Archive

Last week, when Time magazine named Amazon.com chief executive and founder Jeffrey Bezos its "Person of the Year," I greeted the announcement with a measure of ambivalence.

As e-commerce works to establish itself as a mainstream phenomenon, many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have taken a wait-and-see attitude toward expanding their enterprises online.

William F. Buckley, Jr., the conservative moderator of the long-running Firing Line television series, engaged his colleagues in a lively two-hour debate over the Internet taxation issue Friday night before turning his set dark for the last time.

Digital media company Encoding.com, which helps technology companies, music companies and e-commerce sites optimize their digital audio and video content, announced today that it has raised $48 million in a round of funding led by Wasserstein Adelson Ventures.

According to published reports, Microsoft Corp. has forged an alliance with the largest mall owner and operator in the United States to advertise and sell its MSN online service.

E-commerce has certainly come a long way in just a year. IPOs have come and gone, companies have merged and diverged, and previously-unthinkable alliances now dot the landscape.

Online travel services site Leisureplanet announced today that the CNN News Group has taken a $20 million (US$) equity position in the company.

Utility software provider Network Associates (Nasdaq: NETA) today announced that a version of its antivirus software development toolkit is now available to developers using the Linux operating system.

Applications service provider and Web hosting company NaviSite (Nasdaq: NAVI) announced today that it has been selected by specialty women's clothing retailer Dress Barn (Nasdaq: DBRN) to help launch its new e-commerce site. Dress Barn operates 674 brick-and-mortar stores in 43 states.

Last week, two scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) sued popular search engine Ask Jeeves, alleging that the company violated two U.S. patents that were issued to them in 1994 and 1995.

This week's new alliances between AOL and Wal-Mart, as well as Yahoo! and Kmart, are designed to tap into what Goldman Sachs calls "the fastest-growing demographic coming onto the Web," or the 96 million Americans who make less than $50,000 (US$) a year and have yet to become Internet users.

What an incredible week for America Online.

The one element of the online buying process in which consumers have consistently expressed a lack of trust is the delivery of goods.

E-commerce has suddenly become about the "big move." America Online nailed a deal with Wal-Mart. Yahoo! signed with K-Mart. AOL aligned with Circuit City. Microsoft formed a bond with Best Buy. It all happened in a couple of staggering days.

Linux vendor Stormix Technologies has announced the release of its new Debian-based Linux operating system product.