Kelly Black

Wall and Main have been abuzz over U.S. District Judge Patel’s ruling against music file swapping software firm Napster. By the looks of it, Her Honor has hammered the nail in the coffin for the poster child of peer-to-peer technology. But so what? I was a strong proponent that Napster was already washed up when […]

InfoSpace (NASDAQ:INSP) flexed its market cap muscle yesterday with its after-the-bell land-grab of Web portal Go2Net (NASDAQ:GNET). The $4 billion deal pays Go2Net less than a 50% premium over its Wednesday close, but considering deep-pocketed Vulcan Ventures has given its blessing to the merger along with top banana Russell Horowitz, it suggests insiders are consolidating […]

InfoSpace flexed its market cap muscle yesterday with its after-the-bell land-grab of journeyman Web portal Go2Net . The $4 billion deal pays Go2Net less than a 50% premium over its Wednesday close, but considering deep-pocketed Vulcan Ventures has given its blessing to the merger along with top banana Russell Horowitz, it suggests insiders are consolidating […]

This week has seen a whirlwind of activity in the online healthcare patch. First, MillenniumHealth did some grandstanding for the cameras when the firm went out of its way to publicize a tender offer it made for struggling drkoop.com . Instead of discussing the deal over a cup of tea, Millennium’s spokespeople made a beeline […]

On the heels of being named #93 in Business Week’s top 100 information technology companies, Take-Two Interactive Software added yet another cog in its rapidly growing gaming powerhouse. The New York-based publisher and distributor of games for the PC, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Game Boy, and Sega Dreamcast consoles announced plans to acquire strategy […]

Word hit the wires last week that struggling drkoop.com might be in talks to merge its operations with MillenniumHealth Communications, an online flea market for new and used medical supplies and equipment. Upon closer examination, it looks like MillenniumHealth jumped the gun by announcing talks, and most likely intentionally. Drkoop released a statement setting the […]

Well folks, it finally happened, albeit anticlimactically. CDNow found a dance partner with Bertelsmann AG. The German media giant dictated terms to the tune of $117 million in cash and will assume an additional $42 million in CDNow debt so the music e-tailer can pay the light bills until the acquisition is finalized. The buy […]

Excite@Home unveiled plans to merge its non-U.S. operations with Dutch ISP chello broadband to form Excite Chello, valued at nearly $5.1 billion. The merger deal creates a combined user base of over 300,000 subscribers in 15 countries and boasts a global IP backbone. Chello is the sibling of Dutch cable giant United Pan-Europe Communications and […]

Newspaper heavies Knight Ridder and Tribune Company announced a newly formed, jointly owned company would acquire both Careerbuilder and CareerPath.com in an effort to muscle into the crowded e-recruiter space. Los Angeles-based CareerPath.com is a privately-held firm cooked up in the mid-90s by a half dozen major newspapers that include the likes of New York […]

Microsoft’s new skipper was in Atlanta recently preaching to the Technology Association’s bully pulpit. Steve Ballmer made a calculated statement that he believes, “Even with the collapse in the dot-com marketplace, you still have a lot of people who are overinvesting in dot-com start-ups.” He added, “There’s too much money chasing Internet ideas today.” First […]

Hi Kelly, Applying the same logic that according to Toysmart’s privacy policy, they are not able to sell their customer lists or customer information, what if a company with similar language in their privacy policies were to be acquired? What would the implications be then? This whole thing seems kind of silly because it has […]

Credit Suisse First Boston is busy throwing its weight around over on Yahoo!’s lawless discuss ion forums. The investment banker slapped ten anonymous message board posters and one known perpetrator with a lawsuit alleging phony baloney statements, slander, and illegally publishing one of its analyst’s research on the Net. Welcome to the World Wide Web. […]