Articles by Chet Dembeck

Charles Schwab & Co., the granddaddy of discount brokers, has all but suddenly changed roles from being the hunter to the hunted The company announced yesterday that it will acquire online brokerage CyBerCorp for $488 million (US$), and will also slash its trading rates to as low as $14.95 for higher volume customers.

Despite a sharp difference of opinion among its members, the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (ACEC) appears headed toward a long-term extension of the current moratorium on Internet taxation Six companies with members on the commission are promoting a multi-year extension of the moratorium as the main component of a compromise, which wou...

Earlier this week, Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates told a gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that European e-commerce continues to be hamstrung by high per-minute telephone tolls "A country's communications will determine how quickly the Internet takes off in that country," Gates said.

According to a new report by Forrester Research, Inc., brick-and-mortar insurance giant Allstate "will spark an all-out Internet war" in personal lines insurance by offering sales and service via the Internet "Allstate must aggressively hire from the outside to become a leader in electronic marketing and customer service," the report states. "But u...

Amazon.com caught Wall Street by surprise last Friday when it nonchalantly announced layoffs for the first time in its five-year history Even though the 150 lost jobs represent only about two percent of Amazon's 7,500 workers, the mere fact that the online merchant decided to cut back at all seemed to startle many investors. After all, Amazon's rev...

If 1999 was the year that non-profitable e-commerce companies got a free ride from Wall Street, a new report from Forrester Research shows that 2000 is proving to be the end of the line "Financial markets exasperated with non-existent online profits will turn a deaf ear to persistent 'investment mode' rhetoric and soundly punish merchants who bleed...

Despite quadrupling its third quarter sales, online toy seller eToys, Inc. has rattled its shareholders' nerves by continuing to post significant losses eToys went public in May 1999 at $20 (US$) a share, and the stock zoomed to $76.56 on its first day of trading. The share price hit a high of $86 in October 1999 before plunging to $16.87 on Thursd...

Earlier this week, when the Chinese government announced that it was imposing yet more regulations on the Internet and the development of e-commerce, a bitter chill was felt across the vast new economy One set of new rules will make it easier for the Chinese government to censor online content, while a separate set of rules will make it harder for ...

Despite raking in millions of dollars a day through its e-commerce operations, online PC sales giant Dell Computer Corp. announced yesterday that its earnings and revenue will fall short of expectations for the second quarter in a row "While we're clearly disappointed with our operating results, our overall business is healthy," said Tom Meredith, ...

One of the great stereotypes about dot-com companies is that they are all bleeding red ink despite raising millions of dollars (US$) in well-publicized Silicon Valley IPOs However, a recent survey by Ernst & Young debunks that myth. The research, which was based on 150 telephone interviews with CEOs of Internet companies, found that while leaders l...

Earlier this week, digital music Web site MP3.com, Inc. was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on behalf of no less than 10 major record labels The lawsuit alleges that the My.MP3.com service, which was introduced this month, violates music copyrights by allowing consumers to store digital copies of CDs on the site.

The Chinese government is introducing new regulations that many analysts fear will put a chill on e-commerce in the world's most populous country According to lawyers and regulators, one set of rules will make it easier for the government to censor online content, while a separate set of rules will make it harder for new ventures to receive funding...

At this week's annual convention of auto dealers in Orlando, Florida, Autobytel.com announced that it will now act as a broker to sell vehicles directly to consumers via the Internet It was no accident that the announcement came only days after giant e-tailer Amazon.com leapt into the online car business by taking a five percent stake in Greenlight...

In what is fast becoming a major industry trend, online drugstore More.com, Inc. announced today that it will become the exclusive e-commerce partner for discount brick-and-mortar pharmacy chain Phar-Mor, Inc The new partnership comes on the heels of similar arrangements between Healtheon/WebMD and CVS pharmacies, and Drugstore.com and Rite Aid. In...

USA Networks, Inc. announced today that it is beefing up its e-commerce presence by merging its Internet Shopping Network (ISN) with fashion e-tailer Styleclick.com, Inc. in a deal worth an estimated $500 million (US$) The merged company will be 75 percent owned by USA Networks and will draw management from both Styleclick.com and ISN. Maurizio Vec...

Giant e-tailer Amazon.com announced deals today and on Friday that are expected to bring in $187.5 million from equity partners that will promote their products to Amazon's 16 million online shoppers In making the deals, Amazon announced that it will receive $105 million over the next three years from online pharmacy Drugstore.com, Inc and $82.5 mi...

Direct computer seller Dell Computer Corp. has topped rival Compaq Computer Corp. in U.S. PC sales for the first time ever, according to data released today by both Dataquest and International Data Corp Both analysts attribute Dell's surge to PC sales over the Internet, which, according to IDC, generate $30 million (US$) a day. IDC added that selli...

The Clinton administration recently asked the U.S. Congress to empower the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate online pharmacies. The Administration asked Congress to appropriate $10 million (US$) for resources to do the job properly The move to regulate online pharmacies was sparked by reports of an estimated 400 Web sites that are alle...

At the end of 1999, retail analyst Lehman Brothers Holdings predicted that holiday season failures would force many online merchants to fold or go up for sale at a rapid rate in 2000 Despite a well-publicized tripling of e-commerce spending last year, many online merchants have found themselves falling far short of the shopping season revenues that...

Online media company CNET, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNET) has announced that it will buy privately-held online comparison shopping company mySimon, Inc. for approximately $700 million (US$) in stock The San Francisco, California-based CNET said it will issue 11.3 million of its shares to mySimon with an eye toward completing the transaction by the end of the f...