NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
Years Ended December 31, 2001, 2000 and 1999
Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 115,
Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities
. As of December 31, 2001 the
Company's short term and long term investments are classified as available for sale and are reported at their fair market value. During 2000,
all held to maturity investments were reclassified to available for sale based on the Company's re evaluation of its investment strategy.
Property and equipment:
Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation is computed under the straight line method over the
following estimated useful lives:
Computer equipment and software
3 years
Internally developed software
5 years
Office equipment
5 years
Office furniture
7 years
Leasehold improvements
Shorter of lease term or economic life
Intangible assets:
Through December 31, 2001, goodwill, purchased technology and other intangibles are amortized on a straight line
basis over their estimated useful lives. Goodwill and purchased technology are generally amortized over three to five years. Other intangibles,
primarily consisting of purchased trademarks and domain name licenses are amortized over an estimated useful life of three years.
Other investments:
The Company has invested in equity investments of public and privately held companies for business and strategic
purposes. These investments are included in long term assets. Investments in companies whose securities are not publicly traded are recorded
at cost. Investments in companies whose securities are publicly traded, are recorded at fair value, with unrealized gains or losses recorded in
accumulated other comprehensive income in the Company's stockholders' equity. As of January 1, 2001, warrants held by the Company to
purchase equity securities are included in other investments at their fair value with changes in fair value recorded as gains or losses on
investments in the Statement of Operations.
Realized gains or losses are recorded based on the identified specific cost of the investment sold. Investments held by the Venture Fund
were recorded at their fair value prior to the Venture Fund's dissolution on March 31, 2001. Realized and unrealized gains or losses on the
investments held by the Venture Fund were recorded as gains or losses on investments in the statement of operations.
The Company periodically evaluates whether the decline in fair value of other investments are other than temporary. This evaluation
consists of a review by members of senior management in finance and treasury. For investments with publicly quoted market prices, the
Company compares the market price to the Company's accounting basis and, if the quoted market price is less than the Company's accounting
basis for an extended period of time, the Company then considers additional factors to determine whether the decline in fair value is other than
temporary, such as the financial condition, results of operations and operating trends for the company. The Company also reviews publicly
available information regarding the investee companies, including reports from investment analysts. The Company also evaluates whether: 1)
the Company has both the intent and ability to hold the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in fair
value; 2) the decline in fair value is attributable to specific adverse conditions affecting a particular investment; 3) the decline is attributable to
more general conditions in an industry or geographic area; 4) the decline in fair value is attributable to seasonal factors; 5) a debt security has
been downgraded by a rating agency; 6) the financial condition of the issuer has deteriorated; and 7) if applicable, dividends have been reduced
or eliminated or scheduled interest payments on debt securities have not been made. For investments in private companies with no quoted
market price, the Company considers similar qualitative factors and also considers the implied value
