Articles by Paul A. Greenberg

Online brokerage firm E*Trade expanded its operations this week with the launch of E*Trade Bank, an online consumer banking service that will offer FDIC-insured banking products and services fully integrated with its electronic brokerage The move comes less than three months after E*Trade's merger with Telebank, the largest pure-play Internet bank....

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found late Monday that Microsoft Corp. has violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by undertaking illegal anti-competitive actions to maintain its monopoly on personal computer operating systems Jackson said the software maker used its power in the industry to "monopolize the Web browser market" to the detrime...

With all hopes for a settlement of the antitrust case against it dashed, software giant Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is bracing for harsh sanctions and a possible breakup of the company when federal judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues his ruling sometime this week The chief mediator in the case, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner, announced Sa...

Healthcare giants Johnson & Johnson, GE Medical Systems, Baxter International, Inc., Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic, Inc. have further fueled the current business-to-business (B2B) feeding frenzy by announcing plans to create a privately held exchange to streamline purchasing for healthcare providers "Every healthcare system around the world is ...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched investigations into the consumer information practices of Internet powerhouses Yahoo! and Amazon.com In its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Yahoo! revealed that the FTC has asked the company for information to see if it is in compliance with federal con...

This week's announcements that e-tailers Gloss.com and Beautyscene.com are up for sale are a strong indication that online beauty products firms will be among the early victims of the projected e-commerce shakeout "With the plethora of beauty sites out there, it has all come down to which few are going to survive," said Lisa Allen, an analyst with ...

In a case that could have widespread implications for the future of Internet competition, a federal judge has ruled that online companies can legally provide links to rival Web sites At issue was whether startup Tickets.com, Inc. had a legal right to link its site to pages deeply embedded within the site of its chief competitor, Ticketmaster.com. T...

The honeymoon may be over for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, as a source close to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has publicly called for active enforcement of antitrust laws as they apply to the sector While speaking to the First Annual Big Bang conference this week, Bert Foer, former assistant director of the FTC's Bureau of Compe...

Online auction powerhouse eBay has confirmed that it is cooperating with Los Angeles police and postal authorities to investigate claims that some 150 consumers were defrauded by a single eBay member After the complaints were received, eBay suspended the privileges of the alleged offender, a highly unusual move on the part of the San Jose-based auc...

As competition in the online auto sales space continues to grow fierce, Internet car-shopping services Autoweb.com and CarsDirect.com have teamed up to try to capture a larger share of the market The alliance, announced late Monday, will include the launch of a co-branded direct buying service on Autoweb.com, placement of exclusive links between th...

Just weeks after announcing an online business exchange with America's big three automakers, Commerce One, Inc. has announced a similar deal with four aerospace industry giants Together with Boeing Co., BAE Systems PLC, Raytheon Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., Commerce One will create a Web-based marketplace to transact goods and services with one a...

Despite widespread optimism last week that Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) were on the brink of settling the antitrust case against the software titan, the U.S. government has reportedly rejected the company's last-ditch proposal Unless unexpected progress is made today, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will issue a ru...

Results of two new studies released this week indicate that the future of wireless e-commerce may be less than rosy for the near term A report from research and consulting firm Ovum, titled "Mobile E-Commerce: Market Strategies," says that consumers may not be willing to pay for services simply because they are wireless.

According to a study released this week by PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Conference Board, America's largest companies are investing more money than ever in electronic commerce but have not yet utilized the Internet to maximum effect The study, titled "Electronic Business Outlook for the New Millennium," was conducted for the second year in a row ...

The U.S government and Microsoft are reportedly close to a settlement that, contrary to conventional wisdom, would leave the giant corporation intact The mediations, which have been conducted by appellate judge Richard Posner, apparently have produced a plan that would require Microsoft to significantly alter its business practices. Additionally, t...

Former General Motors executive Roy Roberts has announced the formation of M-Xchange.com, a business-to-business (B2B) trade exchange that will encourage minority-owned businesses to take a more active role in electronic commerce Roberts, who was once the automaker's highest-ranking African-American executive, will serve as chairman, chief executiv...

The drive for a compromise on Internet taxation disintegrated late Monday night when members of the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (ACEC) failed to reach the two-thirds majority vote required for a formal recommendation to the U.S. Congress Though the warring factions appeared to be inching toward a compromise of late, hope for agreemen...

In a deal that could ultimately accelerate delivery times across the e-commerce landscape, Amazon.com announced Monday that it has invested $60 million (US$) in one-hour delivery service Kozmo.com Amazon, which also received warrants to purchase additional shares in Kozmo.com, plans to take advantage of the three-year alliance by offering customers...

The Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (ACEC) begins its fourth and final session in Dallas, Texas today, with no sign of an agreement on how, or whether, to tax e-commerce Before the ACEC can make a formal recommendation to the U.S. Congress about taxation, a supermajority of 13 votes is required by the 19-member panel. At this time, analy...

The Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) has joined the business-to-business (B2B) scramble by announcing plans to create an online marketplace for its members. GMA members generate U.S. sales of $460 billion (US$) per year and employ 2.5 million people in 50 states The organization has already appointed an executive steering committee to manage ...