Stories by DeWayne Lehman

Ford Challenges Texas On E-Commerce Ruling

Ford Motor Co. is battling the state of Texas over the way its used cars are sold on the Internet.

Gloomy Forecast for Online Exchanges

A new study of online trading exchanges predicts some rough weather ahead. By the end of next year, 85 to 90 percent of the independent business-to-business exchanges will be blown away, a report by AMR Research Inc. says.

Compliance for Kids Sites is a Costly Affair

Web developers and operators at sites catering to kids got the full flavor of Internet regulation last week when they scrambled to meet the April 21 deadline to comply with the nation's first law governing online privacy. And some sites probably didn't make it, risking stiff fines.

Microsoft Releases Second SQL Server 2000 Beta

Microsoft Corp. today announced the second beta release of its SQL Server 2000 database upgrade.

Children's Privacy Law to Take Effect Tomorrow

Web sites catering to kids are scrambling to meet tomorrow's deadline to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) - and many won't make it, possibly facing stiff fines, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Medical Distributors Open E-Market

A group of five major U.S. medical products distributors announced yesterday that they have agreed to establish a new health care electronic marketplace.

Browser Differences Trouble Developers

The Web Standards Project last week sharply criticized Microsoft Corp. for not adhering to certain standards in its new version of Internet Explorer. But Web developers said they care less about browser standards than they do about having to support multiple browser versions, following the recent releases of Explorer 5.5 and Netscape Communications Corp.'s Netscape 6.

Consortium Plans Privacy Guidelines

A new organization that plans to set Internet privacy guidelines and force its members to comply with them was greeted with skepticism by privacy advocates.

Privacy Policies Missing On 77% of Web Sites

Web sites are increasingly informing consumers about what they will do with the personal information they collect, but 77% of the 30,000 busiest sites still don't have a stated privacy policy, according to a survey released last week.

Report: Electronic-Travel Industry Faces Shakeout

Increasing competition combined with a rapid growth in online sales will drive 80 percent of travel-related Web sites out of business over the next few years, according to a new report issued by Bear, Stearns & Co.

Study: Online Retail Sales Doubled Last Year

Online sales in North America more than doubled last year to reach $33.1 billion, according to a new study of online retail activity.

Ford Battles Texas over Internet Sales

Ford Motor Co. is fighting the state of Texas to defend the way its used cars are sold over the Internet.

Survey: More Web Sites Post Privacy Policies

A survey released today shows that Web sites are increasingly informing consumers about what they will do with personal information they collect, but that 77% of the busiest sites still have no stated privacy policy.

Group Knocks New Internet Explorer

An organization that advocates the adoption of common Web standards launched a sharp attack today against Microsoft Corp. and its new Internet Explorer 5.5 Windows Edition.

Netscape 6 Beta Released

Netscape Communications Corp. last week made available a preview version of its long-awaited browser upgrade. But users said Netscape 6 may be too little too late.