Articles by Chet Dembeck

Last week, the United States announced that it was confident that the World Trade Organization would extend a temporary ban on e-commerce tariffs That's the good news.

According to a new study by Jupiter Communications, Inc., neither U.S. nor European e-tailers have moved aggressively to establish consumer relationships in the continent's most sophisticated Web markets The research -- which was delivered to attendees of the Jupiter Consumer Online Forum Europe held this week in London -- featured rankings of the ...

In a move seen by some analysts as an effort to trump chief rival Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, AOL announced yesterday that it is expanding its Digital City guides from 60 to more than 200 cities by early next year Both companies currently offer local entertainment listings, tourist guides, restaurant listings, dating services and ticket orderin...

You've probably read by now that Priceline.com filed suit against software giant Microsoft Corp. late last week The suit, filed in federal court, claims that Microsoft's Expedia.com Internet travel service subsidiary is violating Priceline's name-your-own-price hotel-reservation patent.

OpenGrid, Inc., a developer of instant messaging for wireless devices, announced today that it has received more than $8 million (US$) in backing from Motorola and Starfish Software CEO Philippe Kahn Kahn, the founder of Starfish, sold the company to Motorola last year for $256 million in stock and cash.

This week, when E*Trade Group, Inc. reported a $27 million loss (US$) in its fiscal fourth quarter, both the press and company officials spun this negative development into positive news One headline read: "E*Trade Widens Quarterly Loss But Adds New Accounts." ...

When 30 year-old Hani Hajje founded Torrance, California-based Power Solutions, Inc. in 1995, the Internet was still perceived to be a risky, unknown business quantity "People back then thought the Web was going to crash," Hajje recalls. "A lot of businesses didn't understand or see the advantage of the Internet." ...

According to a study by Northeast Consulting Resources, Inc., e-commerce will be substantially hindered by the fact that the Internet remains slow and will probably get slower over the next few years "It is clear that the World Wide Web won't fulfill its promise unless the right design decisions are made," said Peter Sevcik, a senior analyst who co...

Earlier this week, an interactive TV service began offering its UK customerse-commerce services ranging from shopping to banking via their TVs The service, which is known as Open, will instantly allow 1 million viewers to pay their bills, buy groceries or even order dinner by simply typing their orders on the portable keyboards hooked to their sets...

Priceline.com, the name-your-price seller of airline tickets and other products, has added mortgage and new car buying services to its Web site The Stamford, Connecticut-based company has licensed its patented business model to Alliance Mortgage Co. and its affiliates as part of the new Pricelinemortgage service.

In a deal that industry observers see as part of an all-out effort by America Online to rapidly grow a struggling subsidiary's subscriber base, CompuServe will now be teamed up with AAA to deliver co-branded Internet service to AAA's 38 million U.S. members While the specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the agreement will begin ...

Earlier this week, when Microsoft Corp. announced that it will employ Ask Jeeves to answer customer questions on a wide range of its applications, the Emeryville, California-based search engine's stock soared By mid-morning on Monday, 1 million shares of Ask Jeeves shares had changed hands -- pumping its price up $11 (US$) a share to about $62.

IBM chief executive Louis Gerstner warned an international audience at a meeting of the United Nations-sponsored Telecom '99 that "any customer, or nation, that gets trapped by a closed architecture runs the very real risk of being left behind." The meeting was held Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland.

Since the advent of online trading ande-commerce, message boards and chat rooms have become havens for those who want to take shots at or float rumors about different companies and their top management Unfortunately, most of the popular investment boards allow these often-ruthless online critics the use of aliases to hide their true identities.

1-800-Flowers.com announced today that it has signed a multi-year deal with Internet portal Snap.com to become the anchor tenant in Snap.com's Flower Shop Although the specific length or terms of the agreement were not disclosed, 1-800-Flowers will be featured in an integrated online and TV media campaign. 1-800-Flowers will also be spotlighted in ...

Internet guru Bill Gross, whose e-commerce successes include eToys, Inc. and GoTo.com, has launched iExchange.com, a site where individuals can sell their stock tips to the public iExchange.com is the latest product of Gross' Internet incubator idealab!, the three-year-old Pasadena, California-based company that has become a factory for Internet st...

Web message boards and online news accounts have been filled with possible deals for and by the Redwood City, California-based company, which has 500,000 subscribers throughout the United States and Canada Web message boards and online news accounts have been filled with possible deals for and by the Redwood City, California-based company, which ha...

According to a "Breadbox" study by Odyssey, L.P., 85 percent of consumers who have already engaged in e-commerce are "very satisfied" with their online shopping experiences Based upon a random telephone survey of 3,000 U.S. households, the San Francisco, California-based market researcher also discovered that three million new U.S. households will ...

Earlier this week, it was reported that eBay, Inc. and AuctionWatch.com failed to resolve a conflict that may now have to be settled by a judge The disagreement was sparked when eBay told AuctionWatch that the upstart search engine was no longer permitted to search its site.

As the battle for Internet chat dominance grows to a fever pitch, AOL has announced that Lycos, Inc. will be the latest company to distribute a customized version of the AOL Instant Messenger to its many visitors The specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.