'Those Pesky Dot-Coms'
After the dot-commification of the Sundance Film Festival, Internet companies at Cannes arrived with high hopes and deep pockets. Sadly, they're heading home with less enthusiasm.
Stories by Polly Sprenger
Boo Gets a Bailout
Following rumors that the company was on the block, Boo.com cofounder and CEO Ernst Malmsten said Friday that the Web retailer has closed a new round of funding, led by majority backers LVMH.
More Creaks and Groans at Boo.com
Having suffered a delayed launch, staff cuts and a series of disappeared finance directors, Boo.com confirmed on Thursday that it is looking to raise another round of financing. Industry doomsayers saw the move as a final, desperate bid by lead investors to recoup some of the millions they sank into Boo during the heady days of last summer, when the so-hip-it-hurts company hit the big time.
Stock Drama Moves to Europe
Europe played the me-too game Monday, with tech stocks following the Nasdaq's Friday losses into the doldrums, but rising slightly after the Nasdaq opened Monday on an up note.
World Online on the Brink
Nina Brink had a reputation for being a tiger. But some say she's more of a sacrificial lamb. The short but bitter scandal of Dutch ISP World Online took an abrupt turn Thursday when Chairwoman Nina Brink resigned from the company that just a few weeks ago was heralded as the new face of the European Internet.
London Scrambles to Reassure Investors
It was a miserable day here yesterday. The morning opened gray and windy, and the London Stock Exchange failed to open at all. The usually austere streets of Europe's trading and finance capital erupted in pandemonium, and the chaos has not fully abated.
Pop Goes the World Online
World Online's worries did not end when its much-hyped IPO tanked last week. Now that the Dutch Internet service provider's share price has plummeted to the point that the company has lost nearly half of its value, bankers and regulatory agencies are scrutinizing its filings.
Britain Enlists Foreign Help in Technology
Tired of trailing the U.S. when it comes to technology-related economic success, Britain this week enlisted U.S. Ambassador Philip Lader to help move things along.
AOL Europe's Schmidt Keeps a Cool Head
Andreas Schmidt has a new mantra: "No comment."
Web Hacks: Day Three
For the third day in a row, major Web sites were hit by denial-of-service attacks emanating from an unknown server by an unknown assailant. E-Trade, Datek and ZDNet joined the growing list of downed sites early Wednesday morning.
Europe: The French Paradox
For most of the late 1990s, the only Internet story being told in France was about its Minitel interactive system and how it had slowed development of the French Web industry. That story is now old news. Today French entrepreneurs who cut their teeth on the slow, cumbersome Minitel have reorganized and are taking to the culture and economics of the Internet with new vigor.
Europe: The Flying Finns
When Leila Soininen wants to know what time a movie starts in Helsinki, she gets out her Nokia mobile phone. But she doesn't call the theater.
Bertelsmann Seeks Buyers for AOL Europe
AOL Europe may be at the end of its joint venture status, as reports out of Germany say Bertelsmann AG is in talks to sell its stake to partner America Online Inc. (AOL)
AOL Europe's Musical Chairs
The latest fallout from the America Online Inc. (AOL)-Time Warner Inc. merger has linked German mobile-phone company Mannesmann AG with AOL Europe. Reports in the German and British press say Mannesmann is interested in acquiring a stake in the joint venture, and may even buy out Bertelsmann AG, which owns 50 percent of AOL Europe.
Crunch's Angels from AOL
Sometimes it's not what you know, it's who you know at America Online Inc.