Amazon has acquired what's left of ailing dotcom Egghead.com. It is temporarily redirecting traffic to a site in its electronics section until it can relaunch Egghead properly.

Amazon will get Egghead's URL, intellectual property and business documentation, but not full use of its customer information, due to privacy policy restrictions. This means that it can't suddenly start spamming a new, un-Amazonised customer base. This is reflected on the interim site, which advises returning Egghead customers to re-enter all their valuable account information.

In mid-August, Egghead filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the time, Fry's Electronics said it would buy the site and its assets, but then changed its mind, deciding to pursue another troubled dotcom, Outpost.com, instead.

Once upon a time, Egghead was America's biggest software retailer. In 1998, it announced its intention to set up as a pure-play Internet retailer. Sadly, this strategy failed miserably, ultimately resulting in August's Chapter 11 announcement. ®

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