E-Commerce Minute

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E-Commerce Minute: Friday -- June 5, 2009

The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Today's Headlines:
The Front Line of the E-Commerce Tax Battle, Part 1
Bartz to Investors on Microsoft: Forget About It
Sears Settles Charges It Duped Customers Into Downloading Spyware
New Site Keeps Tabs on Shifty TOS Changes
Google Lobbyist Unfit for Deputy CTO Job, Say Critics
Telcos Score Victory in Legal Wrangling Over Warrantless Wiretaps

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Podcast
Mobile Development and Multiplicity Madness (34:30 minutes)
iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian, WinMo, Android -- the world is awash in
smartphone platforms, and this fragmented landscape is a pain for
developers, who have to build an app four or five times in order to
reach all users, as well as enterprises, which have to pay for the work.
However, if the mobile browser world were to rally around WebKit, could
it be the answer to simplified mobile development?
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2009-06-01.mp3

Today's Story Highlights

The Front Line of the E-Commerce Tax Battle, Part 1
On the front line of the e-commerce tax are online travel companies such
as Expedia, Hotels.com, Priceline, Travelocity and Orbitz. The issue is
whether the OTCs should be collecting hotel room occupancy taxes on the
difference in the price between what the OTC pays the hotel operator and
the amount that customer pays to the OTC.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/67255.html

Bartz to Investors on Microsoft: Forget About It
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has a message for investors hoping for a quick fix
at the slumping Internet company or for an online search partnership
with Microsoft -- don't expect either to happen any time soon. The no-
nonsense executive hired by Yahoo five months ago got her latest points
across Wednesday during an appearance at an investor conference in New
York.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/67260.html

Sears Settles Charges It Duped Customers Into Downloading Spyware
The Federal Trade Commission announced a preliminary settlement Thursday
with retailer Sears Holdings over allegations the merchant failed to
disclose how much personal information it was collecting from a group of
consumers. The finding, which resolves a complaint against Sears
Holdings Management, isn't an admission that the retailer broke any
laws.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/67259.html

New Site Keeps Tabs on Shifty TOS Changes
A new Web site unveiled Thursday will track policies imposed by popular
Internet sites such as Facebook and Google, hoping to help users spot
potentially harmful changes. TOSBack.org, the brainchild of privacy
advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, will track terms of
service modifications within hours of an update.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/67257.html

Google Lobbyist Unfit for Deputy CTO Job, Say Critics
Two nonprofit groups are protesting the Obama administration's pending
appointment of Andrew McLaughlin to the post of U.S. deputy chief
technology officer. McLaughlin's background as director of Google's
global public policy constitutes a major conflict of interest with the
government role he would be assuming, the groups contend.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/67251.html

Telcos Score Victory in Legal Wrangling Over Warrantless Wiretaps
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on Wednesday dismissed dozens of
lawsuits against telecommunication companies that cooperated with the
Bush administration's so-called warrantless wiretapping activities
several years ago. The once-secret program allowed government agents to
listen in on U.S. citizens' telephone conversations without having to
get a warrant as required by law.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/67248.html

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About the E-Commerce Times
The E-Commerce Times is a free online publication that provides
daily news, special reports and success stories in addition to an
e-commerce products and services guide. The publication's tagline
is "E-Business Means Business," and its content includes
information on a wide variety of e-business topics, such as data
storage, network security, databases, B2B and B2C e-commerce, the IT
job market and the maneuvers of high-tech businesses.

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