An organization that offers its services exclusively on the Internet, either via the user's Web browser or a client program that must be installed in the user's computer. Amazon.com, Yahoo!, Google and eBay are examples of dot-com companies. Telecom companies that offer voice or video services over the Internet also fit into the dot-com company umbrella.
Doesn't All Software Access the Internet?
Today, almost all software accesses the Internet for some purpose, if only to look for updates that can be downloaded. However, that does not necessarily make the company a dot-com company. The software or service must be hosted on the company's computers and accessed by users over the Internet. See
dot-com.