E-commerce

A 17-year-old from Michigan has filed a lawsuit against e-commerce powerhouse Amazon after it deleted a book he had purchased for his Kindle device.

The high school student, Justin D. Gawronski, filed suit in a Seattle court along with California resident Antoine J. Bruguier, and they are seeking class action status.

Amazon forcibly (and ironically) recalled copies of George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm" earlier this month after it was revealed that they were unauthorized. Justin Gawronski's complaint alleges that he was reading "1984" as summer reading for an advanced-placement class and … Read more

PASADENA, Calif.--InterActiveCorp CEO Barry Diller says he ended up with a huge Internet conglomerate, but said that was never really his goal.

"I don't really believe in synergies," Diller said Friday, speaking at Fortune's Brainstorm: Tech conference here.

In the past few years, IAC has already spun off Home Shopping Network, Expedia, LendingTree, and Ticketmaster. He'd eventually like to see the Ask.com search and Citysearch local businesses stand alone as well.

"They are in formation, he said. "They are not sufficiently landed. I'm hopeful that they will be."

Fortune … Read more

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos issued an apology Thursday to customers over last week's surprise deletion of a number of books that Kindle owners had purchased and downloaded to their devices:

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our "solution" to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we've received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that … Read more

Google should promise to protect the privacy of consumers with its Book Search service, the ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Samuelson Law Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley Law said in a letter to the search giant on Thursday.

"Under its current design, Google Book Search keeps track of what books readers search for and browse, what books they read, and even what they 'write' down in the margins," the groups wrote in a letter (PDF) to Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt.

"Given the long and troubling history of government and third-party efforts to compel … Read more

PASADENA, Calif.--PayPal is just over a third of eBay's revenue at the moment, but the online payment service will ultimately be bigger than the company's flagship e-commerce site, its chief executive said Thursday.

"PayPal is a business that will be bigger than eBay," CEO John Donahoe said in a talk at the Fortune Brainstorm: Tech conference here. However, he said that shift will take four to six years.

Donahoe's comments came just as the company announced that it is opening up its PayPal platform to third-party developers. "There is this opportunity for an … Read more

Whoa. This was unexpected: Amazon has agreed to a stock takeover of Zappos.com, a Las Vegas-based online retailer that has become famous for its unusual corporate culture.

While Zappos started out selling only shoes, it has since expanded to other products.

"This morning, our board approved and we signed what's known as a 'definitive agreement,' in which all of the existing shareholders and investors of Zappos (there are over 100) will be exchanging their Zappos stock for Amazon stock," a memo posted to Zappos by CEO Tony Hsieh read. "Once the exchange is done, Amazon … Read more

Riding the success of the iPhone, AT&T, apart from trying to keep the phone exclusive, seems to be learning from Apple in another way--its retail stores.

The company announced Monday that it has done a major makeover to more than 2,200 retail locations across the country. The aim is to provide consumers and small-business customers with a better hands-on experience when shopping for devices and service plans.

According to the telecom giant, the overhaul brings a refreshed, more intuitive organization of products and services. For example, all wireless devices now show up on new power-enabled displays, making … Read more

Much is being made this Friday over Amazon's move to essentially forcibly recall two e-books that some customers had purchased.

According to multiple reports, Amazon removed the books from users' accounts after the publisher decided to pull its e-book. (My favorite headline, by the way, was Seattlest's "Amazon's Kindle: Now with new take-backsies feature".)

The publisher is certainly within its rights to stop selling the e-book and certainly Amazon needs to honor those wishes. But its hard to understand by what rights the retailer can remove the book from those who have already purchased one … Read more

If you want to quickly buy a phone, or just check out what AT&T and Verizon Wireless have to offer, it just got a little more convenient.

Amazon announced Thursday its beta launch of AmazonWireless, a new Web site that offers cell phones and service plans from, for now, AT&T and Verizon Wireless. The online store features Amazon-style shopping, without the rebate hassles that cell phone carriers are notorious for, and free two-day shipping on a large selection of phones.

During this beta-testing phase, Amazon plans to expand the selection of phones and services as well … Read more