E-Commerce News: Hot Topics

Large Tech Firms: Beware of Obama Administration's Antitrust Plans

Thursday - July 2, 2009

In a dramatic repudiation of Bush administration policies, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice withdrew its recent report setting standards for the prosecution of monopolization offenses. Announcing the change of policy, Christine A. Varney, the new assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division, stated that "the Antitrust Division will be aggressively pursuing cases where monopolists try to use their dominance in the marketplace to stifle competition and harm consumers." [More...]

Amazon Turns Gears of Internet Tax Wars

Wednesday - July 1, 2009

More companies are joining in the fight over Internet taxation begun by Amazon.com. Blue Nile and Overstock.com have joined the Web's largest retailer in dropping affiliate programs in North Carolina and Rhode Island, according to numerous press reports. Amazon also reportedly dropped its affiliate program in Hawaii. [More...]

New Site Lets Citizens Follow the Government's IT Money Trail

Wednesday - July 1, 2009

It may not seem like most people's idea of summer reading. Then again, it is the chance to engage in some detective work with billions of dollars and terabytes of sensitive government data at stake. Better yet, you don't have to spend any money to read this latest techno-thriller. [More...]

Green Dam Protesters Wait for China's Other Shoe to Drop

Wednesday - July 1, 2009

China reversed itself Tuesday, lifting the mandate to install Web-filtering software on all personal computers sold in the country. The government's announcement of the requirement, made without warning in June, was met with widespread opposition. It could be that the day of reckoning has simply been postponed. [More...]

Grumbling Over Transparency Intensifies as Jobs Returns to Apple

Tuesday - June 30, 2009

Apple has confirmed that CEO Steve Jobs has officially gone back to work, according to numerous media reports. Beyond saying that Jobs would be working both at his office and from home, and that the company was happy to have him back, Apple provided no details about its chief's future involvement with the company. [More...]

China Wobbles on Green Dam

Tuesday - June 30, 2009

The government of China says it will put off the July 1 deadline for mandatory installation of the controversial Green Dam Youth Escort Internet filtering software on new PCs, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. Originally, the country's government had said it would require vendors to include Green Dam with all computers sold in China. [More...]

When the Home Entertainment Systems Market Rebounds

Tuesday - June 30, 2009

Sales and revenues for the home systems channel will decline in 2009, just as they did in 2008. Many projects will be postponed or canceled this year. There will a decline in revenues of over 5 percent from 2008 to 2009. That's the bad news. However, integrators and manufacturers should not build their strategic plans based on "doom-and-gloom" headlines. [More...]

Outsourcing's No Longer In

Tuesday - June 30, 2009

Companies used to turn to outsourcing during tough financial times. The current global recession, however, has curtailed outsourcing as much as it has other parts of the economy. "Oddly enough, the global recession has hurt outsourcing significantly," said Chad Hahn, principal owner of Hahn Consulting. [More...]

The Iran Lesson: Technology Can Set You Free

Friday - June 26, 2009

After two weeks of news from Iran, it wasn't a tweet from Tehran that came to symbolize the horror in a potential revolution and the real-time, cinema verite nature of its storytelling. True, it was a moment brought to you by digital technology and the Internet, but it wasn't Twitter that made the leader of the free world search for the right words during this week's presidential press conference. [More...]

The Flawed Focus of Universal Broadband

Friday - June 26, 2009

This month, the Federal Communications Commission begins drafting a national broadband plan as part of the 2009 stimulus package. This is not the first government attempt at broadband ubiquity, so the FCC can learn from past failures. The commissioners have less than eight months to "ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability." [More...]

China Waves Big Stick - Will Google et al Cower?

Thursday - June 25, 2009

China's bid to clamp down on online porn has sparked a flurry of activity. PC makers are scrambling to install Green Dam Youth Escort, an Internet filtering software application, on every desktop and laptop sold in the country by the July 1 deadline issued by the nation's government. However, they're not taking things lying down. [More...]

See More Articles in Hot Topics Section >>