District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson followed the Department of Justice proposal and split the Microsoft Corp. into two parts: one that would sell operating systems and one that would sell applications and run the company's Internet efforts.

Calling the Corporation "Untrustworthy", Jackson gave Microsoft four months to submit a divestiture plan once the judgment is in place. Jackson said that he had "reluctantly" came to the decision that the split was necessary. He gave several reasons, including the Corporations refusal to admit that it had violated the Federal Sherman Antitrust Act and that it is purposely trying to cripple competition in other markets as it did against Netscape in the browser market.

Chairman Bill Gates vowed to appeal and said he would pursue a motion to set along side the ruling while he did so. "Nobody wants to go back to the days of one telephone company" said Sun Microsystems Inc. CEO Scott McNealy in a news release. "Everyone cares about the freedom of choice, which is why today's ruling is so monumentally important both to the industry and consumers." Yesterday's ruling, in effect, ends the 2 year long trial that started in may 1998 when the Department of Justice and 20 state attorney generals sued Microsoft for violating federal antitrust law.

Human Decoding Complete? Implication of Findings Amaze and Worry

Some scientists are calling this week’s expected announcement of a breakthrough to crack the human genetic code a “watershed event in science.” Scientists working to map all the human genes will announce Monday that they have essentially completed the project, placing in proper order most of the 3.1 billion subunits of DNA that make up the genome. “It’s a watershed event in science,” said Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Biotech Century. Experts consider the decoding of the human gene structure to be one of history’s great scientific milestones, sort of the biological equivalent of landing on the moon.

The Lucrative Road Ahead

Of course, this is just the beginning. “The next step is a mad rush by companies all over the world to locate every single gene inside the mall, because these genes are the most valuable resource of the 21st Century,” said Lander said. The development could have a staggering impact on science and medicine. A fundamental understanding of how genes affect disease will lead to new drugs, to individually designed treatments and, perhaps, to correction of gene flaws before birth. Pharmaceutical companies are particularly interested in identifying the genes for diseases such as asthma and cancer, which could yield lucrative treatments. Some companies have even begun to patent their research. But while information about our genes could be helpful, some implications are disturbing and dangerous. Genetic information has been used by some companies when hiring. Legislation now being considered in Capitol Hill would guarantee genetic privacy. “What we need to make certain is that people have access to this information without being afraid of losing their health insurance,” said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-New York. Others also worry about the bigger questions. “I’m concerned that some day we may decide to start modifying the human genome to think that we can do better than the genome,” Lander said.

Huge Project a Joint Effort:

Decoding the genome involves placing in correct order the 3.1 billion base pairs, or subunits that make up human DNA. Imbedded in this DNA are about 50,000 genes — nobody knows the exact number. Once the genes are identified, researchers then must identify the proteins made by those genes, determine the function of that protein in the body and then devise therapeutic drugs. The announcement of the findings will made by scientists working on both private and public efforts. The public gene-sequencing program is a joint effort of the national Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH, the Department of Energy, the Wellcome Trust in Britain, the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass., the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, along with contributions from researchers in Germany and Japan. Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Human Genome Research Institute, said deciphering the genome will eventually revolutionize medicine, but it will be decades before the full benefits are realized.

ABCNEWS’ Jim Sciutto contributed to this report.

Man charged with hacking into Nuclear Research lab

A 21-year-old Minnesota computer employee was arrested at home on Monday for allegedly hacking into the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory twice last November.

Benjamin Troy Breuninger, known on the Internet as ``konceptor'' or ``kon,'' had not jeopardized the lab's classified nuclear research material, said Andy Black, the spokesman in San Francisco for the FBI, which helped coordinate the arrest.

However, Breuninger allegedly accessed the lab's administrative information, including payroll data, causing about $50,000 in damage, Black said. FBI officials are operating under the theory that, like most hackers, Breuninger was thrilled by the challenge of accessing a secure system.

It appears that the attack was random and that Breuninger didn't have any personal gripe with the lab, Black said. Authorities also wouldn't disclose exactly how they traced Breuninger to the crime, saying only that he allegedly used his personal computer from his home in Bloomington, Minn.

Crimes involving computer hacking have increased in recent years as technology becomes more pervasive.

``As our society becomes more reliant on the computer, the computer becomes yet another tool to facilitate the commission of crimes,'' Black said.

Breuninger, a technical support employee for a small computer company, was released Monday by U.S. Magistrate Judge E.S. Swearingen in Minneapolis on his own recognizance. Breuninger faces a federal felony charge of unauthorized access of a protected computer and recklessly causing damage. If convicted, he could face five years in prison. If he pleads guilty, he may remain in Minnesota. If not, he may be extradited to Alameda County. His arrest stems from an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Oakland on Thursday. According to the FBI, Breuninger hacked into the lab's computers between Nov. 2 and 13 and scanned in the unclassified documents. Investigators are now trying to determine what, if any, information he allegedly downloaded onto his home computer.

Damage is estimated at $50,000 because the lab had to shut down the network system and determine whether its data had been contaminated or stolen.

MP3.com CEO says still talking with Universal

MP3.com Inc. is continuing to negotiate with Universal Music after a federal judge ruled last week the online music provider willfully violated copyrights and might have to pay Universal up to $250 million in damages.

MP3.com's chief executive Michael Robertson said Tuesday. ``Discussions between MP3.com and Universal have been ongoing over the last several weeks, and we had hoped that all parties could come to a mutually acceptable business resolution,'' Robertson said in a statement.

Universal has declined comment on the case and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had no immediate comment. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff found San Diego-based MP3.com ''willfully'' broke copyright law by creating a database of over 80,000 albums, which when combined with its software, lets users store music digitally and access it via any computer.

The service, called My.MP3.com, lets computer users with an original copy of one of the recordings in the database register that CD and then lets the user listen to that album from any computer, without having to insert the original disc. Universal, the world's biggest music company and a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd. , had hoped to win $450 million in damages, alleging that 10,000 compact discs had been wrongfully copied, while MP3.com said damages should be based on no more than 4,700 discs. The exact amount of damages will be determined in November.

``We have raised questions regarding the validity of a substantial portion of the copyright registrations produced by Universal,'' Robertson reiterated on Tuesday, noting MP3.com will appeal the court's ruling on ``willfulness'' as well as the level of statutory damages and its ruling on fair use.

MP3.com has already settled with Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, Sony Corp. , Bertelsmann AG's BMG and EMI Group Plc by agreeing to pay each label $20 million in damages, plus fees whenever albums were registered or accessed by users. MP3.com will launch the new system, with licensed content from these four labels, in coming weeks, Robertson said. ``It continues to be our desire to use our technology infrastructure in concert with all of the major record labels, including Universal,'' said Robertson. He said My.MP3.com service represents just one of the company's offerings, which also include a retail music division, a syndicated radio service and its classical and children's subscription channels.

Robertson said that while online advertising will continue to be an important component of the company's revenue model, he believes the above business initiatives will contribute to the diversity of our revenue streams and move MP3.com ahead of the competition in the delivery of music over the Internet.

He said the recent MP3.com ruling has not affected day-to-day business.

Gates: English the Language on net

English will remain the language of the World Wide Web despite skyrocketing Internet use in Asia, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said Tuesday.

Gates was commenting on a consultants' report forecasting that China will have the world's largest online population within 10 years.

He said the limits of conventional computer keyboards will confine the growth of Asian languages on the Internet until voice recognition interfaces are better developed.

``Japanese and Chinese will be two languages where speech input will be the breakthrough,'' Gates told the Asia Pacific Summit of the World Economic Forum. Accurate computerized translation, which Gates described as the ``holy grail,'' could be more than a decade away, he said. ``Until this ... machine translation shows up, it's very likely that English will be used,'' he said.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Gates also predicted that improvements in productivity because of improved technology would continue at a fast pace. ``There is now wide recognition that it's breakthroughs in technology that have driven productivity to new heights, and really allowed the creation of jobs without inflation and a lot of innovation that is fantastic for consumers,'' Gates said.

``People ask where do you go from here -- have we finally hit the peak, have we finally hit the limit? ...

....My answer, as you might predict, is absolutely not.''

(Don't you just love it ....more new toys to play with soon)

Computers can harm young children - U.S. group says

Early exposure to computers stunts children's development and such technology should only be introduced after elementary school, a group of U.S. educators and psychologists said on Tuesday.

The Alliance for Childhood, a private non-profit group that focuses on child development, said in a report that computers and the Internet prevent preschool children from interacting with each other and adults.

``Children need a healthy education, and computers cannot provide them with a healthy education because children need a living education -- with live people,'' said Joan Almon, a former preschool teacher and U.S. coordinator for the organization.

The U.S. government has spent billions of dollars a year on new technology for elementary schools. In 1994, the Clinton administration said it would work with public schools to have them hooked up to the Internet by the end of this year.

According to the report, in the last five years public schools have spent more than $27 billion in computer technology and related costs. As of late 1999, 95 percent of schools were connected, said a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education. Almon said some schools have cut back on teachers, library books, music and arts programs, and field trips to parks, while spending millions on computer hardware and software.

``Children are increasingly being denied warmth, artistic inspiration and understanding. Only a teacher can do that,'' Kim John Payne, a Massachusetts child psychologist, told Reuters in a phone interview.

NO HEIGHTENED CREATIVITY Studies show that introduction to computers at an early age does not heighten children's creativity and can cause eye strain, repetitive stress injuries and obesity. Those who frequently draw on a computer are reluctant to create hand drawings, and are extremely critical of their handwritten art work because it is not ``sophisticated enough,'' she said. The effects go beyond that, Payne said.

She said children's social skill's are hindered as schools reduce recess time, and increase computer lab time. Early exposure desensitizes them to other children's emotions, she added. It is particularly damaging at a young age because the brain is most active in terms of the socialization process.

``When children are playing with a computer they are not playing with each other,'' Payne said. ``It's a virtual world not a real world.''

But not everyone agreed with the report. Alan Delamater, a child psychologist at the University of Miami, acknowledged risks such as posture problems and obesity, but said this was outweighed by benefits such as educational games.

``It's a sedentary activity, but so is reading,'' Delamater said. He said children need to learn to use computers at an early age because they are part of modern life, but stressed that parents need to monitor things like computer games.

While Almon and her peers encouraged parents and teachers to keep young children away from computers, they favored their use in the education of older children.

``They are wonderful tools,'' she said. ``Let's be really careful about how we use them.''

"Blair?" acts to end fuel crisis

The first tankers have left the depots The first tankers have left depots heading for petrol stations across the UK after the prime minister said the fuel situation should be "on the way back to normal" by Wednesday evening.

His announcement follows a day of emergency discussions with oil companies, ministers and the police.

Hundreds of empty petrol stations are due to be refilled overnight after the government invoked emergency powers to try to end the crisis.

Shortly after 19:30 BST five tankers left Purfleet refinery in Essex to re-supply garages.

At about 2230 BST, a convoy of 10 fuel tankers were given a police escort as they left the Grangemouth BP oil refinery on the Firth of Forth in Scotland with supplies for the emergency services.

Five tankers were also thought to have left the BP refinery at Coryton near Southend in Essex, and three left the Manchester Fuels Terminal under police escort.

Tankers were also reported to have left the BP Oil Terminal at Hamble, near Southampton. The moves follow orders made to oil companies by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) - under a special dispensation by the Privy Council -to deliver petrol to hundreds of priority stations.

'The road to normality'

A DTI spokesman said: "These are specified sites that we have asked oil companies to prioritise and those sites are evenly spread across the country. "We are planning that the oil will be delivered overnight and that some of the designated stations will receive fuel by the morning."

Chris Gibson-Smith, managing director of BP, said: "What we are trying to do is get back on the road to normality, so we are going to carry on working through the night to try to get similar releases of tankers at the different depots and refineries. "These tankers will be going out to a mixture of priority and emergency services. Priority would include food distribution."

Earlier in the day, it emerged that ministers and officials had drawn up documents, obtained by the BBC, painting a picture of possible food shortages and a fuel situation "near breaking point" after six days of blockades, protests and panic-buying.

Tony Blair cancelled a regional tour of the north and returned to London after seeing the documents from Cobra, the government's crisis management team.

BBC political editor Andrew Marr said passages in the "dramatic advice" included:

The oil industry reporting the situation is near breaking point

The Ministry of Defence is looking at options for military assistance

There is severe disruption to the road haulage industry and little fuel leaving refineries and fuel depots

Consequential food shortages can be expected in the next few days

A warning that ministers are going to have to take decisions on possible measures for restricting the sale of fuel.

Mr Blair said after five hours of meetings said:

"We have made the necessary emergency order of council. The oil companies are agreed that they must move supplies."

Empty garages Shell: 1,070 out of 1,100

Texaco: 1,000 out of 1,500

Esso: 850 out of 1,600

BP: 1,000 out of 1,500

The police had agreed to do "all that is necessary" to protect against intimidation, the prime minister continued. "We hope in the next 24 hours to have the situation on the way back to normal. It will take longer than that to be fully back to normal," Mr Blair said.

He said whatever the rights or wrongs of the argument over fuel duty the government and nation could not accept that policy should be dictated by illegal blockades, pickets or direct action.

As the tankers rolled again on Tuesday night, Mr Marr said there was "very cautious optimism" in Downing Street.

But Tory leader William Hague accused the government of 'failing to understand people's anger. '

Renewed violence hits Belfast

A pipe bomb has been thrown at the home of a loyalist politician in Northern Ireland in an outbreak of violence in the loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast.

It was one of two bomb attacks in the Shankill area believed to be linked to a bitter feud between rival loyalist paramilitary groups. The feud is between the UDA/Ulster Freedom Fighters and the Ulster Volunteer Force.

In recent weeks it has left three men dead and others injured. No injuries have been reported after the attacks on Tuesday. Assemblyman Billy Hutchinson, of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) - which has links with the UVF - was at the scene of another attack when the device was thrown at his home in the Shankill area. It failed to explode and was dealt with by army bomb disposal experts.

Mr Hutchinson said the device was discovered by his wife. A device, which is believed to have been a blast bomb, was thrown hours earlier at the Rex Bar in the lower Shankill area of Belfast. Eyewitnesses said two men made off in a car after the incident and the attack is being blamed on the UFF. The area around the bar has been cordoned off as the security forces carry out a follow-up operation. The bar was attacked in August during a rally organised by the Ulster Democratic Party and Ulster Defence Association on the Shankill Road. Shots were fired into the bar, injuring seven people and triggering an escalation of the feud

Meanwhile, a house was attacked in another incident on Tuesday in the Shankill area. A woman and a two-week old baby were inside at the time. Windows were smashed by what eyewitnesses described as a crowd of about 50 to 60 people carrying baseball bats. The owners of the house are blaming the UVF for the attack. The police are also investigating a number of incidents in Belfast on Tuesday afternoon which are believed to be linked to the loyalist feud. It is understood soldiers took a knife from a man during a disturbance involving a group of women on the Ballygomartin Road. John White of the Ulster Democratic Party (UDF), which has links to the UFF, said the attacks were carried out by members of the UVF.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr White said: "It appears there's a bunch of UVF thugs driving around and assaulting people. "However, they've never assaulted women with children before, they've stooped to a new low doing this. "Unless the UVF get to grips with this, we'll never resolve this, it's only making the situation worse." On 8 September, the political representatives of the loyalist paramilitaries held talks about the feud between the rival groups. Assemblyman David Ervine and Dawn Purvis of the Progressive Unionist Party and the Lisburn councillors Gary McMichael and David Adams of the Ulster Democratic Party were involved in the discussions which were described as "an exploratory dialogue."

Vialli sacked as Chelsea boss

Chelsea have sacked manager Gianluca Vialli - just five games into the new Premiership season.

A brief Chelsea statement said Vialli has been released from his duties with immediate effect. Vialli took over at Stamford Bridge in February 1998, but has been under increasing pressure after Chelsea's poor start to the season.

Chelsea have won just one of their first five games this season. Vialli held a meeting at 5pm with chairman Ken Bates and managing director Colin Hutchinson. Player power And while the club expressed their "admiration" for the Italian's achievements during his two-and-a-half-year reign, they concluded that "in a wider context it is in our best interests to seek a change of direction". But Pierluigi Casiraghi, the Italian striker bought by Vialli whose career has ended after injury, claimed Chelsea should have kept faith with Vialli.

Casiraghi said:

"Ken Bates does not know the meaning of gratitude. He is arrogant and has made a mistake." No successor has yet been appointed and "for the immediate future" the current staff, led by coach Graham Rix, will take charge of the team

Defender Graeme Le Saux said:

"All the Chelsea players are shocked and no one had any idea this was happening." Athole Still, agent of the former Sampdoria and Juventus striker, said player power had caused Vialli's departure from Stamford Bridge after a poor start to the season.

"The reason for Luca's sacking has nothing to do with the club's results at the start of the season," he said. "The reason was that he had lost the confidence of some of the players. The spirit in the camp was not what he or Chelsea wanted to have.

"Gianluca accepts that he had lost the confidence of some of the players, and therefore completely accepts the club's prerogative in choosing to dismiss him. "Gianluca is extremely disappointed with the situation, but he knows that something had to be done. There is no rancour involved." Earlier, former Chelsea defender Ron 'Chopper' Harris claimed Vialli had three games to save himself from the chop. Among those tipped as potential replacements are Rix, Gianfranco Zola, George Graham, Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle and Ray Wilkins.

Casiraghi has slammed Chelsea's decision BBC Sport's Mark Lawrenson told Five Live:

"I would say the timing is all wrong - they are only five games into the season. "It is very, very surprising. We have seen in the newspapers that one or two of the players have been questioning what's been going on. "Vialli is one of the nicest people you could ever meet, but expectation levels are so high at Chelsea." Former Minister for Sport, and prominent Chelsea fan, Tony Banks MP claimed he saw Vialli's sacking coming as long ago as last spring - even as the Italian and his team celebrated their success in the FA Cup final at Wembley. "Once Ken Bates makes up his mind that is it." he said. " I am very sorry for Luca as a person, because he is a bloody nice bloke. But I think this is good for Chelsea and it is good for him too." You have to be able to deal with your players - but he was not able to. There was also a naivety in his coaching Tony Banks Banks cited Vialli's major problems as an inability to get his points across to his players and to keep them happy on and off the pitch.

He said: "It was his failure to communicate. There were several players I spoke to who said that he is not very good at communicating. "It is not just what you do on the pitch. His treatment of (Gianfranco) Zola has also brought it to a head. "You have to be able to deal with your players - but he was not able to. There was also a naivety in his coaching. "I am always sad when anybody goes - but the club is bigger than anybody. It was the right decision, and I support Ken Bates in what he has done. "It was always going to happen at some stage. But Ken Bates moves quickly - Ruud Gullit found that out. "I am feeling quite happy about it tonight, because it clearly was not working. This was inevitable. "I am a long-standing, long-suffering supporter. But even Chelsea fans lose their patience in the end - as Ken Bates has done." While reactions to Vialli's dismissal have been mixed in England, the sentiments voiced in his native Italy are of continuing admiration and sympathy. Roberto Mancini, assistant trainer at Lazio, said: "I'm very disappointed for Vialli because he's a good friend and a good manager. "He's done very well at Chelsea, and they've won many trophies under his management. "I'm sure he'll have a good career in management, maybe not in England, but certainly in Italy."

Silvinho strike stuns Sparta

Sparta Prague 0-1 Arsenal (WOOHOO)

A goal of outstanding individual brilliance from Brazilian full back Silvinho got Arsenal's Champions League campaign off to a flying start. The scorer of two outstanding Premiership goals so far this season, Silvinho weaved through the Sparta defence just after the half hour and clipped a superb chip with just enough power to beat the covering defenders.

Arsenal worked hard from that point on to close the game down and restrict Sparta to a couple of half-chances. Most importantly, it meant three points from a first away game against a side who are in great form, if not a great name. Arsenal started with a dozen consecutive passes and slowed the early part of the game down well to frustrate the home side and crowd. Striker Marek Kincl found a promising position, but he blazed his first-time shot high and wide. Chasing Thierry Henry tried to reply on 20 minutes when Robert Pires and Oleh Luzhny combined to set him up with a header but he was just wide of the target from 12 yards out. The worry for Arsenal was how Sparta were continually exposing their right flank, where stand-in captain Lee Dixon was getting a chasing from Kincl, and a string of corners resulted from Arsenal being stretched at the back. Those fears were lessened on 33 minutes as Silvinho took centre stage.

Pires got the better of Radek Mynar down the left and slipped the ball inside to Silvinho. He bamboozled three defenders before clipping a terrific chipped shot past keeper Tomas Postulka.

Kanu then had two efforts from long range either side of a chipped effort by Henry. The Nigerian connected well with both his efforts but they flew wide, while Postulka was able to save Henry's attempt from a narrow angle. Routine Sparta were first to threaten in the second half with a well-worked corner routine. Skipper Jiri Novotny ran to the near-post and flicked the flag-kick over David Seaman but wide of the far post. It's three in three now for him and every one has been a smasher. Let's hope we can keep going and get in to the second stage for a change Lee Dixon Patrick Vieira was then felled after a powerful run into the box but the French referee Gilles Veissiere was unmoved by his claims for a penalty.

Kincl should have punished Arsenal after 51 minutes, but his control let him down when in the clear and Seaman mopped up the danger. A skilfully-worked move by Sparta opened Arsenal up soon after and passes through the legs of both Gilles Grimandi and Luzhny let Petr Papousek in with a shooting chance, but he could only blast into the side-netting. Arsenal were using their European experience to kill the game off and brought Sylvain Wiltord on for the tireless Henry to help out. They had to survive one late chance when Martin Keown and Seaman left a Nowotny cross to each other and Josef Obajdin belted a half-volley which flicked off the bar from a narrow angle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sparta Prague:

Postulka, Grygera, J. Novotny, Z. Svoboda, Obajdin, Kincl, Bolf, P. Novotny, Papousek, Rosicky. Subs: Mynar, Blasek, Labant, Kolousek, Siegl, Flachbart, Prohaszka, Jun.

Arsenal:

Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Silvinho, Ljungberg, Vieira, Grimandi, Pires, Kanu, Henry, Luzhny. Subs: Wiltord, Parlour, Vivas, Cole, Vernazza, Weston, Lukic.

Referee: G Veissiere (France)