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As e-commerce server providers go head-to-head, touting their wares as the latest and greatest, meaningful hardware comparisons sometimes get lost in the shuffle. But what makes the ultimate e-commerce server? The answer to that question must be based on the particular e-commerce venture and its ...

In a deal that might ultimately shift the balance of power among computer vendors, IBM will pay $3.5 billion in cash and stock for PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting. Pascal Matzke, a senior analyst at Giga Information Group, told the E-Commerce Times that the acquisition is "actually a good match...

The U.S. Congress is considering a bill that would let music companies and other media entities legally enter file-swapping services to block users from trading copyrighted files. Claiming to be "a big fan of [peer-to-peer] networks and the technology behind them," several state representatives i...

AOL Time Warner's positive earnings report this week was tempered by news that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission is looking into the way the company's online division has handled its accounting. The company shrugged off the SEC inquiry, and Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman told the E...

AOL has told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it will pull back from plans to offer server-to-server interoperability between AOL Instant Messenger and other messaging services. Citing technical difficulties and market dynamics, the company indicated in a letter to the FCC that it...

In a week when the stock market dipped wildly and WorldCom filed for bankruptcy, Amazon's $94 million net loss for the second quarter of 2002 paled in comparison. The loss actually represented an improvement over the online bookseller's year-ago second quarter, in which it posted a net loss of $1...

After suffering a series of security flaws that have shaken customer confidence, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has taken to e-mail to reassure customers that Microsoft has heavily invested in its "Trustworthy Computing" initiative and is on track to ensure the security of its products. Writing to...

WorldCom has agreed in U.S. district court to freeze its assets for 80 days if the banks pursuing its debt will refrain from legal proceedings for 70 days. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also has given its blessing to the freeze. At the center of the banks' suit are accusations that ...

The Federal Communications Commission has cleared the way for telephone companies to share customer data with associates that hawk communications services -- without first seeking customer consent. FCC Chairman Michael Powell defended the decision, but it was denounced by FCC Commissioner Mich...

Apple's third-quarter net profit of $32 million fell far short of the company's original guidance, but still defied the economic slump that has sent many technology companies into a money-losing tailspin. The earnings represent a drop-off from the $61 million net profit Apple reported in the same...

Now that the dot-com bubble has burst, sparking a recession that has spread through the U.S. economy, the boom era is facing its share of harsh criticism. But for all the failures that dot-coms brought to the business world, they also were responsible for some truly astounding technological innov...

In this economy, eBay's bid to pay $1.5 billion for PayPal might seem excessive, even for the likes of the auction giant. And while many analysts believe eBay will get its money's worth, others are not convinced. AMR Research analyst Louis Columbus told the E-Commerce Times that he believes eBay ...

Expedia has rejected a takeover bid from USA Interactive, the online travel service's largest shareholder. The snub was not entirely unexpected. Many company officials and shareholders had denounced USA Interactive's intentions to buy the remaining 37 percent of Expedia. USA Interactive head Barr...

Ask Jeeves has joined forces with 24/7 Real Media's search engine marketing division to launch a paid inclusion service called Index Express. The service will match search queries from users "to the highly relevant deep content on an advertiser's Web site," according to Doug Wagner, president of ...

Multichannel retailing is on the rise in the U.S. and Europe, according to a new study published by Gartner. Of the 375 companies surveyed between September and December of last year, roughly 75 percent said that they currently have a multichannel retailing strategy (MRS) or are planning to imple...

XML (extensible markup language), with its potential for helping companies find common ground on which to exchange and interpret data between disparate systems, has started to change the face of e-commerce. For example, for enterprises to get the most out of order-management applications, a key f...

In the few years since the Internet has become an important venue for commerce, communications and entertainment, cybercops have tried to impose a variety of rules, regulations and guidelines to protect the interests of consumers and businesses. Unfortunately, however, no mechanism yet exists to ...

In what could be seen as a move toward confirming the merits of the Justice Department's settlement with Microsoft, U.S. District judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has determined that the software giant offered ample disclosure of its dealings with the government in the antitrust initiative. The judge...

While WorldCom has been severely battered by revelations of improper accounting and accusations of fraud, a new Yankee Group report suggests the company has what it takes to survive the current crisis. Yankee Group vice president Eileen Eastman told the E-Commerce Times that there are four possib...

With a flurry of product announcements, IBM and Sun Microsystems have intensified their heated battle to dominate the Web services market. In this round, the two behemoths are targeting the developer community, with Sun taking the wraps off of its Sun Open Net Environment Application Services Refere...