Business

The end result of approval of the recent spate of telecom mergers might be a sharp reduction in the choice that both consumers and businesses have to access the Internet. This is the point that some industry and consumer groups are planning to argue to regulators. While there are varying arguments a...

Worldwide PC shipments are expected to slow in 2005 as the latest replacement cycle ebbs, Gartner says. However, the research firm still predicts 9 percent growth as compared to last year. Gartner expects shipments of mobile PCs, such as laptops, to drive market growth by increasing 17.4 percent in ...

Sparked by growth in its European operations, Yahoo announced today it will open a European operations headquarters in Ireland to provide support to its main European headquarters in London. Yahoo plans create almost 400 new jobs in the Dublin office over the next five years. The Irish operation wil...

Major League Baseball's Internet unit said it has reached a deal to acquire e-tailer Tickets.com for US$66 million, a move that offers the league more opportunities to sell directly to its fan base. MLB Advanced Media said it would pay $1.10 each for all of the outstanding shares of Tickets.com, whi...

Vonage Holdings, one of the fastest-growing voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) calling firms in the United States, has complained to federal regulators that data traffic carrying its low-cost telephone calls is being blocked by some broadband networks, apparently those managed by local telephone co...

Monster Worldwide, parent company of the leading online career site in the U.S., said it would buy France-based Emailjob.com for US$26 million. Emailjob.com, which was founded in 1998, was owned by the French division of worldwide trade show giant and business publisher Reed Elsevier Group, which is...

Hewlett-Packard has announced antivirus software aimed at controlling the spread of viruses across corporate networks in an apparent bid to boost its server sales. The company also announced that HP Labs is collaborating with two prominent partners to test new damage-containment security software ai...

Using its deeper pockets and higher national profile to outlast a rival bidder, Verizon Communications has reached a deal worth around US$6.7 billion to buy No. 2 long distance company MCI. The purchase price includes $4.8 billion worth of stock, $488 million in cash and another $1.5 billion in one-...

Crude oil prices rose today amid thin trading volumes as the market looked for new direction. Light, sweet crude rose 19 cents to US$47.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in European trade. Heating oil prices also rose, by less than a cent, to $1.3122 a gallon. In London, Brent for Apri...

Reviving a nearly 5-year-old case that has tested the limits of local jurisdictions in the Internet era, Yahoo has won a new hearing on claims that its rights under the U.S. Constitution to sell Nazi memorabilia can't be limited by French courts. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will rehear s...

A week after the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament demanded that the Computer Implemented Inventions Directive be rewritten, the European Union has delayed plans to approve the controversial rules providing for patenting computer software. Observers expected EU ministers to endorse ...

Mobile device maker Nokia has struck a deal to license Macromedia's Flash technology for use on smartphones, a partnership that could help accelerate the adoption of portable Web use and mobile commerce over time. The agreement is seen as significant because it will give thousands of Web application...

Building on its strategy of making voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) calling as widely available as possible, VoIP firm Skype has struck a deal to have its Internet calling software installed on a versatile line of mobile smartphones. The i-mate PDA2 and PDA2K handsets will be pre-loaded with Skyp...

In what could be the start of a bidding war for the last major independent long-distance company and its roster of business customers, Verizon Communications reportedly is seeking to acquire MCI. Verizon is reported to have floated what's being described as an "informal bid" of around US$6.3 billion...

Call it a triple whammy against spam. EarthLink today announced four more lawsuits in its continuing fight against fraudulent and deceptive commercial e-mails. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Pfizer announced parallel lawsuits against two international pharmacy spam rings. It is just the latest barrage of ...