Online Drug Pharmacy Shuttered: U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan (Northern District, Oklahoma) shut down Rx Depot, a company based in the U.S. that allows consumers to purchase prescription medications from Canada at signifcantly reduced cost. See also the FDA Statement on Rx Depot Decision Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Commerce
Reaction Varies to Amazon’s New Search Feature
In Amazon’s Text-Search, a Field Day for Book Browsers: Feedback about Amazon’s recently launched Search Inside the Book feature includes kudos for the keyword search capability, predictions of increased book purchases, and opinions that the tool is a novelty and time waster. Continue Reading
Internet Tax Ban Vote Postponed
The Senate vote on a ban on taxes for Internet services (ISPs, music and entertainment) was postponed due to lack of agreement on the time frame for the extension (either five years, or permanently). States contend that lost revenues from a permanent ban will amount to more than $20 billion per year. Internet Tax Non-discrimination… Continue Reading
FTC Obtains TRO Against Company Using Pop-Up Ad Scam Scheme
The Federal Trade Commission issued a news release today on a temporary restraining order obtained from District Court, Northern District of Maryland against D Squared Solutions, a company that bombarded Windows Messenger service users with pop-up ads, whether or not consumers were on the web. Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief Temporary Restraining Order… Continue Reading
Amazon Tinkers With Search Inside The Book Service
Amazon’s Search Inside the Book database which allows consumers the chance to search the text of books and print pages (up to 100 in some cases) prior to purchase, ran into controversy with its launch October 23. Today Wired reported that the service will no longer permit users of the service to print pages that… Continue Reading
New on LLRX.com
New on LLRX.com this week: LLRX Named One of the 10 Best Sites of the Decade Researching Medical Literature on the Internet — 2003 Update To Portal or Not to Portal – That is the Question Competitive Intelligence (CI) Resources: Staying One Step Ahead in Your Research Presentations Without a Laptop FOIA Items of Interest… Continue Reading
Google’s IPO and Talks With Microsoft
Today’s New York Times reported that Google seems intent on pursuing an IPO in early 2004 (with an offering of 10-15% of the company’s stock), and that talks with Microsoft have not resulted in any form of agreement. Continue Reading
Google to Compete With Amazon on Searchable Book Database
With Amazon having significantly increased the stakes in the e-commerce arena with the recent introduction of their Search Inside the Book service, news that a formidable new adversary may be actively exploring entering the same market. An article from yesterday’s Publishers Weekly,The Amazoning of Google? Search Firm Looks for Book Content, indicates that “Google has… Continue Reading
Consumers of E-Publications More Web Savvy and Affluent
According to a new Nielsen//NetRatings study (link not available, and commissioned by Newsstand), “users of so-called e-editions of print publications are shown to be more affluent, better educated and heavier users of the Internet than the average online user.” [Link thanks to dc] See also this pbs.org interview by Terence Smith that “examines the growing… Continue Reading
Controversy Concerning Amazon’s Inside the Book Service
This link is to the text of an email sent by the Author’s Guild to its 8,000 plus members, voicing concerns about Amazon’s new Search Inside the Book database: The Guild questions whether proper permissions were received from the authors of the 120,000 books in Amazon’s database. In addition, the organization has deteremined that it… Continue Reading
More On the New Amazon Inside the Book Service
From the December 2003 issue of Wired Magazine, this article provides background and details about the development and implementation of Amazon’s new Search Inside the Book service comprised of more than 120,000 books that have been scanned into an electronic archive. “The archive is intentionally crippled. A search brings back not text, but pictures —… Continue Reading
Book Buyers May Now Search Text Prior to Purchasing
In a posting on September 10, I noted that Amazon was preparing a new service for mid-September release, called Look Inside the Book II. A press release today from Amazon announced that an expansion to the service has been launched, Search Inside the Book, that enables “customers to find books at Amazon.com based on every… Continue Reading
