Articles by Martin Stone

Encouraging online shopping leads to declining loyalty, fewer referrals and lower profits as users negotiate Web sites that "would give Kafka pause," according to a report conducted by a Canadian research firm A report today in the Toronto Globe & Mail newspaper said the findings run contrary to the generally accepted view that online retailing wil...

Japan's rush to soar into cyberspace reportedly made it easy for hackers to attack government Web sites last month, and the country's vulnerability is reflected in similar attacks on major U.S. sites this week A Reuters report today contended that Japan was slow to embrace the Internet, but in recent months cyberspace has become a craze among gover...

Attorneys General in 17 states have launched undercover operations against online tobacco dealers with the latest results being four Web smoke vendors reportedly agreeing to ban sales to under-age buyers in Oregon According to a report by the Associated Press, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers said that three dealers have signed agreements, which...

Republican presidential hopeful and Texas Governor George W. Bush has shattered traditional fundraising records, but is reportedly dead last with online contributions Bush's GOP rival, Arizona Senator John McCain, and Democrats Al Gore and Bill Bradley have reaped major campaign donations through their Web sites, with McCain raising twice as much m...

An online fund-raising campaign has reportedly paid big bucks for U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) in his run for the Republican nomination in the upcoming presidential race, and his organizers are preparing for more via a live streaming fund-raiser on February 10th According to a report in the Wall Street Journal today, $150,000 (US$) in post-...

Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE) reportedly announced today it has signed a deal with Japan's largest network of convenience stores to distribute PlayStation games sold on the Internet According to a Reuters report today, Japanese fun fans will be able to order a game online and collect it at their local 7-Eleven, a network of 8,000 convenience stores across ...

Washington-based watchdog organization the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has launched a hard-line campaign against an alleged effort by online advertising service DoubleClick, Inc. (Nasdaq:DCLK) to track individual identities and actions online and tie them to offline behavior The group kicked off the campaign Tuesday by launching a "We...

The U.S. government reportedly will take its concerns about China's proposed encryption disclosure rules to the six-day World Economic Forum conference getting underway in Davos, Switzerland According to a Reuters report, the U.S. will urge China to explain the new regulations on encryption technology, which are due to come into effect on Monday.

China has sent ripples of distress through the Internet community with a variety of new rules concerning state secrets and encryption, but is seeking today to reassure foreign investors that the regulations will not limit the free exchange of online information According to news reports today and Wednesday, sweeping new regulations on encryption te...

A study to be released today reportedly says that a growing demand for prescription drugs will propel online spending for healthcare products and services to $9.8 billion (US$) by 2004 According to a report by the Associated Press, online shoppers spent only $200 million on healthcare products in 1999.

Five high-profile food firms reportedly will announce today an alliance with online grocer Webvan.com to promote their products into virtual shopping carts Pillsbury Co., a unit of Britain's Diageo PLC, Kellogg Co. (NYSE:K), Quaker Oats Co. (NYSE:OAT), General Mills Inc. (NYSE:GIS), and the U.S. unit of Nestle SA of Switzerland, are forming marketi...

Online music provider MP3.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:MPPP) has been slapped with a copyright lawsuit initiated by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the company confirmed Friday An MP3.com statement said the firm had been served with a complaint for copyright infringement brought by RIAA in New York federal court.

U.S. Justice Department officials reportedly called computer crime a growing menace to corporations worldwide, and admitted that law enforcement agents face major hurdles in combating it A report by Reuters today said Justice and FBI officials concede there is no such thing as a completely secure computer system. The warning was voiced Thursday at ...

A coalition of Canadian business leaders hopes to turn Canada into the Switzerland of the Internet, according to a Wall Street Journal report today The Canadian entrepreneurs aspire to enlist U.S. industry participation in a plan to draw up global e-commerce standards and to create the first tribunal for business-related Web disputes, the report sa...

Prosecutors attempting to decide the fate of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) following a court finding that the software giant constitutes a monopoly, reportedly have suggested a break-up of the company into at least two separate components According to a report in USA Today this morning, government lawyers, who have so-far been divided on how to pun...