Dot Com News from Week of July 30, 2001

• 8/3/01 - Philips Electronics said it will cut 320 jobs at one of its biggest plants in Brazil, amid a government-imposed energy-rationing program.
• 8/3/01 - Network-server memory maker Dataram has cut about 96 jobs, or 25 percent of its staff, in a restructuring expected to reduce operating expenses by about $4 million a year.
• 8/3/01 - Vibe/Spin Ventures citing rough economic conditions faced by other online publishers, has cut the staff of its two web sites Vibe.com and Spin.com to only two people to operate both sites. In addition, both sites have ceased producing original web content.
• 8/3/01 - Online music site CDNow says it has shuttered its CDNow Japan Web site, but its Japan office will continue to operate through the end of August. A company spokesperson said that CDNow decided to close the office and Web site for budget reasons.
• 8/3/01 - Dial Corp. -- best known for soap products, Armour meats and Purex laundry detergents -- said that its board has determined that a sale of the company is in its best interests.
InterTrust Technologies, a digital rights management software maker, this week announced plans to lay off 12 percent of its work force in an effort to reduce costs.
• 8/3/01 - Community site TheGlobe.com will close its sites TheGlobe.com and web hosting provider WebJump.com while cutting 60 of its 121 employees. The company is currently seeking business partners or the potential sale of its assets. The company reportedly failed to develop a successful business model.
• 8/3/01 - Chief Executive of Sears, Roebuck & Co. Alan Lacy ordered that jobs be cut as the company's corporate overhead has risen much faster than revenue and profit has. It is not known how many jobs will be eliminated as yet.
• 8/2/01 - Quotesmith.com, the online insurance broker that provides instant auto, life, health, dental and disability insurance quotes from more than 300 companies, announced that it has reduced its full-time staff by 25 employees, or approximately 23 percent, as a result of its recent decision to shift certain back office functions related to the handling of insurance applications to third party administrative firms.
• 8/2/01 - Following the recent opening of its newest call center in Tampa, Cheap Tickets, Inc. announced it will close its travel store network in Hawaii, California, and Washington to shift resources to its growing and profitable call center and Internet channels. The stores employ about 50 people in total.
• 8/2/01 - Copper Mountain Networks, a provider of DSL equipment, reported a second-quarter loss and said it plans to cut 40 percent of its staff to conserve cash.
• 8/2/01 - Metricom, Inc., a high-speed wireless data services company, announced plans to shut down its Ricochet wireless data network operations in all of its markets. The Company also announced an immediate staff reduction of 282 employees.
• 8/2/01 - High-speed Internet access company Rhythms NetConnections said that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest casualty in the telecommunications slump.
• 8/1/01 - CoolSavings.com Inc., known by ads featuring a sunglass-wearing piggy bank, said on it cut 47 employees, or 26 percent of its staff, a day after it received $15 million in financing and several of its top executives resigned. With the layoffs and the additional financing, CoolSavings said it expects to hit break-even by the end of 2001, as it previously had stated. The company now employs 138.
• 8/1/01 - NetZero, which built its name by providing no-charge Internet access, said that it had cut 26 percent of its work force and put additional limitations on its free services. The company also announced that it had sold its RocketCash unit, which had provided online payment services, to an unidentified buyer for an unidentified price. NetZero said it had laid off 66 employees in six of its U.S. locations and that 27 workers had moved with the RocketCash unit to its new owner. Those two moves combined to take the company's total work force from 363 to 270/
• 8/1/01 - Global Crossing posted a wider second-quarter loss, slashed its revenue-growth outlook for the year and said it would cut 2,000 jobs, or about 15 percent of its work force. Hamilton, Bermuda-based Global Crossing, which also plans to close some facilities, said it suffered from slower sales to telecommunications carriers and companies in the weak economy, and business failures among some customers.
• 8/1/01 - Avid Technology Inc., a producer of digital editing equipment, said it would cut about 8 percent of its work force and take a third-quarter restructuring charge of $8 million in a cost-cutting move to save $11 million a year. It said the savings will be achieved through consolidation of some operations and the reduction of approximately 140 jobs.
• 8/1/01 - Internet Commerce & Communications (ICC), a Web design and ISP (Internet service provider) headed by former Qwest executive Douglas Hanson, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to restructure the company's ailing business.
• 8/1/01 - ADC Telecommunications said it would cut an additional 2,500 jobs, close some facilities and sell certain assets, and forecast it would miss its third-quarter revenue targets due to the slowdown in demand for telecommunications equipment.
• 8/1/01 - Air Canada is eliminating 4,000 more jobs as part of "an aggressive action plan to further cut costs" as a result of the economic downturn and changing market conditions. The airline said Wednesday it will reduce its work force through layoffs, which come in addition to its previously announced intention to trim 3,500 employees this year through voluntary buyouts. Air Canada employed about 41,500 people at the end of 2000.
• 8/1/01 - Telecommunications upstart WinStar Communications Inc. said it hired the Blackstone Group as an adviser to assist with its possible sale, and set plans to cut an additional 950 jobs in a move to accelerate its exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. WinStar, which filed for bankruptcy in April, also said it would focus its sales efforts on small- and medium-size customers. It also will support its existing national corporate and government clients. WinStar said it will cut the 950 jobs through layoffs and sales of non-core units. In April, WinStar cut 2,000 jobs, or 43 percent of its workforce.
• 8/1/01 - Lightning Rod Software, a maker of customer-service software for e-commerce companies, said that it does not have the resources to continue operations, because Intel's Dialogic will not exercise an option to acquire a software license from the company. All remaining employees will be let go as of Aug. 31.
• 7/31/01 - Be Incorporated announced the elimination of 28 positions. In addition to the elimination of the sales and marketing departments, positions in administration and engineering were also affected. The eliminated positions represent approximately 33% of the company's existing workforce.
• 7/31/01 - Network Engines said that it will cut its work force by approximately 40 percent and take a $7 million restructuring charge in the fourth quarter. It was the company's second announced round of layoffs this year. Last April, the provider of Internet server appliances cut its work force by 30 percent to streamline operations. As a result, it will de-emphasize much of its customized software and hardware development by reducing its work force from about 160 to 95.
• 7/31/01 - Software developer Netcentives this week will cut nearly half its staff in an attempt to turn around its foundering online marketing business. Netcentives said it would cut 165 positions at its San Francisco headquarters, at its offices in New York and Phoenix and at field offices throughout the country. The across-the-board cuts will bring the head count down to 180 from 345. This week's layoffs follow 120 layoffs in April.
• 7/31/01 - Sun Microsystems Inc. may lay off an unspecified number of employees as the computer maker reduces its headcount by about 300 workers this year.
• 7/30/01 - HearMe, a maker of voice recognition systems, on said it will close operations and sell assets because the ongoing economic slowdown has hurt its revenue outlook.
• 7/30/01 - Garden Way, which makes Troy-Bilt and Bolens lawn equipment, announced that it will shut down operations and lay off 550 employees starting in 60 days. The company said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, along with parent GWI Holding Inc., and plans to sell assets to MTD Consumer Group of Ohio, subject to bankruptcy court approval.
• 7/30/01 - BlueLight.com plans to discontinue offering free Internet service to consumers, a move that comes as the company is being folded into parent Kmart.
• 7/30/01 - Novo Networks is planning to reorganize and modify its focus on operations while its units file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. More specifically its units Novo Networks Operating Corp., AxisTel Communications Inc. and e.Volve Technology Group Inc. would file for Chapter 11 sometime during the next three weeks.
• 7/30/01 - Net2Phone has reduced approximately 5% of its 745 strong workforce. The company claims this is due to redundancies in its marketing operations and other areas.
• 7/30/01 - Intira, a company that assists ins deploying online commerce sites has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company has done business under the names Digital Broadcast Network Corp. and DBN Corp.