Articles by Paul A. Greenberg

NBC Internet, Inc. (NBCi), a dot-com division of the National Broadcasting Company, said Tuesday that it will restructure and consolidate all of its Web holdings under one banner The announcement followed the company's revelation that its revenue and earnings for the rest of this year will be lower than expected, although it did not release exact s...

Refuting rumors that it would run out of cash by the end of 2000, online toy retailer eToys bought itself some breathing room Tuesday with $100 million (US$) in capital raised from the sale of preferred convertible stock Just last month, Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto included eToys on his list of 10 publicly-traded Internet retailers that woul...

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) asked a federal court judge Monday to issue an injunction to prevent music swap site Napster from "facilitating or assisting others in the copying, downloading, uploading, transmission or distribution of copyrighted musical works." The RIAA filed the motion in U.S. District Court in San Francisco...

Hollywood Entertainment Corp. announced Monday that it is shutting down the e-commerce aspects of Reel.com, the film-related Web site that was often ranked among the ten most visited Internet sites While Reel.com's sales operation, including DVDs and videos, will cease, the site will remain active as a content destination. In addition to retail sal...

Following negotiations that have consumed most of this year, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have apparently reached an accord on the terms of a digital signature bill Both branches of government agreed that an e-signature bill was needed, and each had passed its version with little opposition last year. However, reaching an agreem...

In an attempt to fend off mounting criticism of what promises to be the Internet's largest travel Web site, executives for the so-called "Travelocity Terminator" came forward Thursday to defend their plan to combine the forces of five of the largest U.S. airlines "We are hoping to interject competition," said chief technology officer Alex Zoghlin, ...

Mammoth U.S. grocery chain The Kroger Co. announced Thursday that it will join forces with name-your-own-price service Priceline WebHouse Club, Inc., a privately-held licensee of Priceline.com. The WebHouse Club allows online shoppers to name their own price for groceries, up to half-off The Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kroger, which operates supermarket...

The online publishing industry continued to gain momentum Tuesday as Internet bookseller Barnesandnoble.com announced an investment of $20 million (US$) in exchange for a 30 percent stake in Mighty Words, a subsidiary of Internet bookstore and publisher Fatbrain.com In addition to offering the works of best-selling authors, Mighty Words allows aspi...

The online publishing industry continued to gain momentum Tuesday as Internet bookseller Barnesandnoble.com announced an investment of $20 million (US$) in exchange for a 30 percent stake in Mighty Words, a subsidiary of Internet bookstore and publisher Fatbrain.com In addition to offering the works of best-selling authors, Mighty Words allows aspi...

The online publishing industry continued to gain momentum Tuesday as Internet bookseller Barnesandnoble.com announced an investment of $20 million (US$) in exchange for a 30 percent stake in Mighty Words, a subsidiary of Internet bookstore and publisher Fatbrain.com In addition to offering the works of best-selling authors, Mighty Words allows aspi...

After two years of contentious legal wrangling, Microsoft Corporation was ordered by a federal judge Wednesday to split its operation into two competing companies The landmark ruling, which could have far-reaching repercussions in the growing electronic commerce industry, also requires the company to comply with a lengthy list of restrictions on it...

Just days after Disney-backed online toy retailer Toysmart.com shut its virtual doors for good, Toysrus.com announced Monday that it plans to double its staff and expand operations over the next year Still smarting from a rough-and-tumble holiday season marred by late deliveries and subsequent lawsuits from disappointed consumers, Toysrus.com never...

The Electronic Commerce and Consumer Protection Group, a working group comprised of seven of the world's leading Internet and e-commerce companies, proposed a set of guidelines Tuesday designed to protect online consumers and "inspire global discussions of legal issues related to consumer transactions in the borderless, instantaneous new medium." R...

The financial roller-coaster ride for high-end fashion retailer Boo.com and the demise of Foofoo.com have caused some industry analysts to question the viability of selling luxury goods via the Internet In fact, the challenges facing luxury e-tailers have forced some companies to change the way they do business. Ashford.com, for example, has revise...

Online healthcare company Healtheon/WebMD has announced a strategic alliance with Internet insurance service company SimplyHealth.com to provide insurance services to its customers The two companies will co-develop a health insurance distribution service for WebMD.com's online consumer portal. The new service will provide users access to a variety ...

Hilton Hotels Corp. unveiled a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace Thursday that will be powered by PurchasePro.com's B2B e-commerce engine The new hospitality procurement network, slated to be launched this summer, will ultimately handle the bulk of the company's US$1.5 billion in annual purchases for goods and services from thousands of its su...

In yet another twist in what has become an e-commerce soap opera, New York-based Fashionmall.com announced Thursday that it has acquired embattled British e-tailer Boo.com. The agreement comes just as upscale e-tailer Foofoo.com revealed that it is shutting down after only a year in operation Fashionmall, considered a rarity in the e-commerce world...

For the first quarter of 2000, U.S. business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce sales were up 1.2 percent to $5.26 billion (US$) from the fourth quarter of 1999, according to figures published by the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce. However, despite the gains, e-commerce has yet to make a significant impact in overall retail sales The Commerc...

E*Trade and accounting giant Ernst & Young announced plans on Tuesday to make financial advice available to the brokerage firm's 2.6 million clients over the Internet Investors will be able to seek professional advice on a number of financial planning issues, such as financing a home, funding a child's education, saving for retirement, and planning...

E*Trade and accounting giant Ernst & Young announced plans on Tuesday to make financial advice available to the brokerage firm's 2.6 million clients over the Internet Investors will be able to seek professional advice on a number of financial planning issues, such as financing a home, funding a child's education, saving for retirement, and planning...