Articles by Chet Dembeck

Dell Computer Corp. unveiled on Tuesday a wide range of new online services geared toward small and mid-sized businesses, including Dell-branded Internet access, e-mail and purchasing services The launch is seen by many observers to be an attempt to offset shrinking margins on PCs, but the Round Rock, Texas-based company is merely matching similar ...

The Internet's impact on the U.S. business-to-business (B2B) marketplace will trigger more than $6 trillion (US$) in trade by 2005, according to a new report by Jupiter Communications B2B e-commerce will represent 42 percent of the total U.S. business-to-business non-service spending, the research firm said.

Further shrinking what is already a highly competitive e-commerce sector, online grocer Webvan Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBVN) announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire rival HomeGrocer.com for $1.2 billion (US$) in stock The move is yet another step in Webvan's strategy to expand its geographic reach, along with moving beyond groceries to become a...

U.S. federal regulators have expanded their probe of America Online's planned $124 billion (US$) acquisition of Time Warner, Inc., according to published reports In its second request this month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is asking that the two companies provide a wide range of additional information.

In what is being described as a victory by both AT&T and open access advocates, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the city of Portland, Oregon has no authority to force AT&T to open its broadband infrastructure to competitors because the operation comes under the purview of federal regulators The decision, which reversed a ruling...

In what is being described as a victory by both AT&T and open access advocates, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the city of Portland, Oregon has no authority to force AT&T to open its broadband infrastructure to competitors because the operation comes under the purview of federal regulators The decision, which reversed a ruling...

In what is being described as a victory by both AT&T and open access advocates, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the city of Portland, Oregon has no authority to force AT&T to open its broadband infrastructure to competitors because the operation comes under the purview of federal regulators The decision, which reversed a ruling...

A lawsuit filed in a Dallas, Texas federal court accuses Wells Fargo Bank of using the Internet to discriminate against minorities and encourage racial segregation According to published reports, the allegations are centered on Wells Fargo's "Community Calculator," an online search engine designed to assist prospective home buyers in choosing neigh...

Rebounding quickly from a bruising legal battle over music copyrights, MP3.com announced this week that it is introducing a subscription system that could emerge as an alternative to controversial music swapping site Napster The new system allows MP3.com users to subscribe to lists of available music from participating artists and music labels. It ...

Although an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses are embracing the Internet, many firms still remain skeptical about e-commerce, according to a study released Wednesday The research compiled by National Small Business United and Arthur Andersen found that while 71 percent of the companies surveyed either have a Web presence or are...

A report released Tuesday by Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) shows that the number of Japanese going online doubled in 1999, with more than one-third of the new Net surfers gaining access via wireless technology The Japanese government's survey found that one in five Japanese -- or about 27 million people -- now have Internet...

In a setback for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a request that the court relinquish jurisdiction over the Microsoft antitrust case The DOJ had argued that Microsoft should not have taken its motion for a stay directly to the appeals court before the trial court had an oppo...

America Online, Inc. took its first step toward allowing open access to its popular instant messaging (IM) system with the submission on Thursday of an 18-page proposal to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an industry panel that will eventually approve a standard for adoption The move comes a week after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (...

An anti-spam bill that could have a wide-reaching effect on online marketing is one step closer to becoming law following the U.S. House Commerce Committee's vote Wednesday If passed, the Unsolicited Electronic Email Act would require e-marketers to include valid reply addresses on unsolicited e-mails. It would also require direct marketing compani...

The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Wednesday that it will file criminal charges this week against a man suspected to have spread the crippling "Love Bug" computer virus NBI director Federico Opinion said in published reports that charges will be filed against Onel de Guzman, a 22 year-old computer school dropout who lives in...

Online auctioneer eBay has expanded into the fixed-price marketplace by agreeing to purchase person-to-person Web marketplace Half.com in a stock deal valued at $350 million (US$) Half.com sellers simply enter the ISBN code for a book or a UPC code for a CD, video or movie, describe the condition of the item, and select a fixed price that is half-o...

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday requested more information from America Online, Inc. before it will consider approving its proposed $124 billion (US$) merger with Time Warner, Inc The request came just two days after 43 technology companies sent a letter to the FCC complaining that AOL holds a virtual monopoly on the inst...

Network Security Technologies, Inc. announced the discovery Thursday of destructive software that has been clandestinely implanted into thousands of business and home computers The Herndon, Virginia-based company says the software is secretly loaded on computers when an unsuspected user opens what appears to be a harmless small video file received ...

Tuesday's reports that MP3.com, Inc. and Warner Music Group are close to settling a copyright infringement lawsuit came as extremely good news to the online music company's shareholders According to published reports, MP3.com is expected to pay Warner Music, a unit of Time Warner Inc., between $15 and $20 million (US$) to settle the suit. The settl...

A new report by Forrester Research suggests that the online privacy debate will temporarily subside and then reach a crisis point by 2004 "First, businesses under continuing relentless competitive pressure will increase the power and the scope of their information handling abilities," Forrester analyst Jay Stanley writes. "Second, the privacy issue...