Articles by

Once the excitement and big sales of the holiday season are over, e-tailers will have to get down to the serious business of keeping the momentum going strong So far, much of what online customers find objectionable has to do with complicated buying experiences, and the proof is in the numbers. Online research company Jupiter Communications reports...

While the court's decision could have huge ramifications for current state motor vehicle laws, it could also decide whether auto manufacturers will face resistance throughout the United States. Joseph Marino, an analyst for Sterling, Virginia-based Current Analysis, told the E-Commerce Times that no matter how the court rules, automakers like Ford will not be eliminating dealers anytime soon. "Old habits won't change, because there are no incentives or dynamics to change them," Marino explained. "People still need to see a car before they buy it." Meanwhile, Texas officials contend that Ford breached state regulations when it decided 18 months ago to sell used cars directly to consumers through www.fordpreowned.com, its used car Web site. Ford trucks and cars with expired leases are listed for sale on the site. Dealers Handled Sale However, Ford claims that it did not violate Texas regulations, because it sent cars directly to a local dealer to close deals. Once the sale was consummated, Ford then paid the participating dealer a percentage of the purchase price of the vehicle sold. Still, the Texas Motor Vehicle Division maintains that even though the local dealer got a piece of the action, Ford was acting as a car dealer by soliciting consumers via the Internet. Dealers Told To Stop Ford sent a letter to its dealers in November, informing them that participating in the online program was illegal. Dealers were told to stop immediately or face a possible penalty of as much as $10,000 (US$) per day. Ford has shut down the site, but is seeking an injunction in the U.S. district court in Austin to overturn the agency's edict. According to Automotive News, Ford's request is scheduled for a January 6th hearing. Earlier this year, a Texas law designed to keep manufacturers out of the retail car business forced Ford to nix a plan it had to consolidate dealerships in the Fort Worth area. While the court's decision could have huge ramifications for current state motor vehicle laws, it could also decide whether auto manufacturers will face resistance throughout the United States.

In what some observers see as an ominous sign for Microsoft, the Justice Department announced last week that it has hired a veteran Wall Street investment banker as an advisor in its antitrust case against the software giant Both sides have been meeting daily with Richard Posner, chief judge of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who agreed to a...

AT&T Corp. has reached an agreement that will eventually allow rival online services to use its cable lines to provide high-speed Internet access The plan, which is designed to help win regulatory approval of AT&T's purchase of MediaOne Group, Inc., would have the telecommunications giant initially open its pipes to number two online service provid...

European sports destination site Sports.com, a majority-owned subsidiary of SportsLine.com (Nasdaq: SPLN), announced today that it will raise $49 million (US$) in a second round of funding through the issuance of preferred stock The financing will be led by Sports Capital Partners -- which manages the IMG/Chase Sports Capital funds -- and affiliate...

Online consumer bill payment service Paytrust.com announced today that it has received $30 million (US$) in second-round venture capital from American Express, Japanese Internet investor Softbank and a variety of venture capital firms The Princeton, New Jersey-based payment service -- a flagship service of Secure Commerce Services, Inc. -- said it ...

Ask Jeeves (Nasdaq: ASKJ) -- the American question-and-answer-based search engine with the distinctly English butler -- announced today that it has formed an international subsidiary and has signed a joint venture deal with two British television companies to provide its service in the UK The Emeryville, California-based company said that Carlton C...

AT&T Corp. has reached an agreement that will eventually allow rival online services to use its cable lines to provide high-speed Internet access The plan, which is designed to help win regulatory approval of AT&T's purchase of MediaOne Group, Inc., would have the telecommunications giant initially open its pipes to number two online service provid...

According to a new study by Forrester Research B.V., the Internet's reach in Western Europe will nearly double over the next three years as digital technology becomes more commonplace The projected jump in Internet penetration from 19 to 33 percent is not expected to translate into instant profits for companies investing in the European market, how...

In what some observers see as an ominous sign for Microsoft, the Justice Department announced last week that it has hired a veteran Wall Street investment banker as an advisor in its antitrust case against the software giant Both sides have been meeting daily with Richard Posner, chief judge of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who agreed to a...

Sun Microsystems, Inc. and AOL subsidiary Netscape announced today that they are joining forces with three top U.S. banks to create a new online bill-paying service The companies said that New York-based Chase Manhattan Corp., First Union Corp. of Charlotte, North Carolina and San Francisco, California-based Wells Fargo and Co. will use the system....

As e-businesses contemplate their next move in the new electronic marketplace, many are finding great prospects in affiliation Although not a new concept, affiliation is catching on with even some of the biggest players. American Online, for example, is spreading the word that for every new membership generated via a click from an affiliate Web sit...

Depending on whom you talk with, at what hour of the day, you'll get a different picture about the '99 holiday sales season and the future of e-commerce in general Within two days of one another, Forrester Research described November as the "drizzle before the coming storm," while Nielsen NetRatings crowed about average audience gains of 79 percent...

Online real estate brokerage zipRealty.com announced today that it has raised $16 million (US$) in a second round of funding led by venture capital firm Benchmark Capital Previous investors Vanguard Venture Partners and Barrington Partners also participated in the round.

Pan-European online auction site QXL.com (Nasdaq: QXLC) further expanded its distribution reach across the continent today, as the London-based company announced deals to create co-branded auction pages with Web portal Excite According to QXL, the agreement enables Excite users to access its auction community site on co-branded pages for its sites ...

Number one UK Internet service provider Freeserve PLC announced plans yesterday to develop mobile Internet services with BT Cellnet, a mobile network owned by British Telecommunications PLC As a result of the partnership, Freeserve will offer entertainment, sports, financial content and e-mail via the Internet to mobile phone users.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced this week that it is accepting volunteers for its Membership Implementation Task Force, which will help establish a membership base from which nine of ICANN's 19 directors are elected ICANN is accepting 100-word "expressions of interest" in the membership task force positions via e-m...

How can an architect in Denver, Colorado explain his design to an engineer in Houston, Texas while a construction project manager for a petroleum refinery in Saudi Arabia ensures that the design meets his criteria? The answer is Web-based collaboration, and it is becoming the way to conquer team projects without ever having to leave home base.

VA Linux Systems announced this week that it will tap Loki Entertainment Software to push the Debian GNU/Linux package to consumers through retail channels The move is part of the company's foray into the mainstream Linux software market, which it began last month when it partnered with O'Reilly Associates and SGI, Inc. to distribute Debian, the "n...

Buried in the reams of paper that U.S. President Bill Clinton signed this week to complete the federal budget for fiscal year 2000 are e-commerce-friendly tidbits such as a ban on cyber-squatting and an order to examine the issue further The cyber-squatting bill bars the intentional registration of domain names that are identical to or deceptively ...