Business

Take-Two Interactive Software on Wednesday said regulators have begun a formal probe of its options dating practices, a move that suggests a recent change of leadership at the company may not have put an end to the options questions. The New York-based company disclosed the formal probe by the Secur...

The user who posted a video on YouTube poking fun at Thailand's king apparently has removed the video. However, the country's government says a ban on using Google's viral video site remains in place until all evidence of the offending clip is gone. The YouTube ban is staying in place because remain...

Suppliers may be willing to offer you favorable pricing in exchange for your business, but that assumes you have enough control over your spend to direct your purchasing dollars to them. In businesses with multiple locations where purchasing decisions are made at the local level, suppliers have good...

The FBI is reportedly investigating the legal issues associated with virtual casinos in Linden Lab's "Second Life" online world. In "Second Life," millions of registered users can create their own "avatars," or personas, in an online world with its own economy. The virtual world also has its own cur...

A lawsuit brought against Microsoft this week claims the software giant knowingly placed "Windows Vista Capable" labels on a large number of PCs that can run the new operating system only in its most basic form. A consumer who claims to be a victim of "bait-and-switch" sales tactics by Microsoft fil...

Best Buy edged further ahead of rival Circuit City in the battle for consumer electronics and entertainment spending in the fourth quarter, with high-end TVs and other devices helping drive Best Buy's gains and costs associated with a restructuring plan dragging down Circuit City's. Best Buy's profi...

Follow service-oriented architecture to its logical conclusions and you recognize that modern corporations will soon be operated on the equivalent of aviation's "fly by wire." The traditional governance and management means of running a business -- the levers, pulleys, cables and brute muscle -- wil...

Cable giant Comcast extended its regional reach Tuesday with its announcement that it will buy privately held Patriot Media & Communications for around $483 million in cash. The deal gives Comcast control of a tightly focused regional network with about 81,000 video subscribers mainly focused in...

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has established rules that prohibit telephone and mobile phone carriers from releasing customer records over the phone without a password. In part, the new privacy rules are designed to protect against pretexting, the practice of impersonating a phone custo...

Continuing its drive to expand its reach beyond the Web, Google reached a deal to partner with satellite TV provider EchoStar to deliver television spots for its advertising clients. Together, the companies will create what they called the first automated system for buying, selling, distributing and...

In e-commerce, understanding the customer can make the difference between a company's online success or failure. As processes for collecting and storing data become more sophisticated and efficient, companies are able to keep databases of transactional and clickstream data that are larger than ever ...

Xerox has announced it will acquire Global Imaging Systems, a provider of automated office equipment, network integration services, and electronic presentation systems, for $1.5 billion, or $29 per share, in an all-cash transaction. The deal is structured in two steps: a cash tender offer for all Gl...

Search giant Google may be joining the list of suitors for interactive marketing firm DoubleClick -- reportedly joining Microsoft, Yahoo and Time Warner's AOL in the potential buyer pool. Google is in talks with DoubleClick's majority owner, San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Frie...

Gaming is no longer just for teenagers -- it's entertainment for everyone. The gaming industry is not an exclusive club for large game developers, publishers and console manufacturers. Not any more. You too are invited. The Internet has reinvented gaming, and now gaming is reinventing the Internet.

The WTO said the U.S. ban on Internet gambling is out of line with international trade policy. This ruling gives hope to Web gambling firms that have been battered by U.S. regulatory and law enforcement activity in recent months. The WTO ruled in favor of the Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda...