Beth Cox

UCLA’s annual report on the Internet’s impact on our lives says that although going online has become a mainstream activity, “enthusiasm for e-commerce is down” and “broad concerns remain about Internet privacy and security.” The study also found that “television is the primary victim of increasing Internet use” and that most security concerns involve worries […]

As expected and with a simple statement declaring that holiday shoppers will not be burdened by new taxes on their online purchases, President Bush has signed a two-year extension of the ban on new Internet taxes. In his statement, Bush said: “Online spending is estimated to account for 15 percent of total holiday purchases this […]

By the government’s method of measuring, U.S. online retail sales for the third quarter of this year rose a measly .2 percent to about $7.5 billion. But the new report from the Commerce Department for the July-through-September period is based on a survey of 11,000 retailers and does not include some popular online purchases, such […]

In an unexpected shakeup, German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG is reorganizing its e-commerce operation and said one of the group’s top execs, Andreas Schmidt, is “leaving the company to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities.” DirectGroup Bertelsmann, the unit that has been in charge of the company’s B2C businesses since July 2000, made the announcement, saying that […]

Online brokerage Ameritrade Holding Corp., which reorganized the company last June, has completed the conversion of clients from National Discount Brokers Corp. and launched Ameritrade Plus, the third segment in its Private Client Division. Omaha, Neb.-based Ameritrade acquired the online trading arm of National Discount Brokers (NDB.com) for about $154 million in stock last July […]

If you’re doing business online, you have to deliver the goods as well as sell them, and a new industry tracking report is keeping tabs on which e-commerce merchants can get their stuff to the customers and which can’t. The early leaders in on-time performance are Tower Records, eBags, SmarterKids, JJill and Amazon.com, according to […]

It’s beginning to look a lot like a joyous holiday season online as the preliminary reports from pundits, prognosticators, measurers and best-guessers come rolling in after the first big shopping weekend following Thanksgiving. The Nielsen//NetRatings Holiday eCommerce Index showed 22 percent more home Internet users engaged in online holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving as […]

After undergoing months of punishment from investors and industry analysts for its continued losses, Chicago-based CoolSavings Inc. , its stock down to 12 cents a share, has been delisted by Nasdaq. Nasdaq said the company, one of the original coupon outfits on the Internet, had failed to provide a definitive plan to achieve and sustain […]

El Segundo, Calif.-based IT services company Computer Sciences Corp. Tuesday scored a $1.1 billion extension of its outsourcing contract with United Technologies Corp. CSC said the agreement extends its contract with UTC until December 2014, bringing the total value to $3.7 billion over 15 years. The original 10-year agreement was announced in October 1999. Analysts […]

A coalition of corporations and nonprofit agencies launched “Network for Good,” an online portal aimed at helping charities strengthen their connections with people seeking to donate, volunteer or speak out on issues. The ePhilanthropy Portal was founded by the AOL Time Warner Foundation and AOL Inc. , the Cisco Systems Foundation and Cisco Systems Inc. […]

Even as President Bush signs legislation that places airport baggage screening under the control of the government, a new survey from Yahoo Inc. and J.D. Power and Associates shows that such a measure is exactly what travelers want to feel safer in the air. Congress gave final approval to the compromise measure on Friday, assuring […]

Orbitz, the online travel site operated by a consortium of airlines, delivered a mandated progress report to the U.S. Department of Transportation and said that its gross travel bookings and sales hit all-time highs for the week ended Nov. 4. “As the public resumed traveling (after the terrorist attack on the United States), Orbitz’s traffic […]