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For more than a year, Microsoft has been pushing its Passport identification system -- in which consumers use a single login ID and password to access multiple applications -- as a crucial feature of its .NET platform. Recently, though, the company has begun backing software called "TrustBridge" ...

In an effort to replicate the Virgin Megastore experience online, Virgin Entertainment has handed control of the company's e-commerce efforts to Amazon.com. Amazon will handle inventory, customer service, site content and fulfillment for VirginMega.com. The agreement with Virgin comes after Amazo...

Enterprise cannot swing an optical mouse these days without hitting a Microsoft product. But despite the software giant's aggressive posturing, enterprise is hardly at its mercy when developing a blueprint for e-commerce. In fact, it is easy to avoid Microsoft altogether, Giga Information Group a...

Microsoft refused to compromise further with the nine states pursuing antitrust action against the software giant -- just a day after U.S. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked Microsoft and the states to find common ground. The states told the court that the most critical requirement is that Micros...

Intel has announced, unsurprisingly, that it is withdrawing from the Web hosting business. The chipmaker said it will shut down the business unit and take a $100 million charge in its second fiscal quarter. The company launched its Web hosting effort, Intel Online Services, in 1999, as dot-com fe...

Earlier this spring, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said he did not foresee economic improvement during the next three months. He was not kidding. Oracle reported revenue of $9.7 billion for its fiscal year ended May 31st, down considerably from the $10.9 billion recorded last year. In the company's fi...

While other hardware stocks took a dive, IBM shares rose as Big Blue's strategy to abandon the hard disk drive market drew kudos from analysts and the company announced plans to restate its financials. The boost came after Steve Weber, an analyst with SG Cowen, boosted his 2002 forecast for the t...

In an attempt to thwart piracy -- and to find an online music strategy that works -- Sony Music and Universal Music have announced they plan to make downloading music from the Web less expensive. But with listeners accustomed to getting music free, pay-as-you-play services face an uncertain futur...

An economic downturn means fewer dollars for salaries, business resources and, in some cases, research and development. But is a poor economy synonymous with a dip in technical innovation, particularly at bellwether companies like Cisco and IBM? "Most companies are looking to streamline processes...

Internet media company Terra Lycos has launched a subscription-based online music service with the full cooperation of at least four major record labels. The new service is designed not only to deliver music to Internet listeners, but also to help Lycos decrease its dependence on ad revenue, whic...

EarthLink has announced it will buy low-cost computer vendor PeoplePC for about $10 million, but the giant Internet service provider left open the possibility that the deal could swell to $14.3 million. PeoplePC has made a business out of selling inexpensive PCs bundled with Internet access. The ...

For all the talk about the World Wide Web, e-commerce is not so worldly after all. The Web may disregard international boundaries, but shoppers still must abide by the laws of their home country -- and then some. Cultural differences, language translation snafus, payment method restrictions, and ...

Intel wounded Wall Street's hopes for recovery by lowering its forecast after market close. The company said its second-quarter revenue should total $6.5 billion, rather than the $6.4 billion to $7 billion projected earlier this spring. In a conference call, Intel chief financial officer Andy Bry...

EBay expects to rake in nearly $1 billion in revenue during 2002, CEO Meg Whitman said at the auction giant's shareholder meeting. But analysts have forecast even better numbers, predicting revenue of $1.11 billion for the year. Whitman also noted that several market opportunities still exist for...

Less than a month after Napster said it would sell its assets to Bertelsmann in a deal worth $8 million, the online music swapping service has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Company executives stressed that Chapter 11 is not Napster's swan song. Instea...

IBM has sliced 2,000 jobs from its Global Services unit as it struggles to bring its financials more in line with forecasts. The latest round of cuts is part of a bigger layoff scheme that IBM began implementing this spring. In total, the company is expected to divest itself of 8,000 to 9,000 emp...

Just weeks after Cisco reported that its third-quarter operating profit more than tripled to $838 million from the year-ago period, the company's shares dropped on reports that analysts from two firms have sounded the alarm over its financial standing. Although sales figures seem to indicate Cisc...

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has taken aim at the growing amount of spam plaguing New York consumers by filing suit against online marketing company MonsterHut and two of its executives. The suit accuses the company of misrepresenting its e-mail marketing service as an opt-in offering. ...

Sun Microsystems has positioned itself to tackle the Linux market with a significant upgrade to its Solaris operating system. The new version of Solaris, which features enhanced built-in Linux compatibility, also includes a programming toolkit designed to simplify development of Linux-compatible app...

Microsoft may have thought it could make software upgrades easier for customers -- and secure a steady revenue stream -- by mandating an automatic upgrade plan for applications and operating system software, but the company should rethink its strategy, analysts said. "The ill will generated with ...