Business

For anyone who has been involved with e-commerce for any length of time, the experience must feel like a roller coaster ride.

MP3.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: MPPP) and Sony Music Entertainment have settled the copyright infringement suit brought over the My.MP3.com system.

As dot-coms mature, so do the pay practices of the online industry, according to the Unifi Network Internet Compensation Survey 2000 released Tuesday.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Monday that operators of over 180 Web sites offering "credit repair" services were put on notice that their claims may violate state and federal laws.

New data from research firm Media Metrix shows that while the Net is still generally dominated by those with higher incomes, the number of U.S. users with low incomes is growing faster than any other group.

A recent poll by the Pew Internet and American Life project showed that younger Internet users are less likely to think "cookies," the electronic tracking devices that marketers use to follow the movements of Internet users, intrude on their personal privacy.

Beleaguered Internet health network Drkoop.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: KOOP) announced a $20 million (US$) cash infusion and the appointment of new management Tuesday, just as it was disclosed that the company is under scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Online consumer spending has stagnated at a mid-summer plateau, according to figures released Friday by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Forrester Research.

In separate industry forums being held in Beijing and Seoul this week, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung offered optimistic assessments of the ability of the Internet and e-commerce to change their countries' futures.

A strong majority of U.S. Internet users want a guarantee from Web sites that their private information will not be resold, and more than 90 percent favor punishment for executives responsible for privacy violations, according to a new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Web portal Lycos took a big step toward making the wireless Internet more accessible when it hooked up with Boston, Massachusetts-based Mobilee to develop a voice portal to the Net. The companies plan to unveil the talking portal before the end of the year.

Citing horror author Stephen King's e-publishing efforts as proof that consumers are ready for digital publishing, electronic book provider NetLibrary, Inc. has filed to raise $82 million (US$) in an initial public offering.

Chip titan Intel Corp. will unveil two new lines of microprocessors this week, including the Pentium 4, the first major upgrade of the Pentium chip since 1995.

A ruling from a federal judge that bars a Web site operator from distributing software to descramble DVD codes is being hailed as a major blow against video piracy. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan likened his ruling to "eliminating the source" of a contagious disease.

In order to succeed on the Net, major music labels must quit fighting the digital music revolution and implement their own digital distribution model to support single-track purchases, according to a report released Thursday by the Gartner Group.