In This Issue: Despite The Dot-Com Crash, E-Commerce Keeps Booming: The Internet has had a wild ride since taking off in the 1990s and creating the infamous dot-com bubble. But the Internet itself more than survived. Indeed, it has continued to expand and transform the economy, especially in business-to-business commerce, retailing, and advertising. Electronic commerce in its many forms has quickly become a fixture in the 21st century, as American consumers and investors use the greater access to information and alternative suppliers to cut their costs of buying and selling.Movies & Music: Can American Entertainment Maintain Its Allure On The Internet?: In contrast to the TV business, the recording industry has arrived at a consumer-friendly, commercial technology for online distribution that protects its copyright. However, legal and illegal downloads continue to rapidly cannibalize CD sales. The movie business is at an earlier stage of development and must accommodate larger file sizes. Internet Sales Taxes: U.S. States May Finally Get Their Due: For consumers in search of fast, convenient service and discount prices without the hassles of crowds and parking lot traffic jams, the Internet has become a shopper's paradise. But some state and local governments facing rising operating costs and budget crunches feel the pain of missing tax dollars. Most shoppers aren't even aware that they're required to pay retail sales taxes for their electronic purchases, but technically they should when filing their income taxes. Online Brokers Better Positioned To Withstand Trading Price Pressures: Online brokers are better positioned to withstand competitive pressures on trading prices given adjustments to their business models. Standard & Poor's does not anticipate material ratings changes due to future competitive trading price pressures. In 2006, the pure trading price cuts by these brokers were less frequent and more geared toward equalizing trading prices among competitors. In addition to trading price cuts, firms in this space have competed on fee waivers, free service offers, and service discounts across the board. Assessing The Implications Of IPTV Delivery For Western European Telecommunications Operators: Western European telecommunications operators are under increasing pressure to expand their product offering through enhanced technology. In particular, telecoms incumbents need to address the competitive threat posed by the cable operators' triple-play services of telephony, broadband, and TV by branching out into TV over digital subscriber lines (IPTV). Development of this content delivery platform will require considerable network investment, however, with no certainty of customer uptake. Outlook Is Still Vibrant For U.S. Internet Retailing: Online sales is the fastest growing sector of the U.S. retail industry. E-commerce has been growing at a mid- 20% rate since 2001, outpacing the 7% rate for the overall retail industry. The Internet's success as a selling medium is largely due to selection, attractive prices, convenience, and good service. Equities Insight:Web 2.0 TV-A New Conundrum For Cable And Satellite Operators?: Arguably the most vexing question confronting cable and satellite TV operators today is whether the online proliferation of direct-to-consumer video outlets could ultimately marginalize those conventional multichannel video programming distributors. Just as cable networks have put the squeeze on broadcast networks over the past decade, so the "bypass" theory goes, the so-called Web 2.0 TV revolution is expected to put the squeeze on traditional video distributors. Equities Insight: The First Internet Superbowl: Not only did the Internet serve as a significant additional distribution channel for Super Bowl advertisements, but it also played a major role in the creation and selection of some of the commercials. They used the Internet to promote and explain contests and even receive the entries. As a result, commercials for Chevrolet, Doritos, and the NFL itself were conceptualized by amateurs. |
