August 1997: Internet Commerce Expo Manila

WS Expositions organized the Internet Commerce Expo Manila 1997 (ICE Manila 97) at the Shangri-La Hotel Makati City.  This event introduced the WS Group to Fiesta Online, known for Yehey.com

Yehey.com in 1997

2003: Level Up!

Level Up! Games licenses the Oz World and Regnarok online games.  These become popular among young players, increasing growth in Internet usage at home and in cybercafes, and promoting e-commerce through oline ordering of credits.  The company is adopting the Korean model of multiplayer online gaming.

LevelUp! in 2005

2003: PICS SME IT Excellece Awards

The Philippine Internet Commerce Society launched its PICS SME IT Excellence Awards in the 2nd E-Commerce Congress and recognized Godiva for its efforts in adopting ICT and Internet use.

Godiva in 2001

2004: PLDT vs. PLDT

The dispute over PLDT.com between the Philipine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Gerry Kaimo peaked on January 29, 2004.  A judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court denied the request by PLDT for a preliminary injunction.

PLDT accused Kaimo of infringing on the intellectual property of the trade name and "engaging in unfair competition for using the trade name."

This is not yet the end of the story, which started on in September 1999 when PLDT filed a 1.35 million peso lawsuit against Kaimo.  Kaimo expected PLDT would appeal the case to higher courts, while preparing his own 50-million peso countersuit against PLDT.

PLDT in 1997

2001: Blogs and Online Journals

Blogs and online journals became common.  These are text-oriented sites that reflect the daily opinions or chronicles of their publishers.  They add fresh content from a a personal point of view, as opposed to the corporate view espoused by mainstream websites.  Blogs allow bits and pieces of information from the Philippines make their way to Filipino readers abroad.  Online games (not gambling) become available with local servers,  Mindgate offers pinoybattle.net, which provide action and shooting-oriented games.  Surf Shop operates gamena.com, offering boards and card games. 

1999: PinoyExchange.com

PinoyExchange.com forum started operations.  It became one of the largest online communities in terms of message volume, users and mind share.  iAyala, the Internet venture arm of Ayala Corporation, made an investment in 2000.  Several other forums followed.  The site remains the most steadfast Filipino online community.

June 1996: The Philippine Internet Service Organization (PISO)

The Philippine Internet Service Organization (PISO) was formed with Albert Velasco of (Mailstation Net) as the first president.  This was the fruit of discussions among ISP officers since late 1995.  The ph-isp mailing list served as the online forum for these initial discussions.  On August 20, the officers and trustees were inducted in Malacañang by President Fidel V. Ramos.

  

February 1998: Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operating Technology

Local ISP´s  IPhil Communications, Mindgate Systems and Worldtel Philippines host the third APRICOT (Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operating Technology).  This technical conference was held at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.  Internet Engineering experts from all over the world came to hold technical sessions and tutorials.  This conference has been held every year since 1996, and is hosted by a city in the Asia-Pacific region.  The event is also an important face-to-face social gathering for industry professionals.

APRICOT in 1996

1996: ISP Sky Internet

ISP Sky Internet (http://www.skyinet.net/) put up an IRC chat room called "The Lounge" which became popular among the local community.

The cCyberspace Live ISP/online service established "eForums", the first local web-based forum and discussion system.  This was a precursor to the web-based bulletin boards that became popular in the late 90´s.

Sky Internet in 1996