Microsoft vet Ken Moss lands at eBay, plans to grow Seattle office

Ken Moss

Ken Moss, who spent 20 years at Microsoft before going on to co-found the Seattle startup CrowdEye, has landed a new job as vice president of managed marketplaces technology at eBay. In the new role, Moss will report directly to eBay CTO Mark Carges. Moss will be based in the Seattle area, overseeing what he… Read More…

Holiday e-commerce sales are already off to a very fast start

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Americans appear to be a giving mood this holiday season — at least when it comes to buying items on online retail sites. comScore announced today that it expects e-commerce spending to grow by 15 percent this year, part of a “significant channel shift” from bricks-and-mortar retail to online retail. In fact, comScore’s report indicates… Read More…

Amazon says it supports federal bill for online sales tax collection

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Amazon.com has been striking deals with states over the collection of sales tax, but the Seattle online retailer’s bigger goal is federal legislation that addresses the issue. Today, the company came out in support of a bill proposed by U.S. Senators Mike Enzi, Dick Durbin, and Lamar Alexander to create a constitutional framework for collecting sales tax online…. Read More…

eBay to compete with Amazon fulfillment with new shipping service

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Amazon.com has long battled with eBay, but now the competition is getting even more serious. The Wall Street Journal reports that the online auction marketplace plans to begin a new “merchandise storage-and-shipping service for its sellers” that would compete directly with Amazon’s highly successful fulfillment service. eBay’s offering sounds as if it will be very similar… Read More…

Skype + Microsoft? Why a deal could make sense … for Skype

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Microsoft’s name emerged this weekend as a potential suitor of Skype, following a report last week that Facebook and Google were talking with the iconic Internet communications company about a partnership or acquisition. Om Malik today quotes anonymous sources saying that “Microsoft has entered the mix and is interested in either partnering with, acquiring or… Read More…

Court grapples with ‘cast of thousands’ in Paul Allen suit vs. Google, Apple and others

Paul Allen

With more than a dozen lawyers looking on — representing Google, Apple, eBay, Yahoo, Facebook and other Internet titans — a federal judge in Seattle heard arguments yesterday in the lawsuit brought on behalf of Paul Allen’s former Interval Research lab. But the question on the docket wasn’t whether the Internet giants violated the defunct… Read More…

Seattle geek wins eBay ‘speed hack’ contest at SXSW

Evan Jacobs

Seattle software developer Evan Jacobs wasn’t really looking to spend his Sunday afternoon building a new app on the back of eBay’s platform. But when he stumbled upon the eBay Hangover Party and Speed Hack competition at SXSW, the 38-year-old former Amazon.com developer thought he’d give it a shot. He had just two hours to… Read More…