Network Commerce

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Established in 1994 by former Microsoft executive Dwayne Walker (first as TechWave and then as ShopNow), Network Commerce Inc. was a technology infrastructure and services company. Network Commerce provided a comprehensive technology and online business services platform that included domain registration, web hosting, e-commerce and online marketing services. Network Commerce was headquartered in Seattle Washington.

Network Commerce started out building e-commerce storefronts including BuySoftware.com and TryAndBuy.com, but several acquisitions, including those of Go Software and Ubarter.com, pushed the company toward payment processing software and B2B electronic commerce. Its consumer flagship website operated under the ShopNow.com domain, and the company umbrella also included the popular entertainment-based website Speedyclick.com. Network Commerce later morphed into a registry for domain names and an Internet hosting company. At its height, Network Commerce once employed more than 650 people and had a stock market value over a half a billion dollars[1]. Network Commerce sold shares to the public in September of 1999 at $15 per share, and shares traded as high as $23.44 on November 30, 1999.

In January 2001, amid declining revenues, Network Commerce laid off 145 people, shut down its ShopNow.com consumer offering and closed its United Kingdom sales office. Stock price soon began to slump. Shares at this time hovered around $1.50[2], and were soon delisted from NASDAQ.

In March of 2002, the company filed suit against Microsoft, accusing them of infringing a patent on a method for selling software, digital music and digital video over the Internet in their Windows Media Player[3].

On November 1, 2002, the company filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11. Shareholders entered into a class-action lawsuit against the company, alleging that they offered misleading offering materials and misrepresented its financial condition so they could attract additional funding. The suit was later dismissed[4].

Todd Terbeek, the former vice president of business development at Network Commerce, said the company was started with the goal of helping people conduct e-commerce. While he believes that was a noble goal, Terbeek acknowledged that the company may have sprinted too fast into new markets.

"It is always sad when something you had a role in starting ends like this," said Terbeek, one of the first 20 employees hired. "But most of all the company ended up being a victim of the times like a lot of other companies."