Briefs

FRAMINGHAM (03/10/2000) - White House Issues Internet Crime ReportThe White House this week issued a report on Internet crime that calls for new legal tools to track down criminals. It also asks businesses to "balance reasonable expectations of customer privacy" with security needs. For instance, the report said some businesses don't retain certain system data long enough to permit law enforcement to identify online offenders. The report drew criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, which said it threatened online anonymity.

Yet Another Retail Exchange

Essentus International Inc., a New York-based software vendor, said it's setting up an online exchange for manufacturers and retailers of apparel, footwear and other soft goods. Fashion.com is the thirdretail industry exchange announced in the past two weeks.

Short Takes

Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich., this week signed on a new e-commerce partner, inking a deal with ZoneTrader.com in Minneapolis to dispose of its used capital equipment. ... McDonald's Corp. in Oak Brook, Ill., said it's investing in Food.com Inc., an Internet-based food takeout anddelivery service in San Francisco, calling it "an investment in the future."... Intel Corp. introduced its own 1-GHz Pentium III chip, answering the debut of rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s 1-GHz Athlon desktop microprocessor several days earlier. ... Paramus, N.J.-based Toys R Us Inc. said a $64 million charge to set up and operate ToysRUs.com in the fourth quarter helped lower its earnings for the three-month period ended Jan 29. ... Sun Microsystems Inc. announced a program called iForce to help Internet start-up companies put their businesses online. ... As expected, PeopleSoft Inc. in Pleasanton, Calif., announced plans to offer application hosting services to users of its business software.