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AOL Time Warner's positive earnings report this week was tempered by news that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission is looking into the way the company's online division has handled its accounting. The company shrugged off the SEC inquiry, and Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman told the E...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it has settled a case against a California Web site that claimed to offer an alternative cancer treatment. The commission also noted it has issued warnings to nearly 300 additional sites making "questionable" health claims. The FTC said it levied a $4.3 mill...

Somebody had to do it. One of the surviving e-commerce giants had to take the stand and be the first to start accounting for stock options as expenses, which is exactly what they are. That somebody, it turns out, is Amazon. The company seems to have recognized some simple truths: In times like th...

AOL has told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it will pull back from plans to offer server-to-server interoperability between AOL Instant Messenger and other messaging services. Citing technical difficulties and market dynamics, the company indicated in a letter to the FCC that it...

In a week when the stock market dipped wildly and WorldCom filed for bankruptcy, Amazon's $94 million net loss for the second quarter of 2002 paled in comparison. The loss actually represented an improvement over the online bookseller's year-ago second quarter, in which it posted a net loss of $1...

The bursting of the high-tech bubble may already have done away with the weakest players in e-commerce, but experts say the sector's survivors still face tough times in the second half of 2002 and beyond. "We are seeing larger players gaining market share against a background of shrinking demand,...

The Federal Trade Commission must be lacking work these days. Maybe the slowed economy and depressed market have given the FTC too few mergers to squash. How else do you explain the decision to convene a three-day powwow to engage the never-ending debate over whether states or private companies a...

Even as the major U.S. stock markets dipped to new lows, Ameritrade -- the second largest online broker -- said it squeezed out a quarterly profit of $5.7 million. The company noted that order volume has plummeted as consumers have turned away from stock trading in large numbers, reducing revenue...

PayPal has reported that its second-quarter earnings and net income have increased, doubling in key areas compared with year-ago results. The Internet payment service reported second-quarter revenue of $53.8 million, a whopping 173 percent increase over the same period last year. Net income total...

Few companies in recent history, with the exception of spectacular flameouts like Enron, have inspired the kind of loathing that Microsoft has in its climb to the top. "They have a tendency to be like a fighter who gets his knees and elbows into everything," IDC vice president Dan Kusnetzky told ...

In a move to compete with rival Oracle's new 9i database management software, IBM has released a beta version of its new DB2 database. According to IBM executives, the latest software is faster and more reliable than its predecessor, with improved support for Web services. Much of the DB2 buzz cen...

Expanding its service offerings as it awaits eBay's buyout, PayPal said it will begin offering users direct access to U.S. postage through an alliance with Stamps.com. The two companies said the new service, which will let users buy and print U.S. Postal Service stamps through their PayPal accoun...

Following a second-quarter loss that reportedly was mediated by the effects of an aggressive pricing strategy, PC maker Gateway has announced it will knock another $100 off the price of its desktop and mobile computers. Specifically, Gateway said it will reduce the prices of its 300SE and 500SE d...

After suffering a series of security flaws that have shaken customer confidence, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has taken to e-mail to reassure customers that Microsoft has heavily invested in its "Trustworthy Computing" initiative and is on track to ensure the security of its products. Writing to...

Sifting through the stock market wreckage in search of wireless gems has not been a fruitful pursuit in recent weeks. For the most part, experts say, companies in the sector -- especially wireless service carriers -- will need to undergo drastic shifts before wireless stocks again become "must-ha...