U.S. Interactive Closes Office
U.S. Interactive Inc., Cupertino, Calif., plans to close its Los Angeles facility Jan. 12 to further reduce expenses. The company said the office employs 60 workers. On Sept. 20, US Interactive said it would reduce its work force by 15%, or about 100 people, citing changes in the Internet professional services market. In November, the company signed letters of intent to restructure the majority of an $80 million note, and hired a adviser to explore alternatives. Later in the month, Chief Operating Officer Jim Huser and Chief Financial Officer Philip Calamia resigned.
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Technology Briefs
NetZero Gets Restraining Order Against Juno Online
NetZero Inc., Westlake Village, Calif., received a temporary restraining order against Juno Online Services Inc. preventing Juno from displaying third-party advertisements in its advertising-banner window. The order, effective Jan. 12, does let Juno maintain the ad window and display ads for its own services. On Dec. 6, 2000, NetZero received a patent for a process that lets Internet-service providers display ads or messages through a window separate from the browser. On Dec. 26, NetZero sued Juno, alleging that Juno's floating-advertising window, the Juno Guide, infringed its patent. NetZero said the temporary restraining order lasts until March 15, when another hearing is scheduled. Separately, Juno said it plans to vigorously contest NetZero's allegations and that NetZero infringes its own patent. Juno also said third-party advertising in the floating-ad banner accounts for less than 4% of its revenue.
RealNetworks, Texas Instruments Set Internet-Audio Software Pact
RealNetworks Inc. said Texas Instruments Inc. has agreed to include RealNetworks Internet-audio software in its chips for cellular phones and digital-music players. The agreement, announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, could help Seattle-based RealNetworks' presence in consumer-electronics devices that play music downloaded from the Internet. Texas Instruments, Dallas, will include RealNetworks' RealAudio and RealVideo software in its digital signal processors or DSPs, the chips used in many electronics devices. Texas Instruments supplies DSPs to cell-phone makers such as Nokia Corp. and Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, and to makers of portable-music players such as Sanyo Electric Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and Toshiba Corp. Cell-phone makers are beginning to add to their devices the ability to play music downloaded from the Internet. Financial terms of the deal aren't being disclosed.
Inktomi Buys Adero Assets for $23.5 Million
Inktomi Corp. said it acquired various business assets of Adero Inc. relating to billing, settlement and traffic reporting for $23.5 million. Under terms of the agreement, Inktomi of Foster City, Calif., will assume certain operational liabilities. Inktomi develops and markets infrastructure software for the Web; Adero is a provider of global content distribution designed for e-businesses, based in Waltham, Mass. The purchase will allow Inktomi to broaden its reach in the content-distribution market, company officials said. At 4 p.m. Friday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, shares of Inktomi were down 13%, or $1.75, to $12.13, after hitting a new 52-week low of $11.63 during the day.
U.S. Interactive Closes Office
U.S. Interactive Inc., Cupertino, Calif., plans to close its Los Angeles facility Jan. 12 to further reduce expenses. The company said the office employs 60 workers. On Sept. 20, US Interactive said it would reduce its work force by 15%, or about 100 people, citing changes in the Internet professional services market. In November, the company signed letters of intent to restructure the majority of an $80 million note, and hired a adviser to explore alternatives. Later in the month, Chief Operating Officer Jim Huser and Chief Financial Officer Philip Calamia resigned.
Zapata to End Internet Operations
Zapata Corp.'s Zap.com Corp. and Charged Productions Inc. units will cease operations, the company said. Zapata said it expects to record a charge of $1.7 million to $3.2 million in the year ended Dec. 31 on the move. Zapata said the two units accounted for almost $5.7 million of its losses for the nine months ended Sept. 30, out of a consolidated loss of $10.5 million, or 44 cents a share. Both Zap.com and Charge Productions will be reported as discontinued operations in the future. Zap.com, which is 98%-owned by Zapata, is currently reviewing the future direction of its operations, Zapata said. Zapata also owns 61% of Omega Protein and about 40% of Viskase Cos. Zap.com, which trades on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board, said it does intend to continue as a public company. Zap.com is also terminating its current public offering of stock, and expects the discontinuation of its Internet operations will result in a charge of $1 million to $2 million for the year ending Dec. 31. |
