See ICANN’s announcement on recommendations for new Top Level Domains (TLDs) as well as a comment period which will end December 10. According to this related Washington Post article, ICANN is in favor of creating three new top level domains that target specific users, rather than the current dot-com grab-bag approach. Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Commerce
Medical Diagnosis Via E-Mail
As a profession, doctors have traditionally communicated with their patients in person or by telephone. However, the tide may be turning, as some doctors pioneer fee-based virtual medicine, by which they communicate and diagnose patients via secure e-mail. Continue Reading
Hollywood Launches Online Movie Site
In an effort to respond to consumer demand for movie downloads, five major studios launched a new fee-based service, called Movielink. See the WSJ article via Yahoo here. Continue Reading
E-Commerce and E-Mail Followup
On October 30, I posted about the terrible track record of most Fortune 100 companies in responding to customer emails. However DuPont has taken the opportunity to announce that their company was named third most responsive in the overall survey. Continue Reading
Electronic Royalties for Pooh
Winnie the Pooh is at the heart of a 20 year legal battle with a potentially huge payout in terms of online royalties. Disney and Stephen Slesinger, Inc. both claim copyright control over the commercial rights to the characters that would generate $1 billion in online merchandizing revenues. Continue Reading
Travel Web Site Orbitz Sued
Five travel agencies want to establish a class action in federal court in L.A. against online web travel giant Orbitz. The agencies claim they cannot compete with the site due to unfair practices, and also name three of the site’s backers in the suit: American, United and Delta. Continue Reading
Net Sales Tax Cigarette Sales
An August 2002 GAO report on Internet Cigarette Sales recommends “giving ATF investigative authority… to improve reporting and enforcement.” According to this TechTV article, states have lost $1.5 billion in revenues from such web sales. Continue Reading
Amazon Launches New Retail Store
Amazon’s new apparel store is available here. See this Internetnews.com article for details. Continue Reading
E-Commerce and E-Mail
Just how well do Fortune 500 companies measure up in regard to online customer support? According to the Continue Reading
E-Government Catches On
E-government initiatives that serve citizens and businesses alike are gaining in popularity as localities realize more efficiency and cost savings via online solutions. BusinessWeek described a number of such efforts in this article. There is also mention of BusinessLaw.gov, an excellent example of an e-gov site that provides a wealth of easy to use content… Continue Reading
Net Taxes on E-Commerce Resurface
The Streamlined Sales Tax Project is alive and well according to this article in the Denver Post. With states running huge deficits, as many as 29 of them are considering supporting the initiative when it comes to a vote on November 13. Check-out the chart at the end of the article that shows the state-by-state… Continue Reading
Fraud and Online Commerce
Consumers have indicated that they doubt the safety of online credit card transactions, a fear that is borne out by the $1 billion in merchant loses per year. The New York Times reports that a group of large, high profile merchants have joined together to create a database to fight credit card fraud. Continue Reading
