Copyright 2000 Associated Press   
                                   AP Worldstream 

                        January 3, 2000; Monday 09:17 Eastern Time 

SECTION: International news 

DISTRIBUTION: Europe;Britian;Scandinavia;England 

LENGTH: 196 words 

HEADLINE: Glitches reported at judicial offices; stocks, banks OK EDs: UPDATES with
comments from Y2K task force experts 

DATELINE: ROME 

BODY: 
    Computer glitches were reported Monday at courthouses in Genoa, Naples and Venice but banks
and stock markets reopened with no signs of Y2K-related troubles. 

A computer at a Naples courthouse mixed up dates by 100 years, listing prisoners due to be released
Jan. 10, 2000, as having completed their terms Jan. 10, 1900, the ANSA news agency said. 

Similar problems were reported in Venice, while employees in Genoa were unable to gain entrance
with their magnetic cards. 

''These are minor problems linked to the use of new software rather than being specifically
millennium bug related and will be resolved swiftly,'' said Alberto Di Pace of the state's Y2K task
force. 

Trading was normal in banks and on the Milan stock market, Italy's largest. 

''We will continue to scrutinize developments very carefully,'' said Augusto Leggio, technical
director of the Y2K task force. ''It's better to be overly cautious than overconfident.'' 

Leggio said computers would need to be monitored through March 2000 because the leap-year could
cause problems. 

Italy had been classified as among the nations worst prepared for the turn of the millennium. 

(vls/pmw/vg) 

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH 

LOAD-DATE: January 3, 2000