E-Commerce

Citing First Amendment protections, a U.S. District Court judge in Seattle has ruled in favor of Amazon.com in its battle with North Carolina over potentially sensitive customer data the state claims it needs to calculate taxes. Judge Marsha J. Pechman ruled Monday that Amazon is not obligated to pr...

The personnel shakeup taking place at Digg offers an example of how difficult it can be for a social media site to make the transition from a popular online destination to a profitable business enterprise. In addition to losing its top sales and finance executives, Digg is reducing its total workfor...

Out there on the branding battlefields, it's simply do or die, as a brand image is either hypervisible or mortally lost in oblivion. Commanding success for any idea on the global scene demands universal e-commerce access that is only deliverable by a cybername identity, as it's the only key to o...

Despite advances in technology, online fraud and payment security continue to be significant issues and cost drivers for e-commerce merchants. Web applications are the leading source of data breaches and account for the majority of compromised data records. The majority of these records contain pa...

On October 14, 2010, the Federal Court of Canada handed down its much-anticipated decision regarding Amazon's patent application for an invention entitled "Method and System for Placing a Purchase Order Via a Communication Network," or what has more colloquially been referred to as the "Amazon 1-Cli...

In the holiday selling season, the most frantic and exciting time of the year, it's a good time to put aside your marketing plan and your email strategy and just blast out mailings to everyone you've ever had on any list you've ever put together. Right? Wrong. What we just described is a mistake tha...

Google is actively negotiating with the big-three television networks and Hulu to unblock access to their programming to users of its new Google TV service. News Corp.'s Fox has not blocked programming but is considering the move. There have been reports that CBS content can be viewed, noted ITIC pr...

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has weighed in publicly in the dispute between the Fox broadcasting empire and cable provider Cablevision over payments for broadcasting Fox programming. The scuffle could wind up giving the agency greater power to regulate such standoffs. Genachowski's agency release...

Starbucks and Yahoo announced Wednesday the launch of Starbucks Digital Network. The network goes live immediately in Starbucks' 6,800 U.S. company-operated stores, presenting a collection of hand-picked news, entertainment, lifestyle and local content developed for laptops, tablets and smartphones....

Over the last few months, several news articles have reported on the collection and use of information gathered from consumers as they visit certain websites, often without their knowledge and consent. These reports have attracted the attention of Congress and may result in legislation governing the...

AOL is considering a play to take over Yahoo, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The deal is being discussed among AOL and a number of private equity firms, including the Blackstone Group, unnamed sources told the paper. Yahoo shares soared this week on the rumored possibilities; they...

The new Internet is full of extraordinary companies that looked at the market from a different angle and created entirely new approaches to the changing Web. Zynga, Amazon, Netflix, Facebook and 1-800-Flowers.com have all seen and seized the massive opportunity of a new Internet driven by social net...

A week after Logitech rolled out the first standalone box running Google TV, Sony has revealed four new HDTVs and a Blu-ray player powered by the system. The TVs range from 24 to 46 inches and include a RF-based QWERTY keypad remote with a mouse built in, as does the Blu-ray player, a $400 device. T...

Microsoft unveiled a series of Windows Phone 7 handsets on Monday that will offer a range of features and services, including a version of the AT&T's U-verse, that are designed to help Microsoft make up the ground it has lost in the mobile space in recent years. Microsoft and AT&T also annou...

Hulu is expected to file a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its initial public offering by the end of the year. It reportedly believes it can raise S$200-$300 million. The final decision to move forward is expected to be made in November. If it does happen, the IPO is likel...