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Mother’s Day spurred lots of e-commerce activity for the week ending May 4 as savvy shoppers headed for flower and gift sites. ComScore Networks reports that buying in that category rose 56 percent compared to the same week last year. Home and garden category spending was up even more, presumably because those larger items had to be delivered more than a week in advance of Sunday’s big day. Buying increased by 125 percent in home and garden through April 27. Apparently women make their purchases with more lead time. ComScore reports that 70 percent of those who bought flowers two weeks ahead of time last year were women. By Mother’s Day, 80 percent of the last-minute flower buyers were men. Men and women spent an average $35.70 at flower and gift sites for the week ending May 4 and averaged $50.30 at home and garden sites.
Record companies chuckle as virus targets Kazaa
The record companies, which have been experiementing with software to foil downloaders by interfering with their computers, got a taste of what that might be like recently. A new virus called the Fizzer worm has been spreading through file-trading site Kazaa as well as via email address books. Symantec’s Security Response upgraded the threat level for Fizzer Monday and McAfee added Fizzer to its watch list. The virus communicates to a remote attacker and includes a keystroke logger for all motions made on the keyboard. The worm is spreading through Kazaa by copying itself into user Kazaa file sharing folders, which then are swapped on the peer-to-peer networks. The Benjamin worm spread similarly last May. Last week reports surfaced about software being developed by the record industry to warn and/or disable computers that use such sites, which allegedly infringe on copyrights.
Comcast aims at TiVo with new DVR device
Take that, TiVo. Comcast cable company will introduce a new digital video recorder that runs through cable lines for a Philadelphia field trial sometime this year. Samsung and Ucentric Systems will help provide technology. The Comcast DVR will provide more cable symbiosis than the TiVo version, not requiring any extra connections and allowing families to network their televisions to each other. The system also will have the capabilities to store music from a computer to be played on a stereo or move digital photos to TV. Comcast hasn’t worked out a pricing plan yet, nor has the company announced a rollout date.
Gov't to herb sites: Stop claiming SARS cures
Nothing like an international health crisis to boost sales of those mysterious herbal supplements. The United States and Canada are cracking down on more than 40 companies that claim on their web sites that their products fight SARS. The claims are unsubstantiated, warns the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, as no products actually have been found to fight the virus. The government has threatened to get court orders to shut down sites selling air purifiers or herbal supplements that persist with such claims. Hundreds of people have died of SARS over the past few months, and no cure or treatment has been found to control the flu-like respiratory illness. But herbal supplement companies have claimed that by using their pills to boost immunity function, people could ward off SARS.
'Bumfights' producers plead guilty to charges
The producers of “Bumfights,” the internet equivalent of “Girls Gone Wild” with homeless people subbing for hot co-eds, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to promote illegal fighting. The three men, ranging in age from 19 to 24, face a year in jail. A fourth man pleaded guilty to the charges in March. The questionable movies featured homeless people fighting each other in exchange for food, alcohol, money and hotel rooms provided by the producers. The foursome sold 300,000 “Bumfights” videos over the internet at $19.95 apiece via the web site www.bumfights.com. Two “Bumfights” stars are suing the producers for $100,000.
May 13, 2003© 2003 Media Life
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