Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 22:42:10 -0500

NORTH POLE (API) - MICROSOFT announced an agreement with Santa Claus
Industries to acquire Christmas at a press conference held via satellite
from Santa's summer estate somewhere in the southern hemisphere.  In the
deal, Microsoft would gain exclusive rights to Christmas, Reindeer, and
other unspecified inventions. In addition, Microsoft will gain access to
millions of households through the Santa Sleigh.

The announcement also included a notice that beginning Dec 9, 1998,
Christmas and the Reindeer names would be copyrighted by Microsoft.  This
unprecedented move was facilitated by the recently acquired MS Court.
Microsoft stated its commitment to "all who have made Christmas great," 
and
vowed to "make licensing of the Christmas and Reindeer names available to
all."  It is believed that the guidelines for licensing these names, due
before Halloween, will be very strict.

When asked "Why buy Christmas?" Bill Gates replied "Microsoft has been
working on a more efficient delivery mechanism for all of our products for
some time, but recognized that the Santa Sleigh has some immediate
benefits. We'll use it first for the next release of Windows and Office
98."

In a multimedia extravaganza, the attendees were shown a seemingly endless
video stream of products that make up the deal.  It ended with a  green 
and red version of the Microsoft logo, and a new Christmas 98 trademark,
leading into the announcement of the first product from the deal.

Vixen, the new Director of Holidays and Celebrations said, "The first step
is to assimilate Christmas within the Microsoft Organization.  This will
take some time, so don't expect any changes this year."  She continued,
"our big plans are for next year, when we release Christmas 99.  It will 
be bigger and better than last year."  She further elaborated that "Windows
users who sign up with MS Network  will get sneak previews of 
Christmas[99] as early as November first."

Christmas 98 is scheduled for release in December of 1998, though one
unnamed source said that it is dangerously close to the end of the year 
and may slip into the first half of 1999.  An economist at Goldman Sachs
explained that a slip would be catastrophic to next year's economy and the
nation's tax revenue, possibly requiring the IRS to move the deadline for
filing income tax returns to three months after Christmas, whenever that
was.  "But it could be good in the long term," he explained. "With
Microsoft controlling Christmas, we may see it move to May or June, which
are much slower months for retailers. This may serve to even out the
economy over the year."

When asked if other holidays are being considered, Mr. Gates explained 
that "Christmas is the flagship of holidays, so we wanted to start there.  Not
all holidays are available for sale, and the remaining will have to show a
good long-term business," suggesting that holidays with a short history 
may not be in the plans.

Though specific terms of the agreement were withheld, a Santa official
confirmed that the deal was "sizeable, even for a man of Santa's stature."
Some analysts think that Santa has saturated the Holiday market, and is
looking for a means to expand his business to year 'round products and
services.  Others contend that the Jolly Red Man is looking to retire in
Redmond.

A spokesperson for the most famous Reindeer could not be reached for
comment.

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