Articles by Chet Dembeck

Responding to a firestorm of criticism, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Commissioner Q. Todd Dickinson told reporters this week that enough questions have been raised about the office's procedures to spur the agency to overhaul its review process for awarding e-commerce patents The move toward change comes on the heels of charges that the patent o...

Responding to a firestorm of criticism, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Commissioner Q. Todd Dickinson told reporters this week that enough questions have been raised about the office's procedures to spur the agency to overhaul its review process for awarding e-commerce patents The move toward change comes on the heels of charges that the patent o...

Earlier this week, Microsoft stirred up the online video and audio marketplace mix by introducing its Windows Media Player 7 software The preview version of the software titan's free player, which will be released later this year, provides software for downloading digital content from Web sites as well as capabilities for creating playlists.

The rights of musicians and all artists took a direct blow to the chin earlier this month when members of America Online's Nullsoft music division made it even easier for Web surfers to steal intellectual property The "Gnutella" software, which was developed by the same group that created the popular Winamp MP3 player, is a file-sharing tool that l...

It was reported late last week that the U.S. government and Microsoft were finally ready to lay down the gloves and craft a compromise that would bring one of America's longest-running soap operas to an end By Monday, however, hopes for a settlement seemed to die as it was reported that government lawyers rejected Microsoft's last minute settlement...

According to published reports, the Walt Disney Company has quietly been lobbying the U.S. Congress to block the proposed $180 billion (US$) merger of America Online and Time Warner, Inc In addition to lobbying House and Senate staffers, Disney executives have requested intervention by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and have apparently bee...

When CompUSA announced that it is revamping its e-commerce Web site to better capitalize on its national brand identity, the company began writing the latest chapter in what has so far been a failed online game plan The top U.S. brick-and-mortar computer chain also confirmed that it has slammed shut the virtual doors of its e-commerce site, Cozone....

A growing number of investors have come to believe that pure-play e-commerce companies are burning their cash at an incredibly rapid rate and that these firms will be forced to dilute their outstanding shares with expensive rounds of new financing -- or worse According to Barron's, such companies as music retailer CDNow, Inc., Internet commerce fir...

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the fastest-growing sectors over the next 10 years will be high-tech and e-commerce. However, while 1.2 million college students in the United States earned bachelor's degrees last year, only 5.5 percent received engineering degrees The result is an equation that even a non-engineer can understand: High ...

Last week, the online sale of Stephen King's new novella tied up the servers of major e-commerce sites and also widened the gulf between old line and Internet Age publishers After King's 66-page novella "Riding the Bullet" sold more than 500,000 copies in just two days, it appeared that Simon & Schuster had clearly proven that old line publishers h...

Consumer Reports declared Thursday that online auto sales have not yet become a viable alternative to traditional outlets The magazine reviewed five major Internet car buying sites, finding a lot of useful information -- but also a lot of poor service.

The U.S. Commerce Department announced yesterday that U.S. and European Union negotiators have finally reached a formal agreement on a much-needed deal that would guarantee privacy protection for EU member consumers who do business with U.S.-based e-tailers Currently, relevant U.S. online privacy laws are far more liberal than those in Europe. For ...

What a strange week for CDNow. Just as the music e-tailer announced that its proposed merger with direct marketer Columbia House had crashed and burned, PC Data released figures showing that the company actually outpaced Amazon.com in home-based buyers for the month of February Still, the failed merger is leading many investors to believe that CDNo...

Only months after forging a similar alliance with Wal-Mart Stores, America Online has entered into a cross-marketing pact with Sears, Roebuck and Co. that will include joint branding, special promotions and a focus on high-speed Internet access AOL will be Sears' preferred online service provider, and a special co-branded edition of AOL -- with lin...

As the federally-appointed Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (ACEC) prepares to hold its final meeting next week, bitter divisions within the panel threaten to scuttle any potential for a compromise deal on Internet taxation in the United States The current proposal exempts such "digitized" goods as music, books or other data when sold via...

Last week, in an open letter posted on his company's Web site, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos responded to allegations that the e-tail giant's use of patents is unfair and stifling to competition The saga began in earnest last December when Richard Stallman, an early developer of the Linux operating system, called for a boycott of Amazon in an article p...

It was reported earlier this week that America Online CEO Steve Case has been engaged in serious alliance talks with AT&T. Case told reporters that AOL and AT&T could work together in various ways -- although he quite characteristically declined to be specific. This news should come as a bombshell to many observers, considering the fact that AOL a...

Recently, Microsoft Corp. quit the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) after the computer trade organization sided with the U.S. government's antitrust suit against the software giant and urged enforcers to consider breaking the company up Microsoft claims that it made its sudden exit stage left after 14 years in the association beca...

Software giant Oracle Corp., oil company Chevron Corp. and a unit of Wal-Mart Stores have announced plans to create an online supply exchange for the convenience store industry According to company officials, the new B2B network will link convenience stores to suppliers by way of Oracle's electronic-business platform, Chevron's existing retail Inte...

Six of the largest movie chains in the United States announced plans today to form an e-commerce portal where consumers can buy tickets, peruse reviews and view previews The alliance is apparently an effort to become less dependent upon America Online's Moviefone unit, which serves 34 markets in the U.S. and Canada. The venture will also attempt to...