E-Commerce News: Business

What to Do While Waiting for Bilski
November 24, 2009

Interested parties the world over anxiously wait as the U.S. top court prepares its ruling regarding the patentability of business methods. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in the matter of Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw v. David Kappos in an appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which upheld the United States Patent Office decision last year.

Microsoft May Grease News Corp.'s Palm to Quit Google
November 23, 2009

Call it the "New Moon" strategy at Microsoft. Team Google and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. are having a lovers' quarrel over search aggregation of news content; Murdoch claims Team Google is nothing but a bloodthirsty vampire draining potential ad revenue. So like a hunky werewolf in a certain blockbuster movie, here comes Team Bing to try and steal away News Corp. heart.

Google's Strange and Shiny New OS
November 20, 2009

Google just keeps invading new territories, and its latest target is your computer's operating system. It's officially released the open source code for its Chrome OS, an operating system that will turn up in third-party vendors' netbooks. Those devices should start selling next year. With Chrome, Google takes a very different approach than major OSes like Windows, Mac OS, or even most Linux distributions.

EU Gives Oracle Extension to Build Sun Deal Defense
November 20, 2009

European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle's planned US$7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems. The European Commission said Oracle had asked for more time "in order to have the opportunity to further develop its arguments in response to the Commission's concerns."

AOL Spinoff May Send Third of Workforce Reeling
November 19, 2009

From high-flying Internet pioneer to movie punchline: AOL's nadir may have come when Nicole Kidman's character in the 2004 remake of "The Stepford Wives" asks a group of husbands of robotic spouses where they work. "AOL," answers one man. "Is that why the women are so slow?" Kidman responds. The joke offers cold comfort to the AOL employees who found out Thursday that one-third of the workforce may be let go.

New Calif. Standard Nixes Energy-Guzzling Flat-Screen TVs
November 19, 2009

California regulators have adopted the nation's first energy-efficiency standards for televisions, a move that will eventually ban power-hungry sets from the state's store shelves. Wednesday's action by the California Energy Commission could lead the way in a general reform of standards for an industry increasingly focused on wide-view, flat-screen, high-definition sets.

Trashing IT Hardware the Responsible Way
November 19, 2009

Disposing of obsolete and broken electronic devices, or e-waste, is not as simple as taking out the trash. Heavy metals and other poisonous contaminants can leak into the environment if electronic equipment is not properly processed. Without foresight, discarded data is also at risk of unintended exposure.

Senate Committee Flogs Big-Name E-Tailers for Sneaky Sales Tactics
November 18, 2009

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee has released a report slamming the online business practices of three direct marketing companies -- Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty -- along with hundreds of online Web sites and retailers that participate in these practices. Many of the participating retailers are well-known brand names, such as Classmates.com, Hotwire and 1-800-Flowers.com.

Bill Aims to Plug P2P Leaks of Government Data
November 18, 2009

Congress moved Tuesday to prohibit federal employees from using the same type of Internet file-sharing software blamed for the disclosure. The Secure Federal File Sharing Act, introduced in the House, would bar government employees and contractors from downloading, installing or using so-called peer-to-peer file sharing software.

Apple's Retail Engine Keeps On Rolling
November 18, 2009

Apple's retail push shows no signs of slowing, and much of its momentum in the coming year will be directed to markets outside its domestic turf. The company plans to open 40 to 50 new retail stores in 2010, said Ron Johnson, its senior vice president of retail, at a recent store opening in New York. More than half of these will be outside the United States; some will be in London, Paris and Shanghai.

Verizon Weaves AT&T-Bashing Witticisms Into Legal Doc
November 17, 2009

Verizon has filed a response to the lawsuit AT&T brought against its snarky "We've Got a Map for That" advertising campaign. Unlike typical legal briefs, the carrier's filing is replete with witty rejoinders and sarcasm, echoing the ridiculing tone of the ads at the center of the dispute.

The Drums of Cyberwar
November 17, 2009

The world's increasing reliance on information technology, combined with the growing sophistication of cybercriminals and cyberattacks, is leading to a sort of cyber-cold war, according to a new report from computer security research firm McAfee. For example, Estonian government and commercial Web sites were hit by a series of denial of service attacks over a period of weeks back in 2007.

Time Warner to Show AOL the Door Dec. 9
November 17, 2009

Time Warner said Monday that it will spin off its Internet business, AOL, as a separate company on Dec. 9. On that date, Time Warner shareholders of record as of Nov. 27 will receive one share of AOL common stock for every 11 shares of Time Warner common stock they hold, the media company said.

IT Needs Its Darth Vaders
November 17, 2009

If there were a psychiatrist seated across the room from us, and we were to present to her our feelings about information technology as a force in our lives, her diagnosis would be simple and immediate: We have an obsession. Maybe having nothing to do with technology itself at all, we're obsessed with the notion of a nemesis with an unfair advantage influencing the decisions we make.

Would Palm Buy Scuttle Nokia's Symbian Strategy?
November 16, 2009

Palm had its hands full over the weekend. The company's Sunday launch of its new US$99 Pixi smartphone had to compete with fresh rumors begun Friday that the company was a possible target of a takeover by Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia. Those rumors sent Palm stock soaring by 8 percent on Friday, although Monday's trading was back within normal ranges.

Ruling Snuffs Psystar's Mac Dreams
November 16, 2009

Apple has won a summary judgment in its copyright infringement case against Psystar. The Miami-based startup turned heads last year with its offer of a $400 Mac clone -- that is, non-Apple hardware running the Mac OS X Leopard operating system. Several claims in the case remain to be briefed and tried if it doesn't settle first, but it likely will.