Business

The U.S. government decided recently to negotiate with, rather than litigate against, the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda (both referred to as Antigua) over the issue of online gaming. This decision came about after the U.S. lost an arbitration proceeding under the trade dispute resolution ...

In an effort to make its flagship software affordable enough to ward off open-source competitors and squelch piracy in a key overseas market, Microsoft announced plans to release a scaled-down and low-price version of Windows XP in India. Microsoft said it would make Windows XP Starter Edition avail...

Shares of Google, the world's most-used Internet search engine, may continue to rise as the company boosts advertising revenue, research analysts at securities firms that underwrote Google's public offering said after they were cleared to publish reports on the company. Google, whose shares are up 4...

Computer Associates International today said it will lay off 800 workers worldwide in a restructuring plan it said is designed to more closely align its investments with its strategic growth opportunities. In issuing a statement announcing the action this morning, the company said the effort is expe...

Amazon.com and Microsoft have joined forces for what they described as a "wake-up call" to spammers, filing lawsuits seeking damages from defendants they say sent millions of pieces of spam and attempted phishing and spoofing against the two companies' customers. The companies together sued a Canada...

Labor market conditions can change dramatically in a few months. As American firms become increasingly dependent on labor market conditions in other parts of the world, changes in those labor markets can have profound economic consequences in the U.S. Here we examine the rapidly changing IT labor ma...

A surge in demand for personal computers from business users has prompted research firm IDC to raise its forecast for overall sales for 2004, with the firm now predicting that sales will grow more than 14 percent over last year. However, sales in the U.S. are actually falling short of targets. IDC s...

In a move that deals a blow to a line of chips for which Intel once had high hopes, Hewlett-Packard has said it had stopped selling workstations loaded with the 64-bit Itanium 2 processors. HP said only that it was responding to "customer requirements" in the workstation space in making the move. HP...

Microsoft announced today that it has filed nine new lawsuits against alleged spammers, including a Web-hosting company that offered services specifically for people who send unsolicited mail. The suits are part of a larger effort by Microsoft to target the perpetrators of spam. With this batch, fil...

In my last article, Sarbanes-Oxley: Avoiding Its Pitfalls, I talked about alleviating the fears of well-meaning management. This article addresses the concerns of sincere board members of publicly held corporations and of privately held companies. It provides guidance that will enable board members ...

Global communications systems equipment supplier Andrew Corp. today updated its previously issued earnings guidance for the fourth quarter, noting it now expects a loss of 4 cents to 8 cents per share. The company attributed the loss to slowed purchases by two big customers planning to merge, higher...

Last Sunday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed a bill that strengthens California's antispam laws. Senate Bill 1457 amends the current laws by making it an offense to send advertising in a spam e-mail either from California or to a California e-mail under specified circumstances. The new...

Sun Microsystems has unveiled its latest computing-on-demand initiative, offering access to processor power for US$1 an hour, as it becomes the latest major tech firm bidding to make real the vision of computing power as a commodity that can be bought and sold as needed. Sun said it envisions comput...

Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Triton PCS today said that they have signed an agreement -- contingent on the closing of Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless -- that will give Cingular expanded wireless service in Virginia and Triton PCS added coverage in North Carolina and entry int...

Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Triton PCS today said that they have signed an agreement -- contingent on the closing of Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless -- that will give Cingular expanded wireless service in Virginia and Triton PCS added coverage in North Carolina and entry int...