Dot Com News from Week of January 8, 2001

• 1/12/01 - GovWorks, an E-government services portal, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, calling itself a victim of the "growth-at-any-cost craze" that has killed off a slew of Internet companies.

• 1/12/01 - I-Link, a voice/data applications service provider, will cut its work force by about 30% to reduce operating expenses.

• 1/12/01 - As part of a new round of restructuring, EMusic.com will reduce its staff by more than a third or about 66 employees. Last June about 20 percent of the staff was cut. EMusic.com sells direct digital downloads of music.

• 1/11/01 - Uproar Inc., a leading interactive entertainment company, announced that it has discontinued operations of its online prediction game site ibetcha.com. Uproar has consolidated areas of the company that are not growing top line revenues in a manner consistent with its current business plans.

• 1/11/01 - CNN, a division of Time Warner, will let 500 to 1,000 people go as it reorganizes its Internet and TV operations.

• 1/11/01 - Audiohighway.com, which offers free audio and video content, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company blamed the "dramatic downturn in the financial markets and in particular, the market for Internet companies" for its inability to raise sufficient operating capital.

• 1/11/01 - Crosswalk.com, a Christian Web site, said it will cut 15 jobs as part of a plan to consolidate operations.

• 1/11/01 - LivePerson, which makes products that allow companies to use pop-up dialog boxes to chat real-time with customers, said it will cut 60 jobs, or about 35% of its work force, as part of a restructuring initiative to streamline its operations.

• 1/11/01 - LookSmart.com, an Internet Search Company, will cut 31% or 172 employees to lower costs.

• 1/10/01 - JAWZ Inc., a leading secure information management solutions provider, specializing in the field of full service information security, is conducting a cost reduction initiative. Areas that could not demonstrate a return on investment quickly were affected through the elimination of 37 positions.

• 1/10/01 - Snowball.com, the leading online network for Gen i(TM), said that it is implementing a broad-based cost-cutting program in order to accelerate its path to profitability. The program includes reductions in marketing expenses, overhead and costs of sales, as well as a workforce reduction of approximately 20 percent.

• 1/10/01 - Online publisher Sunhawk.com said that it has slashed two-thirds of its workforce and is considering the sale of its digital sheet music business.

• 1/10/01 - Send.com, an eShop retailer which offered wine and such fare as gourmet treats, golf and dining outings, cigars, flowers and fancy-car rentals, announced that it was shutting down immediately. A letter from the CEO and Founder of Send.com is posted on the front page of the Web site.

• 1/10/01 - Perot Systems Corp., a worldwide provider of information technology services and e-business solutions, will lay off 200 employees, or 3% of its staff, and combine six industry-marketing groups into four. It also will close down four U.S. software-development operations as part of a planned restructuring.

• 1/9/01 - IdeaForest, a leading arts and crafts e-commerce company, announced the layoff of 40 of its 66 employees, effective immediately. The remaining staff will continue with day-to-day operations of IdeaForest's e-commerce Web site, www.joann.com, launched in September 2000.

• 1/9/01 - RockCool.com, a leading Rock Music hub, will close its Web site on January 31, 2001. The company will continue its efforts to transact a merger or the sale of its assets over the next several weeks.

• 1/9/01 - Internet delivery service Kozmo.com said it will lay off about 120 employees, some 6 percent of its 2,000-strong staff, and has shut down operations in Houston and San Diego. The New York City based Kozmo delivers snacks, videos, music and books, as well as other products, to customers who order through its Web site.

• 1/9/01 - Online wine retailer Wine.com has laid off 75 people or almost a quarter of their work force as part of restructuring. Employee cuts were made across the organization as a result of Wine.com's merger with rival Wineshopper.com.

• 1/9/01 - Evoke Communications, Inc., a provider of virtual meeting and Web-conferencing services, said it will reduce its work force by about 112 jobs. The job cuts will affect about 35% of the company's work force.

• 1/9/01 - Loudeye Technologies, a digital media company which offers software and services for handling audio and video on the Internet, said it will trim about 50 positions, or 18% of its work force, as part of a cost-cutting plan.

• 1/8/01 - CountryCool.com, first Country Music portal on the Web offering audio-streamed interviews with Country Music as well as music clips, will close its Web site on January 31, 2001. The company will continue its efforts to transact a merger or the sale of its assets over the next several weeks.

• 1/8/01 - J. P. Morgan's private-banking site on the Web, morganonline.com, reported more than half the employees are losing their jobs as the company grapples with a merger and the difficulties of using the Internet to gain new customers. About 150 employees in sales, marketing and other "client acquisition" roles are being laid off.

• 1/8/01 - Due to slower-than-expected growth in online trades, Internet broker Ameritrade said that it plans to cut 230 full-time positions and 120 part-time positions.

• 1/8/01 - Anticipating an advertising slowdown this year, Standard Media International, a magazine that covers the technology industry, let go 36 workers from its payroll.