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Since Sarbanes-Oxley (S0X) was enacted into law on July 30, 2002, management has been scrambling to comply with the Act. In a previous column, "Sarbanes-Oxley: Insurmountable Hurdle for Small Business?," I gave some background as to what gave rise to SOX, how Congress reacted to the public outcry, a...

Activity in the Philadelphia region's manufacturing sector continues to improve, according to firms surveyed for this month's Business Outlook Survey released today by the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia. While the indicator for general activity fell from its August reading, indicators for new ...

Adding the latest competitive twist to the online music space, XM Satellite Radio said it would launch an Internet version of its commercial-free radio service next month. XM said it would offer a Web-only subscription to its satellite service for US$7.99 per month. Subscribers to its radio service,...

Does the operation of a Web site mean that your company can be dragged into court in any jurisdiction? This is a question that has been the subject of numerous lawsuits in both the U.S. and other countries. Here are summaries of a few recent U.S. decisions that provide some guidance on this issue. I...

Infineon Technologies AG announced today that it has reached an agreement with the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division. Infineon will plead guilty to a charge related to the violation of U.S. antitrust laws in connection with the pricing in its Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)...

On the surface, at least, Oracle is having a very good month. Last week, it defied many pundits by successfully overturning the Department of Justice's block on its PeopleSoft acquisition. On Tuesday, Oracle turned in first-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. Oracle posted earnings of U...

Today's hot topic is Google and the search-engine ranking of brand identities. All businesses, whether big or small, are trying to dominate the accessibility of their corporate images and brand names, mostly via cyber mediums, fluid Web sites, new cyber branding and digital domain name management te...

Oracle today announced that its first quarter earnings per share increased 18 percent to US10 cents per share, compared to the first quarter last year, outperforming Wall Street expectations that were closer to 9 cents per share. In afterhours trading following the release of the earnings numbers, O...

IBM has announced several new services and technologies to help push radio frequency identification (RFID) systems to industrial companies. The new services are geared toward the automotive, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, chemicals and paper and electronics industries. IBM has partnered with Phi...

A plan to employ Microsoft technology as a standard for identification of e-mail senders to help curb spam has been rejected by a key Internet technical group because of concerns the software giant might seek to enforce its patent rights in the future. A subgroup of the Internet Engineering Task For...

Yahoo and Musicmatch today announced they have signed an agreement for Yahoo to acquire Musicmatch for approximately US$160 million in cash. Digital music sales are expected to grow rapidly in the near future, particularly with the increasing availability of broadband access. Music subscription sale...

Offshoring's toughest moments are often encountered while attempting to manage an IT outsourcing program at a facility that is unprepared for that particular type of work. As described below, chances of offshoring success are improved by matching the type of program with the lifecycle of the offshor...

Nokia said Monday that it had landed a contract worth at least US$120 million to supply the hardware for a new nationwide mobile network in Libya, giving the company a foothold in a key emerging market and boosting its global 3G offerings. Nokia said the deal, which calls for the company to supply a...

The Internet has brought dramatic changes to the way companies communicate and people conduct their business relationships. One of the hottest marketing trends for businesses across all industry lines involves using the power of the Internet to provide virtual meeting spaces. Web conferencing and We...

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation announced that it has agreed to divest certain U.S. onshore properties to undisclosed parties for US$850 million in cash and interests in two oil and gas fields in Wyoming. The transaction, effective September 1, 2004, will include an estimated 108 million barrels of o...