[texhax] Need help with BibTex author

[Robin Fairbairns]

> I know that the behaviour is somewhat dependent on the bst file I use, but 
> I'm stuck with it.  Possibly I can modify it but I'd rather not if there 
> is some way to fool bibtex.

the behaviour is exclusively a property of the bibstyle you're using
(the bibtex standard styles don't do this) -- here's plain.bst output
from your two bibitems:

  \begin{thebibliography}
  \bibitem{foobar}
  {Foobar Media Services}.
  \newblock \url{http://www.foobar.gov}.

  \bibitem{tic}
  {The Idiot Collaboration}.
  \newblock {S}ome {B}aloney, October 2000.
  \end{thebibliography}

unless we're told _what_ bibstyle you're using, we don't stand a
chance -- we simply can't guess what it's trying (and failing) to put
in that first block.

(does bibtex not produce error messages about something missing? -- a
standard style would.)