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Microsoft announced Monday that it was partnering with Unisys Corporation and Baltimore Technologies to design, develop, and market a Windows 2000-based software package that incorporates Identrus, an electronic identity verification system. The new product will allow loan officers at financial in...

Word of mouth is one of the strongest marketing mediums available -- so strong that some struggling dot-coms, desperate to save advertising dollars, are begging their customers to help spread the word about their products and services. "Word of mouth is very powerful in terms of buying power," F...

Microsoft announced Thursday that it had taken legal action against two online Florida businesses for alleged distribution of counterfeit software. Additionally, Microsoft announced that it had been awarded a total of $162,000 in settlements and judgments stemming from legal actions the company h...

An online business directory designed to make business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce simpler and more efficient went live Wednesday. In addition to providing basic company information, the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) allows businesses to list their products and service...

Despite speculation that Internet behemoth Amazon will eventually open real world stores as a way to boost profits and make product returns easier, a senior executive with the company said Tuesday that Amazon intends to stay in cyberspace for the time being. "One of the questions we keep heari...

Although some e-tailers argue that imposing a sales tax on Internet purchases would cause online sales to plummet, a study released Tuesday by Jupiter Media Metrix concluded that most consumers are indifferent to the presence of an online sales tax. Jupiter's survey of consumers who had abandon...

In the days when everyone believed that the future of the economy lay in cyberspace, many dot-coms unwittingly built financial houses of cards by investing substantially in their online brethren. Taking equity stakes in other dot-coms was "the cool thing to do a year ago, when everyone was livin...

Microsoft announced Monday that it has reached an agreement to purchase privately held e-business software company NCompass Labs, reportedly for US$36 million. NCompass Labs' flagship product is NCompass Resolution, a software package that Microsoft said allows companies to deploy personalized ...

Dot-com companies claimed more executive departures than any other business sector in April, according to a study released Monday by Chicago, Illinois-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CGC). John Challenger, chief executive officer of CGC, told the E-Commerce Times that s...

Internet postal provider Stamps.com announced Monday that it has acquired the domain name, URL and various patents from former competitor E-Stamp for US$7.5 million. "These acquisitions significantly enhance our position in the rapidly growing Internet postage and shipping areas," Stamps.com chi...

Gone are the days when visiting dusty warehouses and digging through bins of junk were the only ways to buy bargains from the government. Now a number of government agencies have gone high tech and are using Web sites like eBay to auction off surplus property, ranging from jalopies to jewelry. A...

Taking a cue from rival IBM, Compaq announced late Thursday that it has reached an agreement to buy Internet consultancy Proxicom for US$266 million in cash. The purchase pushes Compaq toward its stated goal of increasing its consulting and services business from 21 percent of its revenue to 30...

KB Toys said Thursday that it is purchasing "substantially all" of defunct e-tailer eToys' inventory for US$5.4 million, as part of eToys' bankruptcy proceedings. KB Toys stressed that although the retail value of the eToys merchandise is estimated to be $40 million, KB Toys does not expect to ...

Universal Music Group (UMG) said late Wednesday that it has bought out BMG Entertainment's stake in GetMusic, an online e-commerce and music information site founded jointly by the companies in 1999. "I think we're seeing Universal make a more aggressive move to catch up with BMG," Webnoize rese...

As the Nasdaq issues one warning after another to companies that have not kept their per-share stock values above a US$1 minimum, some dot-coms have considered returning to their private roots before being relegated to the oft-ignored "pink sheets" of over-the-counter (OTC) trading. However, tak...

IBM announced late Thursday that it is acquiring Internet business consulting firm Mainspring for approximately US$83 million in cash. Under the terms of the agreement, IBM will pay $4 a share in cash for all of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Mainspring's outstanding common stock. "This acquisi...

Amazon-backed Ashford.com (Nasdaq: ASFD) announced this week that it has received notice from the Nasdaq that the company no longer complies with the exchange's US$1 minimum bid requirement and that the stock faces delisting. The Houston, Texas-based luxury e-tailer has 90 days to comply with the r...

Automotive e-marketplace Covisint announced Wednesday that it had chosen Kevin W. English, a former Wall Street executive with no automotive experience, as its first chief executive officer, president and chairman of the board. "I think he's an interesting choice," Jupiter Research business- to-b...

Two men pleaded guilty Tuesday in Sacramento, California federal court to scamming eBay users out of US$450,000 over two years by self-bidding on their own auctions to drive up prices. Sacramento attorney Kenneth Walton and Scott Beach, of Lakewood, Colorado, were indicted in March on charges ...

The New York Attorney General's office announced Monday that it has settled a deceptive advertising case with brick-and-click computer products retailer CompUSA. At issue were advertisements for rebates on computer products offered by CompUSA's now defunct subsidiary, Cozone.com. According to t...