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A new survey by digital entertainment research and information company Webnoize suggests that most college students who use Napster's controversial music file-swapping software would be willing to pay to keep that privilege According to Webnoize, more than half of the 4,294 students surveyed at four-year colleges in New England said they would pay ...

Tuesday's reports that MP3.com, Inc. and Warner Music Group are close to settling a copyright infringement lawsuit came as extremely good news to the online music company's shareholders According to published reports, MP3.com is expected to pay Warner Music, a unit of Time Warner Inc., between $15 and $20 million (US$) to settle the suit. The settl...

As news of Wednesday's judicial decision to break up Microsoft Corp. (NYSE: MSN) continues to reverberate through the high-tech world, many analysts and observers are wondering what all of the ballyhoo is about In the short term, Microsoft attorneys are expected to file for an emergency stay within the next few days. If granted, the stay would temp...

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...

In the minds of many industry analysts, Linux has been growing up in the glare of the spotlight over the past couple of years. If that observation is true, then the recent LinuxMall.com merger agreement with the publicly traded EBIZ Enterprises, Inc. (OTC BB: EBIZ) could set a trend for rites of passage as the open-source platform reaches maturity ...

Last year, U.S. Vice President Al Gore elicited peals of laughter when he took credit for inventing the Internet. But long after the laughter died down, Gore continued to express his strong belief in what the Internet can do for society So it was no surprise when the vice president used a campaign stop Monday to announce that -- if elected presiden...

Antivirus labs in Russia and Finland have identified a new e-mail virus that sends spam, or mass amounts of unwanted e-mail, to mobile phones The "Timofonica" worm, which originated in Spain and sends an e-mail message in Spanish, appears to have been developed as a protest against Spain's dominant telecommunications provider, Telefonica.

A new report by Forrester Research suggests that the online privacy debate will temporarily subside and then reach a crisis point by 2004 "First, businesses under continuing relentless competitive pressure will increase the power and the scope of their information handling abilities," Forrester analyst Jay Stanley writes. "Second, the privacy issue...

Microsoft attorneys got in the last word Tuesday as they filed their final response to the U.S. government's breakup plan, clearing the way for a ruling that is expected Wednesday afternoon U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, presiding over the biggest antitrust trial since the breakup of AT&T in 1984, has given strong indications that he ...

Countering a similar venture led Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE: CPQ) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP), IBM and a group of international computer manufacturers have formed a $200 million (US$) e-marketplace for computer, electronics and telecommunications companies to buy and sell goods and services Other partners in the venture, called e2open.com, inc...

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...

Seven of America's largest movie theater chains said Tuesday that their Internet movie ticketing venture, christened Fandango, will start up as a pilot program in the next few weeks before its full service launch later this summer "Fandango is an instantly recognizable and distinctive name that sets us apart in our industry and precisely conveys th...

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...

In a speech given to the Computer and Communications Industry Association on Monday, U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Stuart Eizenstat declared the agency's support of a permanent Internet sales tax ban, despite the contribution such taxes would make to U.S. coffers "We need to be sure that we do not discriminate against sales on the Internet and the...

Last week, Marc Andreessen, the 28 year-old co-founder of Netscape, received a lukewarm reception from the New Democrat Network when he unveiled his prescription to combat the dearth of high-tech workers in the United States According to published reports, Andreessen's keynote address to a group of Democratic officeholders and candidates at the San...

A plan by the British government to monitor business e-mails and obtain data encryption keys could harm the United Kingdom's chances of becoming an e-commerce leader, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) The Regulation of Investigatory Powers bill (RIP), which was introduced in Parliament earlier this year, would give police the go-a...

Online grocer Webvan Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBVN) said Monday that it will offer consumer electronics, videos, DVDs and other entertainment products as it steps up efforts to expand its reach and boost revenues The move comes just weeks after Webvan said it will expand into the online book sales realm. The firm also rattled the grocery industry with ...

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...