<s>
PointCast	B-Application
was	O
a	O
dot-com	O
company	O
founded	O
in	O
1992	O
by	O
Christopher	O
R	O
.	O
Hassett	O
in	O
Sunnyvale	O
,	O
California	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
's	O
initial	O
product	O
amounted	O
to	O
a	O
screensaver	B-General_Concept
that	O
displayed	O
news	O
and	O
other	O
information	O
,	O
delivered	O
live	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PointCast	B-Application
Network	I-Application
used	O
push	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
,	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
hot	O
concept	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
and	O
received	O
enormous	O
press	O
coverage	O
when	O
it	O
launched	O
in	O
beta	O
form	O
on	O
February	O
13	O
,	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pointcast	B-Application
offered	O
corporations	O
a	O
proxy	O
server	O
that	O
would	O
dramatically	O
reduce	O
the	O
bandwidth	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
even	O
this	O
did	O
n't	O
help	O
save	O
PointCast	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
PointCast	B-Application
first	O
started	O
Yahoo	B-Application
offered	O
little	O
more	O
than	O
a	O
hierarchical	O
structure	O
on	O
the	O
internet	O
(	O
broken	O
down	O
by	O
subject	O
much	O
like	O
DMOZ	B-Application
)	O
but	O
was	O
soon	O
to	O
introduce	O
the	O
portal	O
which	O
was	O
customizable	O
and	O
offered	O
a	O
much	O
more	O
convenient	O
way	O
to	O
read	O
the	O
news	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
there	O
were	O
rumors	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
withdrawn	O
due	O
to	O
issues	O
with	O
the	O
price	O
and	O
revenue	O
projections	O
,	O
James	O
Murdoch	O
said	O
it	O
was	O
due	O
to	O
PointCast	B-Application
's	O
inaction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
after	O
not	O
accepting	O
the	O
purchase	O
offer	O
,	O
the	O
board	O
of	O
directors	O
decided	O
to	O
replace	O
Christopher	O
Hassett	O
as	O
the	O
CEO	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
five	O
months	O
,	O
David	O
Dorman	O
was	O
chosen	O
as	O
the	O
new	O
CEO	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
1998	O
,	O
PointCast	B-Application
found	O
such	O
a	O
partner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
dubbed	O
"	O
Newnet	O
"	O
and	O
the	O
plan	O
was	O
to	O
use	O
PointCast	B-Application
's	O
software	O
as	O
a	O
portal	O
for	O
the	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
consortium	O
planned	O
to	O
buy	O
PointCast	B-Application
for	O
$100	O
million	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
deal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
delays	O
in	O
the	O
project	O
,	O
Dorman	O
resigned	O
as	O
CEO	B-Application
in	O
March	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
weeks	O
later	O
PointCast	B-Application
were	O
informed	O
that	O
their	O
planned	O
acquisition	O
had	O
been	O
scrapped	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
bids	O
were	O
made	O
to	O
buy	O
the	O
company	O
including	O
two	O
from	O
former	O
CEO	B-Application
Christopher	O
Hassett	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
rejected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
they	O
sold	O
out	O
for	O
about	O
$7	O
million	O
in	O
May	O
1999	O
to	O
Launchpad	O
Technologies	O
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
a	O
San	O
Diego	O
company	O
founded	O
and	O
backed	O
by	O
Idealab	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
PointCast	B-Application
network	I-Application
was	O
shut	O
down	O
the	O
next	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Launchpad	O
's	O
eWallet	O
product	O
was	O
combined	O
with	O
the	O
existing	O
PointCast	B-Application
technology	O
to	O
create	O
EntryPoint	B-Application
,	O
which	O
had	O
a	O
free	O
desktop	O
toolbar	O
and	O
offered	O
customized	O
news	O
,	O
stocks	O
and	O
sports	O
feeds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EntryPoint	B-Application
merged	O
with	O
Internet	O
Financial	O
Network	O
in	O
2000	O
forming	O
Infogate	O
,	O
continuing	O
the	O
same	O
free	O
service	O
until	O
switching	O
to	O
a	O
fee-based	O
co-branded	O
model	O
,	O
partnering	O
with	O
news	O
outlets	O
such	O
as	O
USA	O
Today	O
and	O
CNN	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
