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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 16yearcycle who wrote (48984)	4/5/1999 2:48:00 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Respond to of 164684

re: broadcast.com vs. real networks. Lately I have the perception that real networks has moved way ahead of broadcast.com in key broadcasts. Is this just my imagination? About 6 months ago I did not feel this way. Example - Kennedy Center millenium stage kennedy-center.org

To: 16yearcycle who wrote (48984)	4/5/1999 5:54:00 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

>> SEATTLE, April 5 (Reuters) - Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc. <AMZN.O> Monday agreed to settle charges that it raided the largest U.S. retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.<WMT.O>, for key technology executives and database secrets. Amazon.com and its Drugstore.com Inc. affiliate will not pay any damages but have agreed to reassign or restrict nine former Wal-Mart employees and vendors to ensure they are not passing on trade secrets, officials of the two companies said. The Internet companies also have agreed to stop actively recruiting from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, which operates more than 1,900 discount department stores in the United States alone, filed suit in October, underscoring how the Internet revolution threatens even the mightiest of brick-and-mortar chains. Amazon.com posted sales of $253 million in its latest quarter, compared with nearly $41 billion for Wal-Mart. But the ambitious online upstart already has been dubbed the "Wal-Mart of the Web" and has expanded aggressively beyond its initial market of books. Most recently it launched an auction site covering hundreds of product categories. As part of the settlement, Amazon.com agreed to drop a countersuit against Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart dropped charges against former executive Richard Dalzell, now Amazon.com's chief information officer, and against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The limitations imposed by the settlement will not apply to Dalzell or Kal Raman, another former Wal-Mart executive who is Drugstore.com's chief information officer. Amazon.com shares soared $15.50, or 9 percent, to close at $186.50 in Nasdaq trading, while Wal-Mart rose $2.375 to $95.375 on the New York Stock Exchange. "We got what we wanted, and we feel like we got it in a much more timely manner than we would have gotten through the court proceeding," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Betsy Reithemeyer. Wal-Mart's suit, initially filed in its hometown of Bentonville, Ark., sent a ripple of fear through the technology industry, where some feared the case would have had a chilling effect on efforts to recruit badly needed technology experts. The suit later was moved to King County Superior Court in Seattle, home of Amazon.com. Bill Curry, a spokesman for Amazon.com, said the settlement would allow the two Internet companies to continue hiring "the most talented and qualified individuals." "Neither company has any interest or desire to obtain proprietary information or trade secrets from another company," Curry said. "We are glad to put this issue behind us so we can keep our focus where it belongs -- on our customers." Amazon.com owns a 46 percent stake in Drugstore.com, which is based in nearby Redmond, Wash., and opened its virtual doors in February with a menu of prescription and non-prescription drugs, toiletries, perfume and other items. Wal-Mart is the undisputed U.S. retailing leader with $138 billion in annual sales. It is well-known for its massive Retail Link database of product sales information, considered the largest in private hands. Scott Appleby, an analyst for ABN Amro, called the settlement a good deal for both sides. "It looks like they'll stop poaching from Wal-Mart," he said. "But let's face it, they've got the intellectual property and the human capital they needed." Amazon.com contended in its countersuit that when it comes to the Internet, Wal-Mart's technology is lacking and the company is behind the curve. "Wal-Mart and other land-based giants are finding that land-based dominance is not translating to success on the Web," Amazon.com said in the filing. Amazon.com also noted that Wal-Mart is a major retailer of books, videos and music, all categories targeted by Amazon.com. <<