E-Commerce News: Law

Craigslist Bares Knuckles in Legal Spat With eBay

Wednesday - May 14, 2008

Online classifieds giant Craigslist countersued its minority owner, eBay, on Tuesday, alleging the online auctioneer is violating federal and state antitrust laws. The legal spat, which began last month, pits two of the Internet's most popular Web sites against one another. It lays bare eBay's long-standing desire for a majority stake in Craigslist and Craigslist's continued resistance to eBay's advances. Craigslist claims eBay attempted to quash competition by using privileges and information gleaned from its 28 percent stake in Craigslist to benefit its own classifieds site Kijiji. [More...]

British Agency Shifts Microsoft Antitrust Complaint to EC

Tuesday - May 13, 2008

A British government agency has complained to the European Commission about the lack of interoperability in some of Microsoft's applications, but regulators are reportedly not opening a new formal inquiry on the complaint. The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency filed the complaint with the UK's Office of Fair Trading last October, citing two issues. [More...]

Apple Settles iPod Class Action for $45 a Head

Monday - May 12, 2008

Apple has agreed to settle a pair of class action lawsuits in Canada alleging it misled customers about the staying power of their iPods, the latest courtroom truce over the dwindling battery life of early generations of the device. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is offering credits for its online store of about $44.75, according to a court document. [More...]

Texas Tax Man May Cometh for Amazon

Friday - May 9, 2008

The state of Texas may be the latest to take a bite out of Amazon's bottom line by assessing sales taxes on past purchases by state residents. Texas tax officials are reviewing the taxable status of Amazon purchases after an inquiry from the Dallas Morning News, which asked why the e-tailer appeared not to be collecting sales taxes from Lone Star State buyers. [More...]

House Democrats Dig Up Decades-Old Antitrust Law in New Net Neutrality Fight

Friday - May 9, 2008

The long-running debate over net neutrality took another turn Thursday when two lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it a violation of antitrust law for broadband providers to discriminate against different types of content in routing traffic on their networks. [More...]

'GTA' Sells, Yahoo Doesn't

Friday - May 9, 2008

Gas prices are setting record highs, homeowners are facing foreclosure, the dollar's slipping further down a black hole, and the credit industry is collapsing. These are frustrating times -- and perhaps that's partly why "Grand Theft Auto IV" just set some new records for video game sales. [More...]

Internet Archive Wins David-and-Goliath Privacy Tussle With FBI

Thursday - May 8, 2008

The Internet Archive revealed Wednesday that the FBI dropped an effort to secretly obtain information about the online activities of one of the digital library's users. The Archive revealed that it had been served a National Security Letter by the FBI last year about one of its patrons. [More...]

Defunct TorrentSpy Slammed With $110M Judgment in MPAA Suit

Thursday - May 8, 2008

A federal judge in Los Angeles has awarded the MPAA $110 million in compensation from Valence Media, operator of the now-defunct file-sharing Web site TorrentSpy. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered Valence Media to pay $30,000 for each copyright infringement of nearly 3,700 movies and television programs that were downloaded. The MPAA took TorrentSpy to court in February 2006. [More...]

Kids in Second Life: Does Danger Lurk?

Thursday - May 8, 2008

Second Life is no place for kids, a Republican congressman declared Monday. U.S. Representative Mark Kirk has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission requesting a consumer alert warning about the dangers of Second Life, which he charges could expose kids to child predators and registered sex offenders. [More...]

Amazon Tells NY Tax Man to Take a Hike

Monday - May 5, 2008

Amazon.com has filed suit against the state of New York claiming the state's Internet Sales Tax Collection law requiring online companies to pay state sales tax is unconstitutional and violates a 1992 Supreme Court finding. Amazon filed its suit on April 25, claiming that the newly enacted state law effectively makes any Web site operator posting a link to Amazon.com subject to New York tax laws. [More...]

Court Upholds Sprint Spectrum Eviction Deadline

Monday - May 5, 2008

A federal appeals court on Friday said regulators were reasonable in sticking to a June deadline that requires Sprint Nextel to vacate some wireless channels. The FCC is requiring Sprint, the nation's third-largest wireless carrier, to clear certain channels by June 26, a move designed to eliminate radio interference with thousands of public safety agencies across the country. [More...]

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