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United Airlines is buying internet direct marketer MyPoints.com in a deal valued at about $112.5 million. The purchase gives United, the second-biggest airline in the world, access to MyPoints' technology and 16-million-person database. San Francisco-based MyPoints gives points to consumers who respond to direct emails from MyPoints' clients. The points are exchangeable for gift certificates and other products. According to an airline spokesperson, the acquisition will help draw more customers to United, specifically to its UAL.com web site and Mileage Plus frequent flyer program. Industry observers say that deals such as this one might help airlines sell more electronic tickets, which in turn might trim distribution expenses. The deal is expected to close by late next month or early August.
IBM hosting a virtual employee meeting
In what could be the next big thing in company conventions, I.B.M. last week asked all 320,000 members of its workforce to take part in an online-only brainstorming conference. About 52,600 Big Blue staffers participated in the four-day virtual meeting, which was called WorldJam. WorldJam could be a new model for corporate meetings, particularly for companies as large and far-flung as I.B.M., which has offices in 165 countries. I.B.M. employees "attended" via I.B.M.’s corporate intranet, where they visited live chat rooms and message boards and voted on other employees’ ideas. Topics included retaining employees and working efficiently. According to the company, the brainstorming resulted in 6,000 proposals and comments. Yet as of Friday, just 149 staffers had said they’d deploy ideas from WorldJam. Observers note that the WorldJam event was unusual in that it gathered employees of all ranks. The company spent nine months developing the initiative.
TV sites’ e-commerce partner goes under
A number of major networks and cable channels suddenly have no one to run their stores: WHN.com has gone out of business. WHN, which stands for What’s Hot Now, operated internet storefronts for ABC, Fox, MTV, Comedy Central, NBC and TV Guide. All of them have had to put their e-commerce operations on hold for the time being. NBC says it will try to fill existing orders but will not take any new ones until it has a new e-commerce partner, and Comedy Central is in the same position. Comedy Central officials say that they learned of WHN.com’s impending doom last week. WHN.com, which was created by Oscar-winning producer and ex-Savoy Pictures CEO Rob Fried, was one of the older dot.coms out there. It launched its first web site almost five years ago.
Airlines' travel site Orbitz officially opens for biz
After months of both fanfare and scrutiny, the travel site owned by the five major airlines officially has launched. Orbitz , which could threaten existing travel sites like Travelocity and Expedia, opened for business on Monday. It has been online in beta form for three months, during which it received 175,000 visitors, who spent $4 million there. Orbitz claims that it will offer lower ticket prices than other travel sites. This has fueled accusations that the site violates antitrust regulations. Federal regulators analyzed Orbitz’s business plan for possible antitrust violations, and the Department of Transportation says it will keep an eye on the site. In addition to plane tickets, the site offers car rentals and hotel reservations, much like its rivals. Orbitz officials claim that the web site helps, not hinders, competition by giving consumers another choice.
Feel like confessing? Not online, you don't
Churches large and small are online these days, and the Roman Catholic Church is no exception—but there are limits to the services that Catholic web sites will be allowed to offer. The Vatican has drawn the line at letting web surfers be forgiven for their sins over the web or by email. Archbishop John Foley, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication, told Italian reporters that the church will not sanction internet confessions. The ban will be discussed further in a document the council plans to issue. Surveys suggest that about two-thirds of web users likely will go online for some religious reason or other within the decade. As such, the Vatican, according to Foley, recognizes the net’s potential for evangelization and pastoral services, but mandates that confessions must occur only during in-person meetings.
The name's Robb, as in robbery
The owner of two online gambling web sites has been indicted for allegedly bilking investors of more than $4 million, a majority of which he has since lost gambling in Las Vegas. A 23-year-old with the all-but-perfect name of Robert Robb, the indicted man is accused of luring investors by forging signatures to make it look like top Vegas casinos were interested in his technology. He was also known to claim falsely that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had agreed to buy his gaming patents for $50 million in cash and that magician David Copperfield was one of his backers. Robb faces up to five years in jail and fines of up to $250,000 if found guilty of the 11 counts of fraud and other charges.
June 5, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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