Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Opportunity and Fear as Google Widens Reach
Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. retailer, strikes fear into the hearts of its competitors and suppliers. Makers of goods from diapers to DVDs must cater to its whims. But there is one company that even Wal-Mart now eyes warily: Google, a seven-year-old business in a seemingly distant industry.
"We watch Google very closely at Wal-Mart," said Jim Breyer, a Wal-Mart director. In Google, Wal-Mart sees both a technology pioneer and the seed of a threat, said Breyer, who is also a partner in a venture capital firm. The worry is that by making information available everywhere, Google might soon be able to tell Wal-Mart shoppers if better bargains are available nearby.
Wal-Mart is not alone in its concern. As Google increasingly becomes the starting point for finding information and buying products and services, companies that even a year ago did not see themselves as competing with Google are beginning to view the company with some angst and admiration. Google's recent moves have stirred concern in industries from book publishing to telecommunications. Businesses already feeling the Google effect include advertising, software and the news media. Apart from retailing, Google's disruptive presence may soon be felt in real estate and auto sales. Google could extend its economic reach in the next few years as more people get high-speed Internet service and cell phones become full-fledged search tools, according to analysts. And ever-smarter software, they say, will cull and organize larger and larger digital storehouses of news, images, real estate listings and traffic reports, delivering results that are more like the advice of a trusted human expert.
Such advances, predicts Esther Dyson, a technology consultant, will bring "a huge reduction in inefficiency everywhere." That, in turn, would be unsettling for many industries and workers. But it would also reward consumers with lower prices and bring opportunities. Google, then, may turn out to have a more far-reaching impact than earlier Web winners like Amazon and eBay. "Google is the realization of everything that we thought the Internet was going to be about but really wasn't until Google," said David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School. Google is but one company at the forefront of Internet technology. It has many competitors, and it could stumble. In the search market alone, Google faces formidable rivals like Microsoft and Yahoo. Still, apart from its front-runner status, Google is also remarkable for its pace of innovation and for how broadly it seems to interpret its mission to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Google executives speak of the company's outlook only in broad strokes, but they suggest unlimited horizons.
Among the projects being developed and debated inside Google is a real estate service, according to a person who has attended meetings on the proposal. The concept, the person said, would be to improve the capabilities of its satellite imaging, maps and local search, and combine them with property listings. The service, this person said, could make house-hunting more efficient, requiring potential buyers to visit fewer real estate agents and houses. If successful, it would be another magnet for the ads that appear next to search results, the source of most of Google's revenue. In retailing, Google has no interest in stocking and selling merchandise. Its potential impact is more subtle, yet still significant. Stores are collections of goods, some items more profitable than others. But the less-profitable items may bring people into stores, where they also buy the high-margin offerings one shelf, in effect, subsidizes another. Search engines, combined with other technologies, have the potential to drive comparison shopping down to the shelf-by-shelf level. Cell phone makers, for example, are looking at a "shopping phone" that can read product bar codes. The phone could connect to databases and search services and, aided by satellites, reveal prices in nearby stores.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
"We watch Google very closely at Wal-Mart," said Jim Breyer, a Wal-Mart director. In Google, Wal-Mart sees both a technology pioneer and the seed of a threat, said Breyer, who is also a partner in a venture capital firm. The worry is that by making information available everywhere, Google might soon be able to tell Wal-Mart shoppers if better bargains are available nearby.
Wal-Mart is not alone in its concern. As Google increasingly becomes the starting point for finding information and buying products and services, companies that even a year ago did not see themselves as competing with Google are beginning to view the company with some angst and admiration. Google's recent moves have stirred concern in industries from book publishing to telecommunications. Businesses already feeling the Google effect include advertising, software and the news media. Apart from retailing, Google's disruptive presence may soon be felt in real estate and auto sales. Google could extend its economic reach in the next few years as more people get high-speed Internet service and cell phones become full-fledged search tools, according to analysts. And ever-smarter software, they say, will cull and organize larger and larger digital storehouses of news, images, real estate listings and traffic reports, delivering results that are more like the advice of a trusted human expert.
Such advances, predicts Esther Dyson, a technology consultant, will bring "a huge reduction in inefficiency everywhere." That, in turn, would be unsettling for many industries and workers. But it would also reward consumers with lower prices and bring opportunities. Google, then, may turn out to have a more far-reaching impact than earlier Web winners like Amazon and eBay. "Google is the realization of everything that we thought the Internet was going to be about but really wasn't until Google," said David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School. Google is but one company at the forefront of Internet technology. It has many competitors, and it could stumble. In the search market alone, Google faces formidable rivals like Microsoft and Yahoo. Still, apart from its front-runner status, Google is also remarkable for its pace of innovation and for how broadly it seems to interpret its mission to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Google executives speak of the company's outlook only in broad strokes, but they suggest unlimited horizons.
Among the projects being developed and debated inside Google is a real estate service, according to a person who has attended meetings on the proposal. The concept, the person said, would be to improve the capabilities of its satellite imaging, maps and local search, and combine them with property listings. The service, this person said, could make house-hunting more efficient, requiring potential buyers to visit fewer real estate agents and houses. If successful, it would be another magnet for the ads that appear next to search results, the source of most of Google's revenue. In retailing, Google has no interest in stocking and selling merchandise. Its potential impact is more subtle, yet still significant. Stores are collections of goods, some items more profitable than others. But the less-profitable items may bring people into stores, where they also buy the high-margin offerings one shelf, in effect, subsidizes another. Search engines, combined with other technologies, have the potential to drive comparison shopping down to the shelf-by-shelf level. Cell phone makers, for example, are looking at a "shopping phone" that can read product bar codes. The phone could connect to databases and search services and, aided by satellites, reveal prices in nearby stores.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
Monday, November 28, 2005
US Mandates More Security in Online Banking
Online banking, advertised by banks as nearly effortless, is about to become more cumbersome.
Federal regulators, alarmed by the threat of online financial fraud, are requiring banks by the end of 2006 to provide several layers of identify verification before customers can access their accounts and conduct other banking over the Internet. In addition to standard passwords, customers may soon need a unique digital "fingerprint" that will identify their computer for the bank, or may scan a copy of their real fingerprints to identify themselves to the bank's network. Another, more cumbersome method would have customers carrying keyfob-sized electronic "tokens" that authenticate their identity.
With some 53 million Americans paying bills, checking account balances, and doing other banking online, Internet fraud has become a growing threat to the popularity of Internet business transactions. Research firm Gartner estimated in a June report that 2.5 million people lost money in so-called "phishing" attacks last year. Phishing involves thieves who try to dupe customers into providing account numbers and other sensitive information by directing them to phony Web sites that resemble a legitimate business -- frequently a bank. Federal financial regulators say these threats are scaring away many potential customers. "Banks have to do something to secure the Internet for online banking," said David Barr, a spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, one of five federal agencies behind the mandate. "If not, customers may not accept this kind of banking in the U.S."
The federal plan doesn't require or endorse any one kind of technology or verification process. Rather, banks can choose from a variety of methods suggested by authorities to provide at least a two-step process to verify customers' identities. The concept, called "two-factor authentication," is based on the idea of combining a standard password with some other identity test that is harder to steal or fake. The use of two identity tests should make it more difficult for thieves to raid accounts.
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, a consortium of five banking regulators including the FDIC, detailed the security requirements in a 14-page report issued last month. Institutions that do not have adequate two-factor authentification in place by the end of next year face sanctions, including fines. Within the next six months, online customers of Bank of America will gain access to accounts through SiteKey, a multistep process that combines passwords with user-selected test questions and a digital system that "fingerprints" the user's computer. The kind and amount of verification involved would differ depending on which computer a customer uses to access an account -- the home PC, one at work, or a laptop on the road, for example.
The digital fingerprint system captures the serial numbers of computer parts, such as the hard drive. These numbers are used to generate a unique ID for the machine. Whenever a customer connects to Bank of America's Web site, the bank's online system recognizes the computer by the fingerprint and allows the customer to log on with a simple password. When customers are banking from home, SiteKey will quiz them -- the name of their high school mascot, for example.
SiteKey also includes a feature for customers to ensure they are using the real Bank of America Web site. When they sign up for online banking access, customers choose one picture from a number of offerings -- the photo of a puppy, for instance -- that will always appear when they bank at the site. If the picture doesn't match the selection, the customer knows that the site could be a fake. Portland, Maine-based TD Banknorth is working on a computer fingerprinting plan similar to Bank of America's to meet the federal guidelines, said Michael O'Connor, the company's risk contingency manager. Next year, Sovereign Bank plans to roll out a two-way, two-factor authentification process, said Marianne Doran-Collins, director of online banking.
The federal guidelines suggest that banks could use biometric systems that identify a person's actual fingerprints or retinal patterns. But customers would have to buy fingerprint or retinal scanners, and they would still need a different verification method when using a different computer that doesn't have the scanners. Customers could log in anywhere if they had a "token," an electronic gadget about the size of a car key that generates random passwords -- typically a series of numbers that change every minute or so. In addition to traditional passwords, users would type in the number sequence displayed on the token at that moment, which would match the sequences being monitored by the bank's network. In the United States, New York online brokerage firm E*Trade Financial is offering tokens to customers who want extra security for their accounts. The tokens are free to customers with account balances of $50,000 or more, or $25 for those with smaller balances.
Bank of America, for one, said it will not make its online customers carry the tokens. "We assessed the use of tokens, but customers were telling us they didn't want to carry something else around," said Gayle Wellborn, online products and services executive at Bank of America. James Danaher, a manager at Kronos in Chelmsford, Mass., said Bank of America's online security procedures are already a nuisance; a token would be too much for him. "I would switch banks," Danaher said.
For more information on Internet Fraud, please visit Guardian eCommerce.
Federal regulators, alarmed by the threat of online financial fraud, are requiring banks by the end of 2006 to provide several layers of identify verification before customers can access their accounts and conduct other banking over the Internet. In addition to standard passwords, customers may soon need a unique digital "fingerprint" that will identify their computer for the bank, or may scan a copy of their real fingerprints to identify themselves to the bank's network. Another, more cumbersome method would have customers carrying keyfob-sized electronic "tokens" that authenticate their identity.
With some 53 million Americans paying bills, checking account balances, and doing other banking online, Internet fraud has become a growing threat to the popularity of Internet business transactions. Research firm Gartner estimated in a June report that 2.5 million people lost money in so-called "phishing" attacks last year. Phishing involves thieves who try to dupe customers into providing account numbers and other sensitive information by directing them to phony Web sites that resemble a legitimate business -- frequently a bank. Federal financial regulators say these threats are scaring away many potential customers. "Banks have to do something to secure the Internet for online banking," said David Barr, a spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, one of five federal agencies behind the mandate. "If not, customers may not accept this kind of banking in the U.S."
The federal plan doesn't require or endorse any one kind of technology or verification process. Rather, banks can choose from a variety of methods suggested by authorities to provide at least a two-step process to verify customers' identities. The concept, called "two-factor authentication," is based on the idea of combining a standard password with some other identity test that is harder to steal or fake. The use of two identity tests should make it more difficult for thieves to raid accounts.
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, a consortium of five banking regulators including the FDIC, detailed the security requirements in a 14-page report issued last month. Institutions that do not have adequate two-factor authentification in place by the end of next year face sanctions, including fines. Within the next six months, online customers of Bank of America will gain access to accounts through SiteKey, a multistep process that combines passwords with user-selected test questions and a digital system that "fingerprints" the user's computer. The kind and amount of verification involved would differ depending on which computer a customer uses to access an account -- the home PC, one at work, or a laptop on the road, for example.
The digital fingerprint system captures the serial numbers of computer parts, such as the hard drive. These numbers are used to generate a unique ID for the machine. Whenever a customer connects to Bank of America's Web site, the bank's online system recognizes the computer by the fingerprint and allows the customer to log on with a simple password. When customers are banking from home, SiteKey will quiz them -- the name of their high school mascot, for example.
SiteKey also includes a feature for customers to ensure they are using the real Bank of America Web site. When they sign up for online banking access, customers choose one picture from a number of offerings -- the photo of a puppy, for instance -- that will always appear when they bank at the site. If the picture doesn't match the selection, the customer knows that the site could be a fake. Portland, Maine-based TD Banknorth is working on a computer fingerprinting plan similar to Bank of America's to meet the federal guidelines, said Michael O'Connor, the company's risk contingency manager. Next year, Sovereign Bank plans to roll out a two-way, two-factor authentification process, said Marianne Doran-Collins, director of online banking.
The federal guidelines suggest that banks could use biometric systems that identify a person's actual fingerprints or retinal patterns. But customers would have to buy fingerprint or retinal scanners, and they would still need a different verification method when using a different computer that doesn't have the scanners. Customers could log in anywhere if they had a "token," an electronic gadget about the size of a car key that generates random passwords -- typically a series of numbers that change every minute or so. In addition to traditional passwords, users would type in the number sequence displayed on the token at that moment, which would match the sequences being monitored by the bank's network. In the United States, New York online brokerage firm E*Trade Financial is offering tokens to customers who want extra security for their accounts. The tokens are free to customers with account balances of $50,000 or more, or $25 for those with smaller balances.
Bank of America, for one, said it will not make its online customers carry the tokens. "We assessed the use of tokens, but customers were telling us they didn't want to carry something else around," said Gayle Wellborn, online products and services executive at Bank of America. James Danaher, a manager at Kronos in Chelmsford, Mass., said Bank of America's online security procedures are already a nuisance; a token would be too much for him. "I would switch banks," Danaher said.
For more information on Internet Fraud, please visit Guardian eCommerce.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Less Than Half of Consumers Feel Safe Shopping Online
Less than half the consumers using the Internet feel safe shopping online, according to a survey expected to be released today by Symantec, a maker of anti-virus and security software. The survey, based on a sample of 2,400 consumers, revealed that some 60 percent of those respondents felt less than safe shopping online. "Only six percent of the people said they thought they were very safe and another 35 percent thought it was safe," Symantec Security Response Senior Director Vincent Weafer [cq] said. "So in general you're finding a combination of people who are using online activities but they're also wary of some of the threats and risks out there."
Although 98 percent of respondents disclosed that they were doing "something" to protect their privacy online, only 63 percent check a shopping site's security policy and 49 percent set their browser's security settings to block cookies and other kinds of tracking software. "The message is still not quite out there," Weafer said. "While people are getting generally concerned, they're not quite sure what actionable items they can do when they are at risk." It's easy to understand why consumer concern is increasing in light of some other findings in the survey: 83 percent of respondents said they'd received e-mail from strangers; 82 percent revealed they'd received solicitations from companies they'd never done business with; 52 percent had received a fraudulent e-mail from someone asking they to buy something; 51 percent had been contacted through e-mail by someone pretending to be a real institution and requesting personal information; and 50 percent had been infected with a computer virus.
Those findings support the opinions of the security community that online misbehavior morphed this year from less mischief to more crime. Pandemics, where a malware hacker tries to infect as many machines as possible with malevolent code, plummeted to five in 2005, compared to 32 in 2004, according to Weafer. Although there are fewer pandemics, he noted, the actual number of viruses, worms and trojans released into the wild increased, year over year, 143 percent.
He maintained that an increasing amount of that malware is being aimed at pilfering personal information -- key loggers, password savers and remote access trojans. "We've gone from half of all malicious code to 74 percent being all about stealing personal information and exporting it from your machine," he said. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos in Aingdon, UK, noted his company's labs have noticed a marked departure from past paths for malware writers.
"They're no longer writing e-mail worms, they're writing trojan horses," he observed. "We're seeing a real shift away from really loud viruses to more insidious types of infection."
Sam Curry, Product Management Vice President for Etrust Security Managment in Islandia, N.Y., characterized 2005 as "the year of hacking for dollars." "These aren't 14-year-old kids hacking in the basement writing viruses," he said. "They're now doing this for a job. There's real money involved in this and venture capital and business plans and a whole lot more. "There are companies now manufacturing this bad-behaving software," he declared. "That's the story this year about the state of security."
A prime example of that cited by Curry is the Sony Corporation which has incorporated a rootkit -- a particularly insidious form of malware -- into some music CDs it recently released.
"It's a amazing that Sony claims that there's nothing wrong with what they're doing," he said.
"But I don't think that Sony is going to be an exception," he continued. "I think a lot of companies will follow the same model. "What we're going to see," he said, "either things will take a turn for the better and companies like Sony will be stopped from doing this or they'll take a turn for the worse and other companies will start doing it, too. Then you'll have seven, eight, nine, 10 rootkits fighting over your computer."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Although 98 percent of respondents disclosed that they were doing "something" to protect their privacy online, only 63 percent check a shopping site's security policy and 49 percent set their browser's security settings to block cookies and other kinds of tracking software. "The message is still not quite out there," Weafer said. "While people are getting generally concerned, they're not quite sure what actionable items they can do when they are at risk." It's easy to understand why consumer concern is increasing in light of some other findings in the survey: 83 percent of respondents said they'd received e-mail from strangers; 82 percent revealed they'd received solicitations from companies they'd never done business with; 52 percent had received a fraudulent e-mail from someone asking they to buy something; 51 percent had been contacted through e-mail by someone pretending to be a real institution and requesting personal information; and 50 percent had been infected with a computer virus.
Those findings support the opinions of the security community that online misbehavior morphed this year from less mischief to more crime. Pandemics, where a malware hacker tries to infect as many machines as possible with malevolent code, plummeted to five in 2005, compared to 32 in 2004, according to Weafer. Although there are fewer pandemics, he noted, the actual number of viruses, worms and trojans released into the wild increased, year over year, 143 percent.
He maintained that an increasing amount of that malware is being aimed at pilfering personal information -- key loggers, password savers and remote access trojans. "We've gone from half of all malicious code to 74 percent being all about stealing personal information and exporting it from your machine," he said. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos in Aingdon, UK, noted his company's labs have noticed a marked departure from past paths for malware writers.
"They're no longer writing e-mail worms, they're writing trojan horses," he observed. "We're seeing a real shift away from really loud viruses to more insidious types of infection."
Sam Curry, Product Management Vice President for Etrust Security Managment in Islandia, N.Y., characterized 2005 as "the year of hacking for dollars." "These aren't 14-year-old kids hacking in the basement writing viruses," he said. "They're now doing this for a job. There's real money involved in this and venture capital and business plans and a whole lot more. "There are companies now manufacturing this bad-behaving software," he declared. "That's the story this year about the state of security."
A prime example of that cited by Curry is the Sony Corporation which has incorporated a rootkit -- a particularly insidious form of malware -- into some music CDs it recently released.
"It's a amazing that Sony claims that there's nothing wrong with what they're doing," he said.
"But I don't think that Sony is going to be an exception," he continued. "I think a lot of companies will follow the same model. "What we're going to see," he said, "either things will take a turn for the better and companies like Sony will be stopped from doing this or they'll take a turn for the worse and other companies will start doing it, too. Then you'll have seven, eight, nine, 10 rootkits fighting over your computer."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Consumer Reports: Shopping Online Smarter
In today's world of mass retailers, it's easy to assume that a big-box store like Best Buy or Wal-Mart would be the best place to buy consumer electronics. Guess again. A Consumer Reports reader survey suggests that shopping online might be the smarter choice. As a group, online outlets did a better job overall than brick-and-mortar retailers of satisfying customers when it came to their purchases of televisions, digital cameras, DVD/DVR players, camcorders, handheld computers, or audio equipment, according to more than 18,700 readers surveyed in the spring.
The rankings were based on price, product selection, product quality, service, information quality and return policies. At the top of the list: Crutchfield.com, Amazon.com, Costco.com, J&R.com, and Buy.com. Retailers that sell both on the Web and in-store, such as Costco, Circuit City and Best Buy, scored higher marks on Net than at their walk-in locations.
But there are trade-offs either way.
The survey, to be published in the magazine's December issue, found that while online outlets may have wider selections and lower prices, physical stores -- namely local independent stores and smaller chain retailers, such as Tweeter Home Entertainment and Ritz Camera -- offer good service.
Mass merchandisers like Target, Wal-Mart and Costco might have decent prices but they rated poorly in service and selection, the survey found. As the holiday shopping season nears, Consumer Reports offered the following tips: Do research beforehand. Internet retailers and manufacturer Web sites offer a plethora of product details and specifications -- not to mention information that the item you were eyeing may already have its next model out, possibly with more features at only a slightly higher or even a lower price. If talking to a real person is more your preference, Consumer Reports says you'll probably be out of luck at places like Target or Wal-Mart, where sales staffing is minimal. Places like Tweeter, Ritz Camera, RadioShack and Ultimate Electronics were rated among the best in service.
Narrow your prospects to two to four finalists. Note the model names and numbers and the features you must have. Shop for the best price once you know which models meet your needs. Many shopping comparison sites scour the Internet for deals, including MySimon.com, BizRate.com .comand Shopping.com. Specialty magazines for audio, video and photography also carry advertisements from smaller electronics retailers that might be able to quote you a lower price over the phone than what you see in ads. Note, however, that online retailers don't always have lower prices, and consumers should factor in shipping and handling costs of buying or returning an item. Some brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Costco, have very liberal return policies. Also, membership fees should be counted when it comes to wholesalers, like BJ's Wholesale and Costco. Visit a few stores to touch and examine the products first hand, but save time by calling ahead first to make sure they carry the brands and models you seek. While on the phone, ask for the price, too.
For delivery and installation services, walk-in stores have the edge, especially for large-screen projection TVs and wall-mount plasma or LCD screens. If you want something immediately, you may be able to walk out with a product when you buy from a nearby store. With online retailers, you have to wait days or pay more for rush delivery. If you're not in a rush to buy, shop when the electronics you want tend to go on sale. The best deals on digital cameras and camcorders are in the spring, and camcorders tend to also go on sale in winter. You'll find lower prices for DVD players in April and July, and lower prices on TV sets in July, November, and January, pre- and post-Super Bowl.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
The rankings were based on price, product selection, product quality, service, information quality and return policies. At the top of the list: Crutchfield.com, Amazon.com, Costco.com, J&R.com, and Buy.com. Retailers that sell both on the Web and in-store, such as Costco, Circuit City and Best Buy, scored higher marks on Net than at their walk-in locations.
But there are trade-offs either way.
The survey, to be published in the magazine's December issue, found that while online outlets may have wider selections and lower prices, physical stores -- namely local independent stores and smaller chain retailers, such as Tweeter Home Entertainment and Ritz Camera -- offer good service.
Mass merchandisers like Target, Wal-Mart and Costco might have decent prices but they rated poorly in service and selection, the survey found. As the holiday shopping season nears, Consumer Reports offered the following tips: Do research beforehand. Internet retailers and manufacturer Web sites offer a plethora of product details and specifications -- not to mention information that the item you were eyeing may already have its next model out, possibly with more features at only a slightly higher or even a lower price. If talking to a real person is more your preference, Consumer Reports says you'll probably be out of luck at places like Target or Wal-Mart, where sales staffing is minimal. Places like Tweeter, Ritz Camera, RadioShack and Ultimate Electronics were rated among the best in service.
Narrow your prospects to two to four finalists. Note the model names and numbers and the features you must have. Shop for the best price once you know which models meet your needs. Many shopping comparison sites scour the Internet for deals, including MySimon.com, BizRate.com .comand Shopping.com. Specialty magazines for audio, video and photography also carry advertisements from smaller electronics retailers that might be able to quote you a lower price over the phone than what you see in ads. Note, however, that online retailers don't always have lower prices, and consumers should factor in shipping and handling costs of buying or returning an item. Some brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Costco, have very liberal return policies. Also, membership fees should be counted when it comes to wholesalers, like BJ's Wholesale and Costco. Visit a few stores to touch and examine the products first hand, but save time by calling ahead first to make sure they carry the brands and models you seek. While on the phone, ask for the price, too.
For delivery and installation services, walk-in stores have the edge, especially for large-screen projection TVs and wall-mount plasma or LCD screens. If you want something immediately, you may be able to walk out with a product when you buy from a nearby store. With online retailers, you have to wait days or pay more for rush delivery. If you're not in a rush to buy, shop when the electronics you want tend to go on sale. The best deals on digital cameras and camcorders are in the spring, and camcorders tend to also go on sale in winter. You'll find lower prices for DVD players in April and July, and lower prices on TV sets in July, November, and January, pre- and post-Super Bowl.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Shopping Site Slowdowns Persist Leading Into Holiday Crush
With preparations for the 2005 holiday season well underway, many analysts are predicting another banner year for e-commerce . Strong growth has become routine for the online sales industry. But some 10 years after e-commerce began to get noticed and several holiday seasons after nudging its way into the mainstream, even major e-commerce sites still experience occasional slowdowns and interruptions in service. Often, the slowdowns are temporary and may manifest themselves in the form of a slower-than-normal page load or a sale taking longer than usual to complete. Some shoppers may not give them a second thought. But in the age of high-speed connections and myriad choices for where to shop, any slowdown could represent a competitive disadvantage. So, why are e-commerce companies still seeing such slowdowns? Roopak Patel, senior Internet analyst at Keynote Systems, which monitors Web traffic and performance of many major sites, said it's a reflection of the complexity of how such sites are constructed. "The e-business engine is a continuously running engine," Patel said. "It's hard to keep a consistent level of performance being delivered unless you have a pretty comprehensive preparedness for what could go wrong. As always, it starts with proper planning."
With hardware costs going down, it's unlikely that sites that see slowdowns aren't investing enough in servers or storage or bandwidth, Patel added. Instead, the fact that on any given day, a dozen or more stakeholders have "their hands in the cookie jar" is likely to blame. If a link is changed by the marketing department, or router setting tweaked by the IT department, for instance, and those changes aren't accounted for elsewhere, it can create havoc on a site. Patel advises companies to decide what base line of service they want to provide and then set up systems to monitor performance from an end-user's perspective. Then, have a plan in place to react quickly when performance deviates from the accepted levels. What those parameters are would likely vary from site to site. "If someone wants a page to load in four seconds, they should be aware as soon as that time spikes to 12 seconds -- anything that deviates from the norm should be a call to action," he said.
Many companies are turning to outsourcing all of their Web traffic handling to address the issues. Eastern Mountain Sports, for instance, recently tapped Mirror Image to handle its e-commerce site performance, including handling traffic spikes that occur when e-mail marketing campaigns are put into place, which sometimes boost traffic to the company's retail site by 400 percent in a single day. "Our customers benefit from faster page loads, while our company benefits from a more cost-effective method of handling heavy traffic," said Rory Steer, Director of Information Technology at EMS. EMS said it saw a 40 percent boost in site performance after linking with Mirror Image.
Lisa Arthur, chief marketing officer at Akamai Technologies, said the Internet in general has shown its ability to handle massive events. From the Super Bowl, when millions of Internet users converged on advertisers' sites and this summer's Live 8 concert, during which the Internet was the preferred delivery vehicle of data-intensive video and audio feeds for many around the world, such events show that the capacity exists to handle even huge surges of traffic with little or no noticeable slowdowns. "The average consumer definitely has higher expectations today about the experience they will get online and especially at retailers' sites," Forrester Research analyst Carrie Johnson said. "While they once tolerated sites being down or pages loading slowly as coming with the territory of the Web, they are now much more likely to view it as poor customer service." In other words, the stakes are high, which is why many online retailers have been working on preparing for the extra traffic of this holiday season since the last one ended, Johnson noted. "People are becoming less patient with any sort of performance that's not acceptable to them," Patel added. "If they don't get that level of experience they have come to expect, they are likely to go somewhere else." Fortunately, e-tailers have a chance to save face. Because many customers are registered or store payment information on their site, they're less likely to storm off in anger and head to a competitor's site. Patel added: "They have a vested interest, but they will only put up with so much."
Brought to you by the Privacy Seal Program from Guardian eCommerce.
With hardware costs going down, it's unlikely that sites that see slowdowns aren't investing enough in servers or storage or bandwidth, Patel added. Instead, the fact that on any given day, a dozen or more stakeholders have "their hands in the cookie jar" is likely to blame. If a link is changed by the marketing department, or router setting tweaked by the IT department, for instance, and those changes aren't accounted for elsewhere, it can create havoc on a site. Patel advises companies to decide what base line of service they want to provide and then set up systems to monitor performance from an end-user's perspective. Then, have a plan in place to react quickly when performance deviates from the accepted levels. What those parameters are would likely vary from site to site. "If someone wants a page to load in four seconds, they should be aware as soon as that time spikes to 12 seconds -- anything that deviates from the norm should be a call to action," he said.
Many companies are turning to outsourcing all of their Web traffic handling to address the issues. Eastern Mountain Sports, for instance, recently tapped Mirror Image to handle its e-commerce site performance, including handling traffic spikes that occur when e-mail marketing campaigns are put into place, which sometimes boost traffic to the company's retail site by 400 percent in a single day. "Our customers benefit from faster page loads, while our company benefits from a more cost-effective method of handling heavy traffic," said Rory Steer, Director of Information Technology at EMS. EMS said it saw a 40 percent boost in site performance after linking with Mirror Image.
Lisa Arthur, chief marketing officer at Akamai Technologies, said the Internet in general has shown its ability to handle massive events. From the Super Bowl, when millions of Internet users converged on advertisers' sites and this summer's Live 8 concert, during which the Internet was the preferred delivery vehicle of data-intensive video and audio feeds for many around the world, such events show that the capacity exists to handle even huge surges of traffic with little or no noticeable slowdowns. "The average consumer definitely has higher expectations today about the experience they will get online and especially at retailers' sites," Forrester Research analyst Carrie Johnson said. "While they once tolerated sites being down or pages loading slowly as coming with the territory of the Web, they are now much more likely to view it as poor customer service." In other words, the stakes are high, which is why many online retailers have been working on preparing for the extra traffic of this holiday season since the last one ended, Johnson noted. "People are becoming less patient with any sort of performance that's not acceptable to them," Patel added. "If they don't get that level of experience they have come to expect, they are likely to go somewhere else." Fortunately, e-tailers have a chance to save face. Because many customers are registered or store payment information on their site, they're less likely to storm off in anger and head to a competitor's site. Patel added: "They have a vested interest, but they will only put up with so much."
Brought to you by the Privacy Seal Program from Guardian eCommerce.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
The Online Shopping Advantage
Four out of five online retailers plan to offer free shipping this holiday season despite high gas prices. That's because four out of five online shoppers say free shipping can make or break a deal, according to a recent survey. "I think it's the most effective marketing that retailers are using," said Rob Solomon, general manager of Yahoo Shopping.
The pressure is on online retailers to be more creative this holiday shopping season for a couple reasons: The economy is threatening their fast-growth sales pattern and precious days for holiday sales are slipping away. At least 60 percent of online shoppers say they begin shopping by the end of October, according to the Shop.org/BizRate Research Online Holiday Mood Study.
Meanwhile, analysts expect a challenging economy to moderate what has been the torrid percentage growth of online sales.
JupiterResearch reported Tuesday that it expects online holiday sales to rise 18 percent to US$26 billion, the smallest percentage increase in five years. Forrester Research predicted a 25 percent increase to $18 billion. The eMarketer, another online marketing and research firm, sees 22 percent growth to $26 billion. Different companies use different time periods and even categories in their estimates, so projections can vary widely.
While the percentages sound impressive, online sales make up a small fraction of retail sales.
Store sales are expected to total about $435 billion for the holidays, according to the National Retail Federation, up about 5 percent from 2004. The online industry will walk a fine line in using the fuel issue to attract buyers. The convenience of shopping at home is a selling point, as is saving gas. But emphasizing gas costs could remind people they don't have as much to spend, said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, an association of online retailers. Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst with JupiterResearch, doesn't think that will stop the trend toward marketing free shipping. Freeman Evans says some online retailers have been emphasizing fuel savings in their pitches, including eBags, which specializes in purses, with e-mails that talk about paying too much at the pump.
Higher shipping costs may squeeze margins, she says, but many companies will manage it.
For example, Amazon.com, the giant online retailer, uses the U.S. Postal Service, which does not add a fuel surcharge as do UPS and FedEx. The company also has distribution centers around the country, so packages don't have to be sent by air, which is more expensive. "The market is maturing and there's more competition," said Silverman of Shop.org. "You need to be more aggressive in marketing and promotion."
According to the Shop.org/BizRate study, online retailers are expanding their advertising horizons, using TV, radio, billboards and direct mail to get their message out. Another critical feature: search. "If your search site doesn't work, people will get frustrated and leave quickly," Silverman said. As for the hot categories, the usual suspects show up: consumer electronics, books, music, DVDs and clothing. "There is some trepidation and consumer confidence isn't as high," Yahoo's Solomon said of retail sales. "The Internet is a much better place to find bargains and values."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
The pressure is on online retailers to be more creative this holiday shopping season for a couple reasons: The economy is threatening their fast-growth sales pattern and precious days for holiday sales are slipping away. At least 60 percent of online shoppers say they begin shopping by the end of October, according to the Shop.org/BizRate Research Online Holiday Mood Study.
Meanwhile, analysts expect a challenging economy to moderate what has been the torrid percentage growth of online sales.
JupiterResearch reported Tuesday that it expects online holiday sales to rise 18 percent to US$26 billion, the smallest percentage increase in five years. Forrester Research predicted a 25 percent increase to $18 billion. The eMarketer, another online marketing and research firm, sees 22 percent growth to $26 billion. Different companies use different time periods and even categories in their estimates, so projections can vary widely.
While the percentages sound impressive, online sales make up a small fraction of retail sales.
Store sales are expected to total about $435 billion for the holidays, according to the National Retail Federation, up about 5 percent from 2004. The online industry will walk a fine line in using the fuel issue to attract buyers. The convenience of shopping at home is a selling point, as is saving gas. But emphasizing gas costs could remind people they don't have as much to spend, said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, an association of online retailers. Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst with JupiterResearch, doesn't think that will stop the trend toward marketing free shipping. Freeman Evans says some online retailers have been emphasizing fuel savings in their pitches, including eBags, which specializes in purses, with e-mails that talk about paying too much at the pump.
Higher shipping costs may squeeze margins, she says, but many companies will manage it.
For example, Amazon.com, the giant online retailer, uses the U.S. Postal Service, which does not add a fuel surcharge as do UPS and FedEx. The company also has distribution centers around the country, so packages don't have to be sent by air, which is more expensive. "The market is maturing and there's more competition," said Silverman of Shop.org. "You need to be more aggressive in marketing and promotion."
According to the Shop.org/BizRate study, online retailers are expanding their advertising horizons, using TV, radio, billboards and direct mail to get their message out. Another critical feature: search. "If your search site doesn't work, people will get frustrated and leave quickly," Silverman said. As for the hot categories, the usual suspects show up: consumer electronics, books, music, DVDs and clothing. "There is some trepidation and consumer confidence isn't as high," Yahoo's Solomon said of retail sales. "The Internet is a much better place to find bargains and values."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Microsoft Makes Privacy Legislation Push
Efforts to establish national standards for protecting computer data received a boost yesterday when Microsoft announced support for the idea. Microsoft, the world's biggest computer software maker, did not endorse a specific bill but said a single national standard is better than the complex and sometimes contradictory patchwork approach now in place around the country.
Congress has a number of proposals aimed at ensuring companies meet a certain standard for computer security and that they disclose when hackers have obtained customers' information. But no comprehensive legislation has been proposed. "The growing focus on privacy at both state and federal levels has resulted in an increasingly rapid adoption of well-intended privacy laws that are at times overlapping, inconsistent and often incomplete," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in a speech to the Congressional Internet Caucus. "This is not only confusing for businesses, but it also leaves consumers unprotected. A single federal approach will create a common standard for protection that consumers and businesses can understand and count on."
Jerry Berman, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology , which works to works to enhance electronic privacy, called Microsoft's announcement "a landmark moment in the cause of establishing and protecting individual privacy rights online."
Lawmakers' interest in requiring companies to disclose when their computer systems have been breached runs counter to years of efforts by the FBI and U.S. prosecutors to shield corporations that have been victims of hackers from bad publicity by keeping such crimes out of headlines.
But now, consumers want to know if their private information has been stolen -- a reality Microsoft acknowledged in pushing for the new approach. "Consumers want transparency over how information is collected, control over how it is used and expect that information is secure," said Peter Cullen, Microsoft's chief privacy strategist. More than 10 million U.S. residents were victimized by identity theft last year and hundreds of privacy-related bills have been introduced in state legislatures and Congress to address the issue. Such a scattershot approach may only make things worse, Cullen said. "Consumers want to know it's a consistent standard -- that if they if purchase something in California it's no different from Idaho," he said.
For more information, please visit Guardian eCommerce.
Congress has a number of proposals aimed at ensuring companies meet a certain standard for computer security and that they disclose when hackers have obtained customers' information. But no comprehensive legislation has been proposed. "The growing focus on privacy at both state and federal levels has resulted in an increasingly rapid adoption of well-intended privacy laws that are at times overlapping, inconsistent and often incomplete," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in a speech to the Congressional Internet Caucus. "This is not only confusing for businesses, but it also leaves consumers unprotected. A single federal approach will create a common standard for protection that consumers and businesses can understand and count on."
Jerry Berman, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology , which works to works to enhance electronic privacy, called Microsoft's announcement "a landmark moment in the cause of establishing and protecting individual privacy rights online."
Lawmakers' interest in requiring companies to disclose when their computer systems have been breached runs counter to years of efforts by the FBI and U.S. prosecutors to shield corporations that have been victims of hackers from bad publicity by keeping such crimes out of headlines.
But now, consumers want to know if their private information has been stolen -- a reality Microsoft acknowledged in pushing for the new approach. "Consumers want transparency over how information is collected, control over how it is used and expect that information is secure," said Peter Cullen, Microsoft's chief privacy strategist. More than 10 million U.S. residents were victimized by identity theft last year and hundreds of privacy-related bills have been introduced in state legislatures and Congress to address the issue. Such a scattershot approach may only make things worse, Cullen said. "Consumers want to know it's a consistent standard -- that if they if purchase something in California it's no different from Idaho," he said.
For more information, please visit Guardian eCommerce.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Online Retailers Expecting Double-Digit Increase
Their numbers may not jibe but two prominent research firms agree on one thing: the holidays will be merry for online retailers. Forrester Research and JupiterResearch released their holiday sales projections for online retailers this week and both predicted double-digit increases for the period.
Due to variances in the methods used to calculate their numbers, the duo's figures differed.
Forrester forecasted holiday sales to reach US$18 billion, a 25 percent increase over last year.
Jupiter tagged future sales at $26 billion, an 18 percent increase from its sales figures of a year ago. While the numbers may vary, the bottom line doesn't. Online retailers will be reaping increases much better than the industry as a whole, which is expected to see a modest rise in holiday sales of five percent. Still, online sales represent only a small sliver -- seven to eight percent -- of the $435 billion retail pie. "This is shaping up as a good -- not great -- holiday season," Forrester Vice President and Research Director Carrie A. Johnson said in a statement.
"The mainstreaming of the Web means that if offline retail sales suffer, online sales do as well," Johnson added. "The average online consumer is no longer insulated from broader economic concerns such as volatile energy prices." Those sentiments were shared by JupiterResearch Senior Vice President of Research David Schatsky. "While the Internet continues its maturation as an online shopping channel," he said in a statement, "external macroeconomic events may have a greater impact on sales growth, potentially even more significantly at the critical holiday season." Nevertheless, he predicted total online sales growth for this year would be almost 20 percent higher than last, $79 billion compared to $66 billion in 2004.
Maturation is an important factor on the growth of online sales, observed Kurt Peters, editor of Internet Retailer in Chicago. "When consumers become more comfortable shopping online, they buy more," he said. "That's been the experience throughout most of the history of online shopping.
"Growth of households online is slowing down, so what we're really seeing is people doing more online." But will they continue to do more online? A study released last week suggests they may not. According to the study conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International for Consumer Reports Web Watch, about 30 percent of American Internet users say they're reducing their Web purchases, and nearly a quarter have cut the cord entirely for fear of phishing scams that steal personal information. Peters, however, discounted those findings. "I think the fears of people online have been overblown," he said. "There has always been a significant portion of people who won't shop online because they're afraid to put personal information into a retail order form," he explained. "But the desire for convenience -- the ease of shopping online -- is stronger than the concerns on the part of some consumers." According to Scott Krugman, a spokesperson for Shop.org in Washington, D.C., the survey results appear to be askew with reality. "More and more people are shopping online," he said, "so clearly there's a disconnect between those survey results and what's actually happening."
While online sales will be brisk, Jupiter noted, cybermerchants will see their margins erode.
"Channel adoption is driving the projected increase in online retail sales during the upcoming holiday season and macroeconomics are driving the reduced margins for the retailers," Jupiter Analyst Patti Freeman Evans said in a statement. "While the expected sales increase for retailers is significant," she continued, "consumers are feeling pinched by expensive energy prices."
"They will respond to free shipping offers," she added, "but these offers will not be enough to encourage them to spend more than last year." According to the Jupiter study, 56 percent of consumers who intend to purchase goods online cited free shipping as more important this year than last because of high fuel and gas prices. Free shipping, with conditions, will continue to be popular with online merchants this year, with 79 percent of all Net shops offering the perk to consumers, Krugman noted.
Brought to you by the Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
Due to variances in the methods used to calculate their numbers, the duo's figures differed.
Forrester forecasted holiday sales to reach US$18 billion, a 25 percent increase over last year.
Jupiter tagged future sales at $26 billion, an 18 percent increase from its sales figures of a year ago. While the numbers may vary, the bottom line doesn't. Online retailers will be reaping increases much better than the industry as a whole, which is expected to see a modest rise in holiday sales of five percent. Still, online sales represent only a small sliver -- seven to eight percent -- of the $435 billion retail pie. "This is shaping up as a good -- not great -- holiday season," Forrester Vice President and Research Director Carrie A. Johnson said in a statement.
"The mainstreaming of the Web means that if offline retail sales suffer, online sales do as well," Johnson added. "The average online consumer is no longer insulated from broader economic concerns such as volatile energy prices." Those sentiments were shared by JupiterResearch Senior Vice President of Research David Schatsky. "While the Internet continues its maturation as an online shopping channel," he said in a statement, "external macroeconomic events may have a greater impact on sales growth, potentially even more significantly at the critical holiday season." Nevertheless, he predicted total online sales growth for this year would be almost 20 percent higher than last, $79 billion compared to $66 billion in 2004.
Maturation is an important factor on the growth of online sales, observed Kurt Peters, editor of Internet Retailer in Chicago. "When consumers become more comfortable shopping online, they buy more," he said. "That's been the experience throughout most of the history of online shopping.
"Growth of households online is slowing down, so what we're really seeing is people doing more online." But will they continue to do more online? A study released last week suggests they may not. According to the study conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International for Consumer Reports Web Watch, about 30 percent of American Internet users say they're reducing their Web purchases, and nearly a quarter have cut the cord entirely for fear of phishing scams that steal personal information. Peters, however, discounted those findings. "I think the fears of people online have been overblown," he said. "There has always been a significant portion of people who won't shop online because they're afraid to put personal information into a retail order form," he explained. "But the desire for convenience -- the ease of shopping online -- is stronger than the concerns on the part of some consumers." According to Scott Krugman, a spokesperson for Shop.org in Washington, D.C., the survey results appear to be askew with reality. "More and more people are shopping online," he said, "so clearly there's a disconnect between those survey results and what's actually happening."
While online sales will be brisk, Jupiter noted, cybermerchants will see their margins erode.
"Channel adoption is driving the projected increase in online retail sales during the upcoming holiday season and macroeconomics are driving the reduced margins for the retailers," Jupiter Analyst Patti Freeman Evans said in a statement. "While the expected sales increase for retailers is significant," she continued, "consumers are feeling pinched by expensive energy prices."
"They will respond to free shipping offers," she added, "but these offers will not be enough to encourage them to spend more than last year." According to the Jupiter study, 56 percent of consumers who intend to purchase goods online cited free shipping as more important this year than last because of high fuel and gas prices. Free shipping, with conditions, will continue to be popular with online merchants this year, with 79 percent of all Net shops offering the perk to consumers, Krugman noted.
Brought to you by the Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
It's no wonder Google's profit shot up sevenfold this quarter: Prices are soaring for search ads -- those simple text ads that appear next to Internet search results. Advertisers pay each time someone clicks on an ad. Search ads used to be available for a nickel or dime per click. Now they're costing more than US$1, some even $40 or $50. Google and rival Internet giant Yahoo dominate the $8 billion market for search ads, which are sold in an auction setting. So far this year, Google has reported revenue of more than $4 billion, almost all of it from the sale of advertising. "It's a supply and demand marketplace," says Gregg Stewart, senior vice-president at search-marketing consultancy Fathom Online. "As more advertisers get involved, that drives prices up." Rates have risen 18 percent on average from a year ago, says Dave Lavinsky, who runs a site called TopPayingKeywords.com. Soaring search ad rates helped Yahoo quarterly revenue shoot up 47 percent to $1.3 billion. Google's $381 million profit was fueled by a 96 percent revenue increase, to $1.6 billion, nearly all of it from search ads. Advertisers love search ads because unlike mass-audience TV or print ads, they are targeted to people who are actively looking to buy. And advertisers only have to pay for an ad if a customer clicks on it. Companies bid on words that relate to their business. For instance, a Florida lawyer would reach searchers looking for "Florida lawyer" and pay $15.49 each time the ad was clicked. That phrase cost just $2.02 in July, Lavinsky says. Other big jumps: "graphic design Chicago," from $1.01 to $7.98; and "donate time share," from 50 cents to $11 a click.
The most expensive phrase --"Chicago personal injury attorney" -- sells for about $50, Lavinsky says. Lawyers are willing to pay to attract clients. A year ago, that keyword combination sold for $30, Lavinsky says. Companies big and small spend countless hours and strategies trying to master the science of rising to the top of Google and Yahoo's regular search results. Investing in paid search ads guarantees prominent placement. In response to the rising ad rates, Jane Moritz recently decided to suspend paid advertising for her small business and work on making her site more Google friendly. "I was paying $1.50 a click, and then it went to $4," says Moritz, who runs a baked-goods site, Challahconnection.com. "Not every click turns into a sale. You're lucky if you get 30 percent." Moritz has begun advertising again, but fears that competitors with deeper pockets will bid up prices during the holidays. "I can't afford to pay $6 a click every time someone looks at my site," she says.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
The most expensive phrase --"Chicago personal injury attorney" -- sells for about $50, Lavinsky says. Lawyers are willing to pay to attract clients. A year ago, that keyword combination sold for $30, Lavinsky says. Companies big and small spend countless hours and strategies trying to master the science of rising to the top of Google and Yahoo's regular search results. Investing in paid search ads guarantees prominent placement. In response to the rising ad rates, Jane Moritz recently decided to suspend paid advertising for her small business and work on making her site more Google friendly. "I was paying $1.50 a click, and then it went to $4," says Moritz, who runs a baked-goods site, Challahconnection.com. "Not every click turns into a sale. You're lucky if you get 30 percent." Moritz has begun advertising again, but fears that competitors with deeper pockets will bid up prices during the holidays. "I can't afford to pay $6 a click every time someone looks at my site," she says.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
NBC Nightly News to Be Available Online
In what is widely expected to be the start of a trend, NBC said it will become the first national network to put the entire broadcast of its evening news onto the Web just hours after it originally airs. MSNBC.com will start hosting downloads of NBC Nightly News on Nov. 7. The downloads will be free and include the entire newscast, making NBC the first network to put all of the evening news -- one of the flagship programs for many networks but increasingly less relevant -- online unabridged. The newscast will be available at 10 PM ET, less than four hours after it originally airs in that time zone. The network said the move would help NBC extend the reach of the newscast "beyond the limits of the broadcast television platform to the Internet , and beyond this country to the entire world."
"This is the next logical step," said Steve Capus, acting president of NBC News. We know that just as fast as technology is changing, people's lives are changing too, and they expect our newscasts to keep up with those changes. With this announcement we are doing just that." NBC said the Webcast will be ideal for viewers for whom the evening newscast time in their market is not convenient or for those who are traveling or otherwise cannot see the show when it originally airs.
An archive of past shows will also be established on the site. Each newscast will be 21 minutes long, with one video commercial served up by MSNBC during each of the regular breaks in the show. MSNBC.com already offers individual segments and stories from the nightly newscast as well as other news programs, including "Meet the Press," and "Today." The site, a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft, served around 75 million videos in the month of September, the network said. Other networks have put snippets of their newscasts online as well, but many have stopped short of offering entire programs. One reason is concern, especially among the hundreds of local affiliate stations that carry the newscast, that the number of viewers they attract will shrink if online broadcasts cannibalize TV audiences.
The move underscores the shift in network thinking about evening newscasts. Once closely guarded franchises, the evening news shows have fallen out of favor amid the rise of cable networks and Internet news sites that offer faster and more comprehensive news coverage.
For NBC, the recent changing of the guard also makes a move toward the Web more palatable. NBC noted in a press release that new Nightly News anchor Brian Williams maintains a regular blog of his own on the MSNBC site. Williams said the download service "reflects the fact that the pace of our lives has changed" and that news is now more of an on-demand product rather than something that viewers can build into their schedules. "Consumers are increasingly getting their news online, and MSNBC.com leads that space," said Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC.com, "By partnering with NBC News to offer 'Nightly News' in its entirety, we're giving news consumers the flexibility to watch the program on their own schedule, on whatever medium they choose." MSNBC gets about 23 million unique users each month, making it by far the most heavily visited site of the three major networks.
The newscasts are likely just the latest in what will soon be a steady flow of network content to find its way online. Other networks have already begun to push their most popular programs to new media. For instance, ABC is offering downloads of "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" that can be viewed on the new video iPod. Like many other major media conglomerates, NBC's reach extends well beyond news. The network has ties to NBC Universal, which is among the first studios to say it will make movies available online. News Corp., which owns the Fox news network, has been very active in buying up media properties recently, as has CBS parent Viacom (NYSE: VIAb) , whose MTV and Nickelodeon specialty networks have been among the first to offer large blocks of exclusive Web content and features. "Online TV is going to make inroads into traditional forms," Enderle Group principal analyst Rob Enderle said. "That can be a threat to the traditional providers of content or it can be an opportunity as well." Meanwhile, television has long been moving toward an on-demand model, with TiVo and other digital recorders and on-demand movie channels offered through cable and satellite subscriptions enabling consumers to self-program. "The trend is obvious and the only question is how fast the incumbent networks will move out in front of it," said Enderle. "The fact that they recognize that people want to decide when to watch is a good sign they understand the power has shifted to the consumer."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
"This is the next logical step," said Steve Capus, acting president of NBC News. We know that just as fast as technology is changing, people's lives are changing too, and they expect our newscasts to keep up with those changes. With this announcement we are doing just that." NBC said the Webcast will be ideal for viewers for whom the evening newscast time in their market is not convenient or for those who are traveling or otherwise cannot see the show when it originally airs.
An archive of past shows will also be established on the site. Each newscast will be 21 minutes long, with one video commercial served up by MSNBC during each of the regular breaks in the show. MSNBC.com already offers individual segments and stories from the nightly newscast as well as other news programs, including "Meet the Press," and "Today." The site, a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft, served around 75 million videos in the month of September, the network said. Other networks have put snippets of their newscasts online as well, but many have stopped short of offering entire programs. One reason is concern, especially among the hundreds of local affiliate stations that carry the newscast, that the number of viewers they attract will shrink if online broadcasts cannibalize TV audiences.
The move underscores the shift in network thinking about evening newscasts. Once closely guarded franchises, the evening news shows have fallen out of favor amid the rise of cable networks and Internet news sites that offer faster and more comprehensive news coverage.
For NBC, the recent changing of the guard also makes a move toward the Web more palatable. NBC noted in a press release that new Nightly News anchor Brian Williams maintains a regular blog of his own on the MSNBC site. Williams said the download service "reflects the fact that the pace of our lives has changed" and that news is now more of an on-demand product rather than something that viewers can build into their schedules. "Consumers are increasingly getting their news online, and MSNBC.com leads that space," said Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC.com, "By partnering with NBC News to offer 'Nightly News' in its entirety, we're giving news consumers the flexibility to watch the program on their own schedule, on whatever medium they choose." MSNBC gets about 23 million unique users each month, making it by far the most heavily visited site of the three major networks.
The newscasts are likely just the latest in what will soon be a steady flow of network content to find its way online. Other networks have already begun to push their most popular programs to new media. For instance, ABC is offering downloads of "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" that can be viewed on the new video iPod. Like many other major media conglomerates, NBC's reach extends well beyond news. The network has ties to NBC Universal, which is among the first studios to say it will make movies available online. News Corp., which owns the Fox news network, has been very active in buying up media properties recently, as has CBS parent Viacom (NYSE: VIAb) , whose MTV and Nickelodeon specialty networks have been among the first to offer large blocks of exclusive Web content and features. "Online TV is going to make inroads into traditional forms," Enderle Group principal analyst Rob Enderle said. "That can be a threat to the traditional providers of content or it can be an opportunity as well." Meanwhile, television has long been moving toward an on-demand model, with TiVo and other digital recorders and on-demand movie channels offered through cable and satellite subscriptions enabling consumers to self-program. "The trend is obvious and the only question is how fast the incumbent networks will move out in front of it," said Enderle. "The fact that they recognize that people want to decide when to watch is a good sign they understand the power has shifted to the consumer."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Goo Goo Over Google
If 2005 has been the year of anything in personal computing terms, we might as well call it the year of desktop search. In March, Google officially launched its Desktop Search product, previously available in beta form. In April, Apple Computer shipped OS X Tiger, which comes with a built-in desktop search tool called Spotlight. May brought MSN Desktop Search Tool from Microsoft, followed in June by a new MSN Search toolbar incorporating new desktop capabilities.
Ask Jeeves, Lycos and Yahoo all have their own desktop search tools. In fact all of these are relative newcomers to a field where independent makers of desktop search software -- Canada's Copernic Technologies of Sainte Foy, Que., Xl Technologies of Pasadena, Calif., San Francisco-based Blinkx, and others -- have labored for years. Desktop search tools go back at least to the mid-1980s, when Lotus Development introduced software called Magellan. Lotus later dropped Magellan -- it wasn't a big enough money-maker for the company that developed 1-2-3 and Notes -- but the category never really went away. What's new this year is the wholesale arrival of the big Web-search players in this space. Why? Advertising opportunities and mind share.
Google and Yahoo built their success on delivering targeted advertising based on what people search for online. They hope they can deliver more ads by tying them to what people search for on their own desktops. But also, the leaders in Web search want a desktop presence because they fear that without it they might lose Web-search traffic to competitors. That makes sense. If I have a desktop search tool on my PC, I am likely to use it to search for something that might be on my hard disk, and then -- possibly not having found what I was looking for, or possibly wanting more information -- extend the search to the Web. So if Google can search my desktop for me, I'm probably not going to switch to Yahoo or MSN Search to go out to the Web. "It really is an avenue into the Web search product," says Dave Goebel, founder and president of Goebel Group, a consulting firm in Cleveland that specializes in search technology.
Another reason for the surge in activity might be that the need for desktop search is growing. Windows has a rudimentary search capability, but while adequate for locating files by name, it's hopelessly slow for locating files based on content -- especially now that we're used to engines like Google that search the whole Web in seconds. Hard disks keep growing, so most computer users rarely delete anything, which turns our hard drives into enormous haystacks in which particular needles of information are nearly impossible to find unaided. But while Yahoo and the other Web-search firms are enthusiastically pursuing desktop search, one has to wonder how long there will be a niche. To see why, look at Apple's Spotlight. It's built into the operating system. Microsoft hasn't quite done that yet, but now that the company has a desktop search tool, it's only a matter of time -- in fact, the upcoming Windows Vista is expected to incorporate search capabilities much as OS X Tiger does with Spotlight today. Desktop search will, go from a hot application to a standard part of the operating system pretty quickly.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
Ask Jeeves, Lycos and Yahoo all have their own desktop search tools. In fact all of these are relative newcomers to a field where independent makers of desktop search software -- Canada's Copernic Technologies of Sainte Foy, Que., Xl Technologies of Pasadena, Calif., San Francisco-based Blinkx, and others -- have labored for years. Desktop search tools go back at least to the mid-1980s, when Lotus Development introduced software called Magellan. Lotus later dropped Magellan -- it wasn't a big enough money-maker for the company that developed 1-2-3 and Notes -- but the category never really went away. What's new this year is the wholesale arrival of the big Web-search players in this space. Why? Advertising opportunities and mind share.
Google and Yahoo built their success on delivering targeted advertising based on what people search for online. They hope they can deliver more ads by tying them to what people search for on their own desktops. But also, the leaders in Web search want a desktop presence because they fear that without it they might lose Web-search traffic to competitors. That makes sense. If I have a desktop search tool on my PC, I am likely to use it to search for something that might be on my hard disk, and then -- possibly not having found what I was looking for, or possibly wanting more information -- extend the search to the Web. So if Google can search my desktop for me, I'm probably not going to switch to Yahoo or MSN Search to go out to the Web. "It really is an avenue into the Web search product," says Dave Goebel, founder and president of Goebel Group, a consulting firm in Cleveland that specializes in search technology.
Another reason for the surge in activity might be that the need for desktop search is growing. Windows has a rudimentary search capability, but while adequate for locating files by name, it's hopelessly slow for locating files based on content -- especially now that we're used to engines like Google that search the whole Web in seconds. Hard disks keep growing, so most computer users rarely delete anything, which turns our hard drives into enormous haystacks in which particular needles of information are nearly impossible to find unaided. But while Yahoo and the other Web-search firms are enthusiastically pursuing desktop search, one has to wonder how long there will be a niche. To see why, look at Apple's Spotlight. It's built into the operating system. Microsoft hasn't quite done that yet, but now that the company has a desktop search tool, it's only a matter of time -- in fact, the upcoming Windows Vista is expected to incorporate search capabilities much as OS X Tiger does with Spotlight today. Desktop search will, go from a hot application to a standard part of the operating system pretty quickly.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
A Clash of Titans
Hollywood has a nightmare, and it isn't a movie. This bad dream is about how a duel between two high-tech giants could force consumers to make a costly bet on the wrong technology, or slow the adoption of high-definition DVD players due out next year. Such a delay would be bad news for consumer electronics retailers such as Best Buy, which count on new products to spur sales growth. The rival technology standards could jeopardize future profits at movie studios, which count on home movie viewing for nearly half of all revenue. Sales of DVDs have slowed, and high-definition DVDs, a natural companion product for new HDTV sets, would open a whole new sales opportunity for new and existing movies.
In Hollywood's disaster epic, Sony and Toshiba might force a rerun of the famed VHS-vs.-Betamax videocassette war of the 1980s. That contest required movie studios to choose between formats, and it forced consumers to bet on which standard would become the future of home movie entertainment. JVC's VHS format won, leaving an army of embittered Sony Betamax owners whose pricey machines became instant relics. This time around, analysts say competition between the two would-be DVD player standards -- Blu-ray from Sony and HD-DVD from Toshiba could force movie studios to shell out billions of dollars to duplicate and market movies in the two incompatible DVD formats. Consumers could wind up investing hundreds of dollars in a DVD player, only to have it become the new Betamax. A Toshiba representative declined to comment, and a Sony spokesman was not available.
The first Toshiba HD-DVD players are expected to hit stores in March, while the first Blu-ray DVD player might be the disk drive in Sony's PlayStation 3 videogame console, which is expected to debut by late 2006, analysts said. Microsoft's Xbox 360, which will be introduced late next month, won't have a next-generation DVD drive, analysts said. The PlayStation 3 is expected to help bring prices of the new DVD players down, said Josh Martin, an analyst with IDC in Framingham, Mass.
"How can you sell a new high-definition DVD player for US$1,000 when the PlayStation 3 is selling for $400? I think the HD-DVD players may cost $1,000 in March, but they'll come down to $500 or so when the PlayStation 3 comes out," Martin said. The next-generation movie disks are expected to sell for more than $20 each, but it's unclear how much more, said Gerry Kaufhold, an analyst at research firm In-Stat in Scottsdale, Ariz. The arguments over the competing formats mostly involve storage capacity and start-up production costs. Sony's Blu-ray requires more start-up investment to produce the disks in bulk than Toshiba's HD-DVD does, Martin said. But Blu-ray holds out the promise of greater storage capacity, which means the movie studios might not have to change disk formats again for several years.
But Toshiba's HD-DVD has another, less apparent advantage for movie studios that are worried about film piracy. The first HD-DVD units will support only playback, not recording, which means in the short term that movie disks will be impossible to copy, Kaufhold said. Blu-ray, on the other hand, will record blank disks the day it is introduced. The Sony and Toshiba obsession with DVD storage capacity is understandable. High-definition video requires a lot more storage space on a DVD disk than today's lesser-quality digital images, and both companies have solved this problem with blue-light lasers that can store 6 to 10 times more data on a standard-sized DVD disk than today's red lasers can. While a typical DVD today stores 4.7 gigabytes (less common dual-layer DVD disks store about 8.6 gigabytes), Toshiba would increase that to 30 gigabytes and Sony would boost it to 50 gigabytes. By some estimates, a high-definition version of a Hollywood movie will require up to 13 gigabytes of storage space, 5 gigabytes more for a high-quality soundtrack and additional capacity for DVD extras such as "behind the scenes" video and star interviews.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
In Hollywood's disaster epic, Sony and Toshiba might force a rerun of the famed VHS-vs.-Betamax videocassette war of the 1980s. That contest required movie studios to choose between formats, and it forced consumers to bet on which standard would become the future of home movie entertainment. JVC's VHS format won, leaving an army of embittered Sony Betamax owners whose pricey machines became instant relics. This time around, analysts say competition between the two would-be DVD player standards -- Blu-ray from Sony and HD-DVD from Toshiba could force movie studios to shell out billions of dollars to duplicate and market movies in the two incompatible DVD formats. Consumers could wind up investing hundreds of dollars in a DVD player, only to have it become the new Betamax. A Toshiba representative declined to comment, and a Sony spokesman was not available.
The first Toshiba HD-DVD players are expected to hit stores in March, while the first Blu-ray DVD player might be the disk drive in Sony's PlayStation 3 videogame console, which is expected to debut by late 2006, analysts said. Microsoft's Xbox 360, which will be introduced late next month, won't have a next-generation DVD drive, analysts said. The PlayStation 3 is expected to help bring prices of the new DVD players down, said Josh Martin, an analyst with IDC in Framingham, Mass.
"How can you sell a new high-definition DVD player for US$1,000 when the PlayStation 3 is selling for $400? I think the HD-DVD players may cost $1,000 in March, but they'll come down to $500 or so when the PlayStation 3 comes out," Martin said. The next-generation movie disks are expected to sell for more than $20 each, but it's unclear how much more, said Gerry Kaufhold, an analyst at research firm In-Stat in Scottsdale, Ariz. The arguments over the competing formats mostly involve storage capacity and start-up production costs. Sony's Blu-ray requires more start-up investment to produce the disks in bulk than Toshiba's HD-DVD does, Martin said. But Blu-ray holds out the promise of greater storage capacity, which means the movie studios might not have to change disk formats again for several years.
But Toshiba's HD-DVD has another, less apparent advantage for movie studios that are worried about film piracy. The first HD-DVD units will support only playback, not recording, which means in the short term that movie disks will be impossible to copy, Kaufhold said. Blu-ray, on the other hand, will record blank disks the day it is introduced. The Sony and Toshiba obsession with DVD storage capacity is understandable. High-definition video requires a lot more storage space on a DVD disk than today's lesser-quality digital images, and both companies have solved this problem with blue-light lasers that can store 6 to 10 times more data on a standard-sized DVD disk than today's red lasers can. While a typical DVD today stores 4.7 gigabytes (less common dual-layer DVD disks store about 8.6 gigabytes), Toshiba would increase that to 30 gigabytes and Sony would boost it to 50 gigabytes. By some estimates, a high-definition version of a Hollywood movie will require up to 13 gigabytes of storage space, 5 gigabytes more for a high-quality soundtrack and additional capacity for DVD extras such as "behind the scenes" video and star interviews.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
ICANN, VeriSign Strike Domain Agreement
The Internet's governing body has agreed to settle several outstanding lawsuits involving domain registrar VeriSign, an agreement that will keep that company in charge of the key dot-com domain until 2012. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said the settlement is still subject to a final vote of approval from its Board of Directors, but said once finalized, it will enable a better system to coordinate domain names to be put into place.
"This proposed agreement settles many of the long-standing points of tension between ICANN and VeriSign," said Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN. "The settlement opens the way for a constructive and productive relationship that will benefit the global Internet community."
Twomey said the settlement will also allow more ICANN staff and resources to be directed toward the operation of the agency. The agreement also calls for the two sides to agree to enter into international arbitration should future legal disputes arise as well. While important to both ICANN and VeriSign, the deal may only be a prelude to more sweeping decisions about the future of ICANN, which faces growing efforts to reduce its autonomy and turn control of the root server system over to the United Nations.
The deal puts VeriSign in charge of the two most popular top level domains for the next several years. VeriSign had previously been awarded the contract to operate ".net" until 2011, a deal that is widely seen as paving the way for the current settlement. That contract was awarded amid sharp criticism of ICANN, which was accused by observers and even some insiders of following a process that heavily favored VeriSign over competitors vying for the same contract. ICANN attempted to assuage those critics by initiating a review of the process, but in the end decided VeriSign was best suited to run the registry, which can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of a contract.
"An agreement could not have been reached without both sides trying to find compromise and new solutions," said Mark McLaughlin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of VeriSign's Naming and Directory Services business unit. "VeriSign's objective was to gain clarity and business certainty for Internet operators." The two sides began clashing when VeriSign introduced a controversial service that re-directed users who mistyped domain names to a VeriSign-controlled site. VeriSign eventually halted that service, known as SiteFinder, but sued ICANN, saying it was interfering too much in the day-to-day operation of the domain name system for which VeriSign is responsible. In the agreement, VeriSign agreed to a new definition of what registry services entail, agreed not to make changes to its services without first notifying ICANN and agreed to a process that enables innovations in registry services to be reviewed for "competition, security and stability."
ICANN may also be winning a powerful ally as it tries to keep its autonomy going forward.
The stakes in the debate over ICANN's future are high, analysts say. A replacement system to ICANN, which was created by the U.S. Department of Commerce , which still keeps some control of it, would have to prove it could handle the massive responsibility of properly assigning and managing domains. Any sub-standard performance could lead to massive slowdowns in e-commerce and other economic engines on the Web. "Everyone takes the system for granted, but that's because it works almost all the time," said Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li. "If there every came a day when Web users couldn't find Google or Yahoo or Amazon or eBay, it would be disastrous."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
"This proposed agreement settles many of the long-standing points of tension between ICANN and VeriSign," said Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN. "The settlement opens the way for a constructive and productive relationship that will benefit the global Internet community."
Twomey said the settlement will also allow more ICANN staff and resources to be directed toward the operation of the agency. The agreement also calls for the two sides to agree to enter into international arbitration should future legal disputes arise as well. While important to both ICANN and VeriSign, the deal may only be a prelude to more sweeping decisions about the future of ICANN, which faces growing efforts to reduce its autonomy and turn control of the root server system over to the United Nations.
The deal puts VeriSign in charge of the two most popular top level domains for the next several years. VeriSign had previously been awarded the contract to operate ".net" until 2011, a deal that is widely seen as paving the way for the current settlement. That contract was awarded amid sharp criticism of ICANN, which was accused by observers and even some insiders of following a process that heavily favored VeriSign over competitors vying for the same contract. ICANN attempted to assuage those critics by initiating a review of the process, but in the end decided VeriSign was best suited to run the registry, which can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of a contract.
"An agreement could not have been reached without both sides trying to find compromise and new solutions," said Mark McLaughlin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of VeriSign's Naming and Directory Services business unit. "VeriSign's objective was to gain clarity and business certainty for Internet operators." The two sides began clashing when VeriSign introduced a controversial service that re-directed users who mistyped domain names to a VeriSign-controlled site. VeriSign eventually halted that service, known as SiteFinder, but sued ICANN, saying it was interfering too much in the day-to-day operation of the domain name system for which VeriSign is responsible. In the agreement, VeriSign agreed to a new definition of what registry services entail, agreed not to make changes to its services without first notifying ICANN and agreed to a process that enables innovations in registry services to be reviewed for "competition, security and stability."
ICANN may also be winning a powerful ally as it tries to keep its autonomy going forward.
The stakes in the debate over ICANN's future are high, analysts say. A replacement system to ICANN, which was created by the U.S. Department of Commerce , which still keeps some control of it, would have to prove it could handle the massive responsibility of properly assigning and managing domains. Any sub-standard performance could lead to massive slowdowns in e-commerce and other economic engines on the Web. "Everyone takes the system for granted, but that's because it works almost all the time," said Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li. "If there every came a day when Web users couldn't find Google or Yahoo or Amazon or eBay, it would be disastrous."
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Marketers Look to Adopt Spam-Fighting Technology
A trade group for marketers is requiring its members to adopt a spam-fighting technology that could help improve the chances of their legitimate pitches getting through. Businesses have been increasingly frustrated that overzealous spam filters are blocking newsletters, coupons and other e-mail requested by customers. Some estimates say that as many as one in four legitimate marketing messages get mistakenly rejected.
Separate authentication technologies pushed by Microsoft and Yahoo would help an Internet service provider verify that a message's sender is accurate and authorized. Spammers often use fake e-mail addresses, so those messages would fail authentication tests. The Direct Marketing Association, in approving the requirement this week, did not say which system its members must use. John Levine, co-author of "Fighting Spam for Dummies," said the move might make sense for marketers worried about being lumped with spammers, but users shouldn't necessarily consider it virtuous. "In reality, it's something that their members are doing anyway for straight-forward business purposes," he said. In fact, many spammers themselves are adopting such authentication technologies as a way to appear legitimate. That's fine, said DMA spokesman Louis Mastria, as it forces them to identify themselves and brings them out in the open.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Separate authentication technologies pushed by Microsoft and Yahoo would help an Internet service provider verify that a message's sender is accurate and authorized. Spammers often use fake e-mail addresses, so those messages would fail authentication tests. The Direct Marketing Association, in approving the requirement this week, did not say which system its members must use. John Levine, co-author of "Fighting Spam for Dummies," said the move might make sense for marketers worried about being lumped with spammers, but users shouldn't necessarily consider it virtuous. "In reality, it's something that their members are doing anyway for straight-forward business purposes," he said. In fact, many spammers themselves are adopting such authentication technologies as a way to appear legitimate. That's fine, said DMA spokesman Louis Mastria, as it forces them to identify themselves and brings them out in the open.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Court Halts 'Legal' File-Sharing Site
A federal court has temporarily banned a Los Angeles-based Web site from claiming that its service lets users legally share copyrighted files, the government said today. The Federal Trade Commission said that Cashier Myricks Jr., doing business as MP3downloadcity.com, has been barred from suggesting that his US$24.95 tutorial and referral service enables users to legally download copyrighted music files, video games and "movies still in theaters." According to the FTC, it doesn't. A temporary restraining order was issued on Sept. 27 by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The FTC is seeking to make the ban permanent, negotiate refunds for consumers who feel they were misled, and require that the defendant notify people who use the service about legal consequences of sharing copyrighted material.
The FTC charged that the Web service advertised on Web sites, sponsored Google links and in e-mails with misleading claims like, "Best of all people are not getting sued for using our software . Yes! It is 100 percent legal" and "Download and Watch DVDs and Movies Still in Theaters."
The commission said that thousands of consumers have bought the service, which is actually a tutorial with referrals to free file-sharing software programs, like those from Kazaa and Grokster.
Myricks' site itself today claimed "Napster's Number One Replacement Software is Back!" and "Now You Can Burn, Download MP3s, and Make CD's Free." At the bottom of the site, a link through the word "Legal" led to a page that said, "File sharing is not illegal so long as you abide by all relevant copyright laws. Sharing copyrighted material without the permission to do so is illegal." The page further advises users to stay legal by removing copyrighted material from their shared folders.
Some artists allow their music to be copied freely, but for the vast majority of recorded music, special permission is necessary -- for example, participation in a licensed program like the new Napster, which is not free. Myricks did not immediately respond to e-mail requests for comment through the support link on his Web site. Several other e-mails were sent to accounts that appeared to be affiliated with Myricks, and a once-listed telephone number in Carson, Calif., was not in service. His lawyer also did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
The FTC charged that the Web service advertised on Web sites, sponsored Google links and in e-mails with misleading claims like, "Best of all people are not getting sued for using our software . Yes! It is 100 percent legal" and "Download and Watch DVDs and Movies Still in Theaters."
The commission said that thousands of consumers have bought the service, which is actually a tutorial with referrals to free file-sharing software programs, like those from Kazaa and Grokster.
Myricks' site itself today claimed "Napster's Number One Replacement Software is Back!" and "Now You Can Burn, Download MP3s, and Make CD's Free." At the bottom of the site, a link through the word "Legal" led to a page that said, "File sharing is not illegal so long as you abide by all relevant copyright laws. Sharing copyrighted material without the permission to do so is illegal." The page further advises users to stay legal by removing copyrighted material from their shared folders.
Some artists allow their music to be copied freely, but for the vast majority of recorded music, special permission is necessary -- for example, participation in a licensed program like the new Napster, which is not free. Myricks did not immediately respond to e-mail requests for comment through the support link on his Web site. Several other e-mails were sent to accounts that appeared to be affiliated with Myricks, and a once-listed telephone number in Carson, Calif., was not in service. His lawyer also did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Friday, November 04, 2005
VeriSign Acquires News Aggregator
Internet services company VeriSign said yesterday it has acquired news aggregator Moreover Technologies for US$30 million in cash to bolster its position as an organizer and gatekeeper of information flowing on the Internet. Moreover Technologies, a closely held San Francisco-based company, gathers and filters online news and blogs, then automatically parcels the information in a headline-like format, also known as RSS feeds, to corporate customers such as Microsoft's MyMSN. The deal comes just 10 days after Mountain View, Calif.-based VeriSign said it acquired Weblogs.com from Scripting News for $2.3 million in cash. Weblogs.com provides subscribers automatic notification of new material on Web sites and online journals known as blogs. For VeriSign, a company that handles Web domain registrations and provides authentication technology for online transactions, both investments are smart moves in a growing field of real-time distribution of Web content, said Allen Weiner, an industry analyst with Gartner . "VeriSign has been the hallmark of bringing organization to the Web, and this extends their play into this new arena," Weiner said. "This will help keep track of what's new and fresh out there."
Mark McLaughlin, a VeriSign senior vice president, said the company has been watching the recent explosion of so-called real-time information, distributed in the format called really simple syndication, or RSS, and saw a lack of technological infrastructure there. "We want to provide not just infrastructure, but intelligence to the information to make it relevant," McLaughlin said. Shares of VeriSign rose 39 cents to close at $21.08 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, near their 52-week low of $19.01.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Mark McLaughlin, a VeriSign senior vice president, said the company has been watching the recent explosion of so-called real-time information, distributed in the format called really simple syndication, or RSS, and saw a lack of technological infrastructure there. "We want to provide not just infrastructure, but intelligence to the information to make it relevant," McLaughlin said. Shares of VeriSign rose 39 cents to close at $21.08 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, near their 52-week low of $19.01.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Yahoo, BellSouth Sell High-Speed Access
Yahoo and BellSouth are joining forces to sell high-speed Internet access, the latest step in a mating dance that has now united the owner of the Web's most popular destination with the three largest U.S. regional phone companies. Under the partnership announced yesterday, Yahoo and BellSouth will introduce their co-branded service late next year. It will provide BellSouth's subscribers with customized material from its Web site, which attracted an Internet-leading 99.3 million unique U.S. visitors last month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a research firm. Like the other regional Bells with similar deals, BellSouth wants to tap into Yahoo's vast content to prevent its Internet service from turning into a faceless utility. In return, Yahoo will get an unspecified slice of the subscription revenue, as well as a steady stream of traffic as customers initially log on to the service. Yahoo depends on the traffic to sell the advertising that generates most of its profit.
The service, which will provide Internet access through digital subscriber, or DSL, lines, will be available in BellSouth's nine-state territory: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo already has similar alliances with SBC Communications and Verizon Communications, the only regional phone providers larger than Atlanta-based BellSouth. Combined, SBC, Verizon and BellSouth have about 12.5 million DSL subscribers in 38 states. The carriers have been trying to lure even more Internet customers to defect from slower dial-up connection services by offering introductory rates ranging from US$15 to $20 per month. The discounting reflects an effort to catch up with the cable industry, which has about 23.5 million subscribers to high-speed, or broadband, Internet access, according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. Prodded by their DSL rivals, cable companies also have been lowering the introductory price for the broadband service, although not quite as dramatically.
Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, also appears eager to supplement its service with more compelling content. The company has teamed up with online search engine leader Google -- one of Yahoo's biggest rivals -- to explore a minority investment in Time Warner's AOL. Yahoo also has contacted Time Warner about buying a piece of AOL in an apparent attempt to thwart Google.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
The service, which will provide Internet access through digital subscriber, or DSL, lines, will be available in BellSouth's nine-state territory: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo already has similar alliances with SBC Communications and Verizon Communications, the only regional phone providers larger than Atlanta-based BellSouth. Combined, SBC, Verizon and BellSouth have about 12.5 million DSL subscribers in 38 states. The carriers have been trying to lure even more Internet customers to defect from slower dial-up connection services by offering introductory rates ranging from US$15 to $20 per month. The discounting reflects an effort to catch up with the cable industry, which has about 23.5 million subscribers to high-speed, or broadband, Internet access, according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. Prodded by their DSL rivals, cable companies also have been lowering the introductory price for the broadband service, although not quite as dramatically.
Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, also appears eager to supplement its service with more compelling content. The company has teamed up with online search engine leader Google -- one of Yahoo's biggest rivals -- to explore a minority investment in Time Warner's AOL. Yahoo also has contacted Time Warner about buying a piece of AOL in an apparent attempt to thwart Google.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program.
