Business

Computer e-tailer Outpost.com said Friday that its recent decision to start charging for shipping is already helping its bottom line. Outpost said that in the three weeks since it abandoned its free overnight shipping policy, it has seen an increase in the average order size. That, in turn, has ...

The United Kingdom and Canada digitally signed a pact Thursday promising to cooperate on developing e-commerce and e-government initiatives. As a symbol of their resolve the document was signed electronically in two countries. "It is through collaborative efforts such as this that we cultivate...

Copyright law has some muscle in this country, enough to fend off even young Shawn Fanning and his highly innovative music file-sharing service. Emotions are running high regarding this issue, but when all is said and done, how will anyone really dispute Napster's defiance of copyright law? Th...

The Internet is fast becoming a mecca for drug traffickers who use it to unlawfully peddle controlled substances, the United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said Wednesday in its annual report. The report said that some online pharmacies "explicitly" advertise that they pr...

With record sales undermined by staggering losses, Internet grocer Peapod.com has issued a warning that it would run out of cash by the end of the year if it does not secure additional financing. The e-tailer posted record fourth quarter sales of $US23.7 million in its earnings report issued We...

Vivendi Universal and Sony Music, two of the most dominant players in the music industry, said Thursday they will soon compete directly with Napster by launching a digital music site of their own. Known as Duet, the site will be based in San Francisco, California and offer both subscription and...

In a bid to increase its international market share, eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) announced late Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to purchase European online auctioneer iBazar S.A. in an all-stock deal estimated to be worth up to US$112 million. "This deal is a tremendous step forward for eBay,...

Illustrating the extent of evolution that online business is facing, a report released Wednesday by IDC found that the number of private corporate Web portals might eventually surpass the number accessible by the public via the Internet. "There are only so many portals that are going to make it ...

General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced Wednesday that it has inked a deal with Autobytel.com to test an online shopping system that will show consumers the cars available for purchase in their area. GM said the trial run, which is slated to begin May 1st and run for 90 days, will provide the compa...

BlueLight.com unveiled a new online shopping reward program Wednesday that will provide free Internet access to its online shoppers. Starting March 1st, BlueLight will offer shoppers the opportunity to get free monthly Internet service as a reward for buying products through its shopping site.

Raising questions about the Internet's ability to sell tickets to major international events, technical problems on the official site of soccer's 2002 World Cup have left fans in the co-host countries of Japan and Korea unable to order tickets online for the championship of the world's most popu...

Home delivery of groceries and other sundries ordered online will endure, according to industry observers, but some leading Internet providers might not, unless they can adapt to marketplace demands and find offline partnerships to become profitable. Yankee Group analyst Christine Loeber told th...

Internet delivery service Webvan (Nasdaq: WBVN) announced Tuesday that it is exiting the Dallas, Texas market in a bid to conserve capital and bring its other regional areas of operation to profitability. The Foster City, California-based company also said that approximately 220 workers will be lai...

Online scam artists contributed to a 50 percent increase in credit card fraud in the European Union (EU) last year, ringing up US$553 million in illegal transactions, according to numbers released by the European Commission (EC) on Monday. To stem the tide, the EC has launched an ambitious thre...

Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos sold about 1 percent of his personal stock holdings just before the release of a blistering analyst report that Amazon had advance access to, according to a newspaper report. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on Saturday that Bezos sold stock in two...