth stocks. Shares of Mountain View-based Netscape rose 50 cents to close at $30.50. Gateway shares added $1.125 to close at $71.125.

Microsoft Corp.'s alleged anti-competitive business practices have yet to harm consumers, though the software giant could raise prices if its Windows monopoly remains intact, an economist testified as the government concluded its landmark antitrust case.

Netscape Communications Corp. has introduced a service on its Web site at http://home.netscape.com designed to deliver news and services to small companies. The service is part of Netscape's recently announced "Project 60" aimed at expanding its Netcenter Web site into a broad service for consumer and business users. Included are backup services to protect files, information on how small businesses can interact with clients over the Net and a suite of Web-hosting services.

* FPA Medical Management Inc. said PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. agreed to boost the percentage of member premiums it pays the company to care for its HMO patients in Nevada. The news boosted hopes that San Diego-based FPA will return to profitability, sending its shares up $1.78 to close at $4.59 on Nasdaq. * Netscape Communications Corp. signed agreements with Internet directories Lycos Inc., Infoseek Corp., Digital Equipment Corp.'

Former Netscape Communications Corp. Chief Executive James Barksdale, a key witness in next month's Microsoft antitrust trial, will testify that if the software giant's proposed settlement with the Justice Department had been in place six years ago, Netscape might never have been formed. As the lead-off witness in the Justice Department's first trial against the software giant in 1998, Barksdale won points with his folksy language.

Yahoo Inc. introduced a business-to-business directory that lists equipment and supplies that companies can buy on the Web. . . . Compaq Computer Corp. will put Microsoft Corp.'s Internet service on its Presario personal computers under a three-year alliance. . . . Netscape Communications Corp. said it will release a test version of its long-overdue Web browser, Netscape 6.0, within the next 25 days.

Even before Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his legal broadside against Microsoft Corp. on Friday, the company was facing some of its gravest threats in years. Jackson's ruling is likely to make all these threats worse. Morale at the company is already thought to be slipping as the world changes around it, with many top executives having quit in recent months.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's finding Friday that Microsoft Corp. uses monopoly power to harm potential competitors could accelerate a dilution of the company's once-unquestioned dominance over the software industry. Antitrust experts called the findings a resounding victory for the Department of Justice. The action foreshadows a final ruling in the landmark antitrust case against the high-tech titan, strongly suggesting Jackson will rule that Microsoft violated antitrust laws.

Marc Andreessen, a co-founder of Netscape Communications Corp. who until recently served as the chief technology officer of America Online Inc., announced a new company called Loudcloud Inc. that will foster Internet businesses. Andreessen said the new company aims to capitalize on the trend toward more sophisticated and complex Internet sites by delivering the technology and services they require.

Microsoft Corp. faces off Tuesday against the Justice Department in the next phase of the landmark antitrust trial whose outcome is expected to transform the technology landscape. The software giant is expected to focus on America Online Inc.'s $10-billion purchase of Netscape Communications Corp. to show that the computer industry remains highly competitive.

Scoop Inc. will add its e-mail clipping service to Netscape Communications Corp.'s online collection of news outlets on World Wide Web. The Orange County company will be distributing its personalized e-mail news service, Scoop Direct, which allows users to create a list of subject matter that interests them. Then each morning, the software browses through 3,700 different publications, and e-mails the user a collection of headlines and story summaries.

A senior executive of America Online confirmed that early discussions with Netscape Communications over a nearly $10-billion merger were taking place in the months before the Microsoft trial began, and that AOL considered the impact of the deal on the trial's outcome. Barry Schuler, president of AOL's Interactive Services Group, said that the earliest discussion with Netscape started late last summer, and that by the middle of October, AOL had completed a 71-page analysis of the deal. U.S.