Dot Com News from Week of April 9, 2001

• 4/13/01 - LoanTrader Inc. announced that it is winding down online operations of LoanTrader.com, the mortgage industry's first B2B Internet marketplace. The LoanTrader.com Marketplace will officially close on April 19, 2001.
• 4/13/01 - Outpost.com, a leading global Internet retailer of consumer technology products, announced that it has decided to refocus its industry-leading consumer business and reduce its work force by 110 employees, or 30%.
• 4/13/01 - Online brokerage Ameritrade Holding Corp. said it is cutting 270 to 300 positions due to slow market activity, a move the company said will save it about $12 million per year.
• 4/13/01 - Streaming media services company Eyecast Corp. of Herndon, Va., is closing its doors after failing to find further funding. As part of its shutdown, the company laid off 45 of 65 workers, or more than two-thirds of its work force, and took its Web site down.
• 4/13/01 - CyberCash Inc. said it received two bids topping $20 million for its operating assets. The company is auctioning its assets as part of a reorganization plan under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
• 4/13/01 - Web giant Yahoo said it will pull adult-related entertainment products and banner advertisements from its site in response to concerns raised by its customers.
• 4/12/01 - Cisco Systems, the maker of gear that helps to power the Internet, will offer up to six months of pay to laid-off employees, part of its plan to trim its work force by 5,000, or 11 percent, in the face of a U.S. economic slowdown.
• 4/12/01 - Dow Jones said it is laying off 202 workers, or about 2 percent of its work force, as it reported first-quarter earnings just below expectations, which had already been lowered twice. As part of its cost-reduction drive, Dow Jones said it has laid off 202 staff members, representing about 2 percent of its work force of 8,500.
• 4/12/01 - The New York Times Co. unveiled a companywide staff reduction plan that will include further layoffs in its online division, although the total number of cutbacks have not yet been decided.
• 4/12/01 - Online advertising network 24/7 Media Inc. said it will cut 100 jobs and close or downsize certain offices to create $10 million in annual savings and focus on business units that are closest to turning a profit. The company will have 850 employees after the cuts.
• 4/12/01 - Eshare Communications, a developer of Internet customer management tools, said it will lay off 10 percent of its staff to cut costs.
• 4/12/01 - Art Technology Group Inc., whose software helps run Internet-commerce sites, fired 150 workers, or 12 percent of its workforce, to reduce costs.
• 4/11/01 - Yahoo! Inc. beat Wall Street's dramatically reduced expectations for first-quarter earnings, but the struggling Internet portal will lay off 12 percent of its workforce. Yahoo is streamlining to focus on "essential services," centralizing operations and reducing marketing. As a result, the company will cut about 420 jobs from its work force of 3,510 employees in the next month.
• 4/11/01 - Internet media giant Yahoo! Inc., under pressure to develop new sources of revenue, said it is offering a broad selection of adult material, including hard-core porn videos and DVDs, through its popular shopping service.
• 4/11/01 - Digital media company Loudeye Technologies said that it will slash 45 percent of its 300-employee work force and close a number of offices in an effort to cut costs and integrate recent acquisitions.
• 4/11/01 - Kozmo, an online retailer, said it has ceased operations in all of its markets and has shut down its Web site. Nearly 1,100 workers will be laid off. The New York-based privately held company said the closing was effective immediately. The company's Web site didn't load and a phone number for Kozmo was unable to accept any calls.
• 4/11/01 - In an effort to make a profit, Instant messaging software builder Critical Path Inc. said it would put 450 employees out of work. Critical Path had to revise revenues downwards and losses upwards to take into account non-substantive software licensing transactions for which no revenue would be recognized.
• 4/11/01 - Rival Networks, the operator of Rivals.com, a leading network of sports team and affinity channels, announced that it would cease operations due to unfavorable market conditions. Rivals.com's publishers will be able to maintain their branded URLs and continue their operations independently.
• 4/11/01 - Borders Group Inc., the second-largest U.S. bookseller, said it would cut 70 jobs at Borders.com as a result of an agreement to join forces with Amazon.com Inc. in the Internet bookselling business.
• 4/11/01 - Vault.com Inc. said it laid off one-third of its staff, just a few months after an earlier round of job cuts at the online-recruiting and message-board site. The closely held company laid off 25 people from all departments, in a bid to reach profitability by the fourth quarter. In January, the company laid off 33 employees.
• 4/10/01 - ISyndicate.com, which helps content companies syndicate their work to outside markets, has fired roughly 50 percent of its staff. The company, which helps some 1,000 content-providers syndicate their content to other markets, blamed the layoffs on a softening economy.
• 4/10/01 - theglobe.com, home to leading games information network games.theglobe.com and a leading network of communities, announced additional aggressive cost-reduction initiatives in recognition of significant declines in the Internet advertising sector and continued wide-spread economic uncertainty. These initiatives include eliminating 59 positions, or 31% of the Company's workforce, as well as reductions in discretionary spending and contracted services.
• 4/10/01 - Musicbank, a Net music company with ties to the five major recording companies, ceased operations and dismissed its entire staff.
• 4/9/01 - Universal Music Group will acquire EMusic.com Inc., a digital music subscription service, including its Web sites, EMusic.com, RollingStone.com and DownBeat.com.
• 4/9/01 - NBCi.com will shut down its loss-ridden Internet subsidiary, acknowledging that any hopes of it becoming profitable had vaporized along with the online advertising market. Many of the 300 jobs there will be eliminated as the unit's assets are integrated into NBC.
• 4/9/01 - DotComGuy, the man who originally set out to prove the power of the Internet by legally changing his name and sequestering himself inside his suburban Dallas home for a full year, has announced his engagement and upcoming marriage. The romance is due in part to a match made through eharmony.com, an online relationship-building service. The wedding will take place Jan. 5, 2002.