The new century is bringing new changes in U.S. Internet users, particularly women, according to a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Issued Wednesday, the study shows that the American online population, dominated by men in…
Oracle will drop its efforts to block PeopleSoft’s defense to Oracle’s hostile takeover bid if PeopleSoft’s shareholders fail to tender a majority of their shares by Nov. 19, according to an Oracle letter sent to a Delaware court. The development…
Internet service provider EarthLink plans to eliminate approximately 1,300 call center jobs by shuttering operations in Pennsylvania and California and outsourcing the positions. The Atlanta-based company said customer support functions will be routed to its remaining Atlanta staff and to…
Access and identity management firm Netegrity has bought Business Layers in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $42.5 million. Israel-based Business Layers provides open, standards-based software automating point of entry to networks and a single point of administration for…
To demonstrate how private information is at risk on the Internet, a California consumer advocate claims he has purchased online the social security numbers of Attorney General John Ashcroft, CIA Director George Tenet, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and FTC Commissioner…
Federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies issued proposed guidelines Tuesday to require financial institutions to develop programs to respond to incidents of unauthorized access to customer information, including procedures for notifying customers under certain circumstances. The proposed guidelines interpret the…
With the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosting a three-day “Spam Forum” beginning Wednesday, lawmakers are using the spam spotlight to grab their own political publicity. While the FTC plans to listen, the politicians are jockeying into position to tell Americans…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has concluded its holiday surf of Internet sites with advisory and warning letters to a number of Web retailers. The purpose of the campaign was to find out whether e-tailers were making “quick ship” claims,…
A new report from Charlottesville, Va.-based analyst firm CIR says optical-networking vendors “by and large” have yet to live up to the promises they make to their customers when it comes to network management. CIR claims it is “quite an…
Sen. Ernest Hollings (D.-S.C.) introduced legislation Thursday aimed at beefing up online privacy for consumers that would require online businesses to get user permission to disclose certain information. The bill calls for users to “opt-in” before allowing sites to share…
As part of a new marketing agreement between Nextel Communications, Inc. and America Online, Inc., Nextel will offer its wireless customers access to AOL’s services and features, including e-mail and instant messages. In addition, Nextel will promote its products and…
Software AG, Inc., the Reston, Va.-based U.S. subsidiary of Software AG, Europe’s largest systems software provider, and Cambridge VoiceTech, a provider of VoiceXML speech recognition platforms, have formed a strategic alliance to deliver speech recognition solutions to enterprise and government…
Teleglobe Communications Corp. and Ikimbo are teaming to jointly market Ikimbo’s communication software platform and BCE Teleglobe’s global network infrastructure and advanced services to enterprise customers. A BCE Teleglobe VPN customer, for example, could utilize the Ikimbo platform to initiate…
Online electronics retailer 800.com, which closed its operations on Thursday, has agreed to sell “certain key assets” to retailing giant Circuit City (QUOTE NYSE:CC>. The sale includes 800.com’s customer database and various other marketing elements. Financial terms of the agreement…
Online direct marketing firm e-centives, Inc., has completed its acquisition of the assets of BrightStreet, Inc., a developer of promotional and data tracking technologies. BrightStreet has developed patented technologies for companies to identify, build and manage consumer databases with precise…
Cable & Wireless has contracted iSKY Inc. to identify U.S. companies who are about to lose or who have already lost their Internet service because their current network service providers are experiencing operational or financial difficulties. Under the program, iSKY…
Dimension Data Holdings, plc, a London-based systems integrator with U.S. headquarters in Reston, Va., is working with Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP) to take a comprehensive approach to the creation, production, and delivery of digital content. The system will allow…
The Privacy Leadership Initiative (PLI) is releasing its latest series of Internet public service advertisements aimed at educating consumers who are interested in learning more about how to protect their privacy online and offline. The release of the latest wave…
Nextel Communications, Inc. hopes to reduce the wireless carrier’s future costs by $1 billion over an eight-year period through a strategic alliance with IBM to outsource Nextel’s customer service. The alliance also calls for Nextel and IBM to develop, market…
According to new Harris Interactive study, Americans want privacy notices when they visit a Web site, but they currently find the notices too long and complicated. The survey was sponsored by the Privacy Leadership Initiative (PLI), a coalition of businesses…
Customer relationship management firm Group 1 Software (NASDAQ: GSOF) has entered into a letter of agreement to acquire the assets of Toronto-based Vision-R eTechnologies, a provider of electronic archive and retrieval software solutions. The acquisition would add real-time digital storage…
The latest Consumer Reports survey of dial-up Internet consumers gives low marks to America Online, Inc., and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), the nation’s two largest Internet service providers. With a best possible overall satisfaction score of 100, Microsoft’s MSN rated last…
Web audience measurement firm comScore Networks, Inc., has closed a $15 million Series C round of financing led by Adams Street Partners, a recently formed private equity firm in Chicago that was formerly Brinson Partners’ Private Equity Group and which…
Business service provider Outtask, Inc., is acquiring Aspen’s ASP hosting division’s customer base. As the ASP hosting entity for Aspen’s customers, the Alexandria, Va.-based Outtask will provide these companies with customer relations management applications from Siebel and financial applications from…
Internet direct marketing firm e-centives, Inc., is starting a single pay-for-performance model which includes performance-based pricing for both customer acquisition and retention solutions. The company’s PerformOne drives retention through an outsourced email solution, which delivers targeted, personalized email delivery, database…
Sodexho, the Gaithersburg, Md.-based wholly owned North American subsidiary of Sodexho Alliance, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and 2Scoot are testing cashless payments using cell phones and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Employees at the Nokia campus in Irving, Tex., can now point…
CustomerLinx Corp. of Alexandria, Va., a company specializing in Web-enabled, multi-mode customer relationship management (eCRM) services, has acquired ETC Data Services, a provider of custom solutions for customer service, fulfillment, database development and data entry services. Terms of the transaction…
Customer relations management (CRM) software developer Primus , is acquiring AnswerLogic, a Washington, D.C.-based software development company, for 750,000 shares of common stock. Primus’ stock price closed at $4.07 a share Friday afternoon and was unchanged in early Monday morning…
Emtera Corp., which provides mobile customer relationship management (mCRM) solutions for the retail industry, has completed its initial financing with $1.2 million dollars from Avisent, an early-stage investment vehicle founded by General Atlantic Partners. The Arlington, Va.-based Emtera, which maintains…