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Microsoft plans to expand its e-commerce efforts and will offer downloads of its media software through more than 200 retailers. The software maker recently announced details of a new relationship with e-commerce services provider Digital River. Under the arrangement Microsoft Plus Digital Media Edition package will be made available for download at scores of Web sites. The media software will be marketed in a handful of top U.S. retail chains, including BestBuy, CompUSA, OfficeMax and Staples. Plus Digital Media Edition is a set of tools meant to enhance photo, music and movie applications working with Microsoft's Windows XP operating system. Microsoft has been selling downloads of Plus Digital Media Edition from its Web site since last year through a partnership with License Technologies Group, an e-commerce management specialist. More than 100 people have been arrested in the largest global crackdown to date on identity theft, hacking and other Internet-based crimes, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recently reported. The arrests followed a three-month investigation into a range of crimes from reselling co-workers' Social Security numbers to disabling Web sites. "The common thread here is the Internet," he told a news conference. "We do not believe the Internet to be off base for law enforcement. We will be there with as much intensity and presence as we can muster." Officials from the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said the crackdown is designed to deter cybercriminals and reassure consumers and businesses that the Internet is safe. The crackdown, dubbed "Operation Web Snare," involved some 150,000 victims who lost more than $215 million. Nevertheless, officials acknowledged that the operation represents only a fraction of the crimes being committed on the Internet. Identity theft alone costs U.S. businesses more than $50 billion a year. Law enforcement officials in Romania, Nigeria and Cyprus helped track down people involved in fraudulent auctions, trafficking in stolen credit card numbers and other crimes. In all, authorities have opened more than 160 investigations and filed 117 criminal complaints, indictments and other court papers, according to the Justice Department. As a result of one investigation, for example, a grand jury indicted the chief executive of a Massachusetts communications company and five other people suspected of launching an Internet attack against competing companies. The indictment accuses the company of using computer hackers in the United States and Britain to disable the Web sites of three competitors. In another case, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles filed charges Aug. 20 against a man who they say stole almost $800,000 over the Internet by conducting more than 5,000 fraudulent sales through the online auction site eBay. The war over the burger-loving audience has gone digital, with Burger King and AOL Music becoming the latest big-brand partners to serve up free music downloads with beef patties, trying to appeal to young adults. The deal comes on the heels of a similar deal announced in June between market leader McDonald's and Sony's Sony Connect music service. From now through Oct. 3, Burger King restaurants across the country will give away one free music download with every purchase of an Original Whopper sandwich. Customers can enter a unique download code found on their Whopper wrappers at the www.haveityourway.com Web site to get free music downloads from AOL Music, which offers 700,000 songs through a deal with online music provider MusicNet. Neither Sony nor McDonald's have disclosed how many downloads have been sold through their promotion, which gave customers who bought a Big Mac Extra Value meal an access code for one free song download at the Sony Connect music store. Online music analysts said the promotions give the new services great exposure and also provide restaurant chains with an easy, fast way to reach younger audiences. The convergence of cell phones and other portable devices moved forward on news that Samsung launched a handset that contained a 1.5GB hard drive with a one-inch diameter. The company has claimed that the SPH-V5400, which was launched in Japan, is the first mobile phone to include a hard drive which will allow owners to store a wide range of different types of media on it, including digital music files and photos. It has an estimated retail price of $800. The device will be able to store over 350 MP3s recorded at 128 bits per second which means it may replace the iPod, if there were also music-playing software on the phone. In recent years, the technology industry has been debating whether cell phones or personal digital assistants would end up dominating the handheld computer sector. The battle appears to have swung in favor of the new range of smart phones that have been hitting the market, but manufacturers have been struggling to squeeze enough memory into the handsets. According to a recent Labor Department report, more than 9,000 new jobs were added to the U.S. economy in August in the field of computer systems design and related services. The positions were part of broader employment growth in that corner of the high-tech industry, which overall has weathered hundreds of thousands of jobs cuts in recent years. Since last August, 36,400 new payroll jobs have been added in the computer systems design industry, to a total of 1.13 million. There remains conflicting information about the job scene for technology professionals. Unemployment rates are declining for techies, but so are the numbers of people employed in tech occupations--suggesting that some workers may have left the field, possibly discouraged by grim forecasts or a lack of current jobs. Also in August, nearly 4,000 jobs were added in the management and technical consulting services field, to a total of 796,100, according to the Labor Department. And manufacturing jobs in the computer and electronic products field rose by 3,300 to 1.36 million. E-COMMERCE RELATED EVENTS AND INFORMATION The following are links to upcoming seminars and other events that our readers might have an interest in and/or other information related to e-commerce. The Philadelphia Business Journal cordially invites you to attend the 2004 BOOK OF LISTS BREAKFAST, an exclusive gathering for the top executives listed in the General Business Chapter. The program is proudly sponsored by Sovereign Bank. Event Details Davio's Restaurant Don't delay - limited seating is available! Go to http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/event/918 or call the Business Journal today at 215-238-1450 to join the area's leading professionals. PROCUREMENT AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES The following is a listing of recently published technology procurement or Federally funded opportunities with various governmental entities. We hope our readers take the opportunity to investigate these postings and increase their business: USAF USAF VA DOI USDA EPA source www.eps.gov NEWS & NOTES is a service of the
PA e-Commerce Association. Please forward this e-mail to anyone else who
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Remember to visit our website @ www.paecomm.org. or give us a call at
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