Global eBusiness News

Yahoo, eBay in talks on alliance or merger-cnbc
- Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc., two of the most popular consumer sites on the
Internet, are in talks to
consider a possible alliance or merger, the cable network CNBC reported on
Tuesday, citing people
close to the discussions. CNBC said the two companies were discussing
various forms of a partnership,
although no deal was imminent.
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/317528l.htm

eBay Launches Business Exchange
New Destination Services Fast Growing and Fragmented Small Business Market
eBayc (Nasdaq: EBAY; www.ebay.com), the world's leading person-to-person
online trading community, today
announced the launch of eBay Business Exchange(TM), servicing the small
business market --
a highly fragmented group of buyers and sellers, in a fast growing business
segment. The new trading marketplace,
targeting businesses with fewer than 100 employees, is featured prominently
on the eBay homepage and accessible
directly at www.ebay.com/business_exchange. eBay Business Exchange offers 34
business related categories
available on the online trading site, totaling nearly 60,000 listings at the
time of the launch.
The main Business Exchange categories include computer hardware, software,
electronics,
industrial equipment, office equipment and professional tools.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000315/ca_ebay_bu_1.html

Pacific mart goes electronic
The Pacific Stock Exchange said Tuesday it plans to shut down its two West
Coast trading floors and merge with electronic
marketplace Archipelago. The deal represents the first time a traditional
U.S. stock exchange will discard the
centuries-old practice of completing stock trades face-to-face auction-style
on a trading floor in favor of a fully electronic system.
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/psx031500.htm

Commerce One expands into China with New venture
- Internet business marketplace developer Commerce One Inc. and seven Greater
China businesses
have agreed to develop a business-to-business Internet portal for the
worldwide exchange of goods and services
among businesses. The deal calls for the partners -- who include Beijing
Enterprises, i-CABLE Ventures,
Jardine Internet, New World China Enterprises Projects, SUNeVision, Swire Net
Ventures and WI Harper Group --
to fund the project with an initial investment of $40 million, Commerce One
said.
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/318361l.htm

Internet driving German Bank consolidation
- The Internet has emerged as a key driving force
in German banking consolidation and will continue to force banks to seek
link-ups to
cut costs and face new competitors on all fronts.
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/317962l.htm

Siemens acquires Entex to push into U.S. services market
German industrial giant Siemens extended its reach into the worldwide
services market today by picking up a U.S.
company that handles computer support functions for Microsoft, Coca-Cola
and others.
Siemens today said it would buy Entex Information Services, a Rye Brook, New
York-based company that handles computer repair,
network management and deployment, help desk staffing and other computer
support functions.
The acquisition will bring approximately 5,000 technical employees in more
than 50 locations to Siemens.
Overall, this will give Siemens a services organization that produces revenue
of around $2.2 billion annually.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1008-200-1572311.html?tag=st.ne.ron.lthd.1008-200-
1572311

Insight Capital Partners to Form $1 Billion Fund for Internet Investments
Insight Capital Partners, a private equity investment firm, said it planned
to form a $1 billion fund for
Internet-related investments by the end of the year, earmarking a third of
the sum for European companies.
http://www.bloomberg.com/bbn/technology.html

E.piphany to buy Octane for $3.2 billion
E-commerce software maker E.piphany Inc. said on Wednesday it would acquire
privately-held
Octane Software Inc. in a stock swap valued at about $3.2 billion.
The deal calls for E.piphany to issue about 12.8 million shares of its
common stock to
shareholders of Octane, a maker of software to manage sales and customer
services and support.
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/318682l.htm

Intel buys high-speed chip designer
-Intel, the giant chipmaker, agreed to buy Copenhagen, Denmark-based Giga, a
designer of high-speed chips
used in networks and communications products, for about $1.25 billion in
cash.
Intel is buying the company from NKT Holdings, which will book a gain of 4.6
billion Danish kroner ($599
million) from the sale. Giga products are used mainly in high-speed data
transmission services and
Internet-related applications. After the transaction is completed, Giga
will become a unit of Intel and
will report within Level One Communications, another Intel unit.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-1572713.html?tag=st.ne.ron.lthd.1003-200-
1572713

$1.7B suit against Network Solutions
Internet address registrar Network Solutions was slammed with a $1.7
billion lawsuit Tuesday alleging the
company's practice of charging fees for Internet domain names violates
federal law.
The proposed class-action suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San
Francisco, seeks over $800 million in
domain-name registration fee refunds and another $900 million in antitrust
damages.
http://www.wirednews.com/news/politics/0,1283,34959,00.html

RealNetworks licenses Microsoft's Windows Media technology
update Streaming media leader RealNetworks has licensed technology from
Microsoft, its primary
competitor, signaling new cooperation over Web audio access. Microsoft said
today that RealNetworks
and several other major Internet companies, including Yahoo, have agreed to
license its
Windows Media audio format. The technology has been picked up by 70
companies, according to the software giant.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1571955.html?tag=st.ne.ron.lthd.1005-200-
1571955

Transport Cos. form Web marketplace
J.B. Hunt Transport Services and five other transportation businesses are
merging their logistics divisions
for the cooperative purchasing of products, supplies and services.
The agreement among Covenant Transport Inc., M.S. Carriers Inc., Swift
Transportation Co. Inc., U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc., Werner Enterprises,
Inc., and
J.B. Hunt will create a commonly owned, Internet-based company called
Transplace.com.
Prior to the merger, the combined logistics businesses had total revenues of
$650 million in 1999.
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/317584l.htm

First Internet insider trading case filed
The first federal cyberspace insider trading case was filed today, an $8.4
million scheme involving the largest number of
people ever charged with profiting on illegal tips. The widespread scheme
was born in on online chat room and
carried out by at least 19 defendants from New York to Tennessee,
officials said. It was the brainchild of a part-time
computer graphics worker who pleaded guilty to stealing merger information
from investment banks Goldman Sachs
and Credit Suisse First Boston where he was sent by a temporary employment
agency.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1572664.html?tag=st.cn.1.lthdne

Mercata's planned IPO highlights group buying trend
update When it comes to getting the best deal on the Web, there's safety in
numbers.
Thanks to a bundle of group buying sites that launched last year, shoppers
can bid down the price of the
latest must-have gadget or appliance by recruiting fellow Web consumers to
buy in a group.
But while group buying has a "group hug" effect on shoppers, the practice is
sparking fierce competition
among companies scouting for their business.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1571962.html?tag=st.ne.ron.lthd.1007-200-
1571962

U.K. firm buys U.S. telecom software maker
LONDON--Sema Group, Europe's second-largest computer services company,
agreed to buy Atlanta-based LHS Group for
$4.7 billion in stock to become the largest seller of billing and customer
service software to wireless telecommunications
companies. Sema began in 1994 to shift its focus to telecommunications and
last year started selling a billing system
to the fast-growing mobile phone market. By acquiring LHS, which
specializes in software for
telecommunications companies, Sema adds customers, products and market
share, particularly in the mobile sector.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1008-200-1572732.html?tag=st.ne.ron.lthd.1008-200-
1572732

VNU Sees 2000 Profit Falling 15% as It Invests in Internet; Shares Decline
VNU NV, the Dutch publisher that acquired U.S. TV ratings company Nielsen
Media Research Inc.,
said it expects profit to fall about 15 percent this year as it invests in
Internet publishing. Its shares
fell as much as 16 percent.
http://www.bloomberg.com/bbn/technology.html

Epylon.com Signs Over 700 Major Suppliers, Including Barnes &
Noble.com, Ingram Micro and GE Supply
-Epylon.com Corporation, the first online business-to-business
marketplace for education and government institutions, today announced that
Barnes & Noble.com , one
of the world's largest e-commerce retailers, Ingram Micro, Inc. the world's
largest provider of technology
products and services, and GE Supply, a General Electric business unit and a
leading international distributor
of electrical equipment, voice and data products have signed strategic
agreements with Epylon.com,
along with more than 700 other key suppliers. These supplier agreements will
allow Epylon.com to
provide education and government purchasing professionals with a
vendor-neutral, online marketplace of products and services.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000315/ca_epylon__1.html

Exodus Teams with AT&T To Offer Flexible Bandwidth Solutions
Company to Offer AT&T's Global IP- Backbone for Its Alternate Access Program
--Exodus Communications(tm), Inc. , a leader in complex Internet hosting and
managed services,
today announced its Alternate Access program. Providing Exodusccustomers
with the option of
connecting to multiple networks, this service will provide direct connections
to both the
Exodus and AT&T Internet backbones.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000315/ca_exodus__1.html

Telephone.com to Launch E-commerce Portal for Telecom Industry
-Marketvision Direct, Inc.:
-- Vertical ``Hub'' for Telecommunications Set for March 31 Launch
-- AT&T Wireless, Sprint, UUNET & Exodus Among First to Sign On
Marketvision Direct, Inc. (CDNX:MKT - news; MKT-V), a leading developer of
Internet companies,
today announced that one of its core investments, telephone.com, will launch
the telecommunications
industry's first online business exchange on March 31. This vertical portal
will be among the first to provide
telecom companies with a platform to showcase their products and services,
auction telecom equipment
, buy and sell bandwidth and purchase bundled services.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000315/ma_marketv_1.html

Moai Expands Vertical Market Leadership With Several Recent B2B Customer Wins
LiveExchange Provides Negotiated E-commerce Solutions to New Industries
Moai, the leading provider of negotiated e-commerce solutions, today
announced the addition of 28
business-to-business (B2B) customers since the beginning of January, bringing
its B2B customer base
to approximately 100.
Over 19 vertical markets are improving their business models with Moai's
technology including the freight, food,
horticulture, manufacturing and construction industries. RightFreight.com,
Poultryfirst.com, e-Greenbiz.com and
Mosaic e-Commerce Solutions are companies that have recently been added to
Moai's growing
list of premier customers using LiveExchange negotiated e-commerce solutions
to conduct their B2B negotiations.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000315/ca_moai_ex_1.html

Weathermarkets.com Puts the Weather to Work for Energy And Agriculture
Industries
Strategic Weather Services Wednesday launched a new source of specialized
weather products for the energy and agriculture industries worldwide, called
WeatherMarkets.com.
The web site (www.weathermarkets.com) provides more than 800 unique weather
graphics, text reports
and data products prepared on an intra-hourly, hourly, daily, weekly, and
monthly basis. WeatherMarkets.com
includes a built-in search engine and ``shopping cart'' quote request system
that allows users to quickly find
and view products by industry, geography, product format or keyword.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000315/pa_weather_1.html

BizRate.com Surpasses Yahoo Shopping to Become 2nd Biggest Online Marketplace
Five Times Higher Sales Conversion Rate Makes BizRate.com Leading Driver of
Online Buyers
--Less than four months after the launch of its marketplace, BizRate.com
(www.bizrate.com) has jumped
ahead of some the biggest brands on the Internet to emerge as an e-commerce
powerhouse.
As a leading online marketplace, BizRate.com has proven its ability to link
online shoppers and retailers.
This rapid growth clearly places BizRate.com at the center of e-commerce.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000315/ca_bizrate_1.html

Green-e Certifies Utility.com's GreenPlanet-TM-
The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) announced today that
Utility.com's 100 percent renewable energy product, GreenPlanet(TM) has been
certified by the Green-e Program. When
Utility.com customers see the Green-e certification, they can be sure they
are purchasing electricity from reliable renewable
resources that meet strict consumer protection and environmental standards.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000315/ca_ctr_res_1.html

Chemical Giant Lyondell Selects ECOutlook.com for Initial E-Business
Initiative
Internet-based solution to integrate with SAP ERP system and enable
automation of inventory,
shipment processes via the Web
- ECOutlook.com, the e-business provider that is reinventing the way
companies conduct
commerce, announced today that it has been selected by Lyondell Chemical
Company and its joint
venture partner, Equistar Chemicals LP, to connect 150 of the company's
remote inventory locations and
establish online connections with several core motor freight carriers.
With ECOutlook.com, Lyondell and Equistar will move all traditional
paper-based transactions with
its freight carriers (shipping orders, bills of lading and MSDS label
sheets) electronically over the Internet,
quickly eliminating the costs and inefficiencies of paper without any
investment in computer hardware or software.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000315/oh_ecoutlo_1.html

Business-to-Business E-Commerce Takes On New Meaning for MorganStanley Dean
Witter
Employees to Access Financial Services Compliance Training Via Web
Company becomes latest to benefit from online legal training
The Legal Knowledge Company (http://www.lrn.com), announced today that Morgan
Stanley
Dean Witter will become a charter subscriber to its Legal Compliance and
Education Center (LCEC).
The LCEC is the first entirely Web-based product that provides employees with
knowledge in areas
important to successful job performance, including antitrust, workplace
harassment, securities, intellectual property, environmental and other laws.
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter joins 13 other Fortune 500 firms in the Charter
Subscriber Program, including
Allegiance, Conoco, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, Lucent, Sears, Texaco,
Honeywell, Raytheon, Kennecott Energy,
Boise Cascade, TRW and Unicom. Together the charter companies account for
over 1,300,000 employees.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000315/ca_lrn_1.html

FOR THE KIDS:
Marvel in Net license deal Comic book publisher to offer online rights to
characters through firm
Spiderman plans to expand the reach of his web on the Web. Marvel Enterprises
Inc. (MVL: Research, Estimates),
which holds the rights to Spiderman and other characters, including Thor and
the Incredible Hulk, said Wednesday
it signed an exclusive deal to sell the licensing rights for the Marvel
Universe online through IPnetwork.com.
IPnetwork.com, which provides online services for managing intellectual
property, will offer rights to the Marvel
Universe, a series of color images featuring the Marvel lineup of
superheroes, to product manufacturers.
http://www.cnnfn.com/2000/03/15/bizbuzz/wires/marvel_wg/