Posted 11/04/09 at 12:45:15 PM by Paul Lilly

It seems like everywhere Intel turns it's being sued over alleged antitrust violations. The latest lawsuit comes from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who claims Intel threatened computer makers and made a series of illegal payments to coerce them into using its chips. In other words, the same accusations AMD has been harping about for a good many years now.

"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," Cuomo said in a statement. "Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitor, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices."

Intel has faced similar lawsuits earlier in the year, and in May, the European Commission hammered Intel with a record $1.45 billion fine for antitrust violations. Intel is currently appealing the ruling.

The latest lawsuit is significant because it's the first formal antitrust action against Intel by any government agency in the U.S. in more than a decade, the New York Times reports. Intel has been under investigation by the FTC since 2008, but that hasn't led to any formal proceedings.

"These are separate investigations, but it would be very surprising for New York Sate to go off on its own without being fairly confident the FTC would pursue Intel as well," a person familiar with the state's investigation told NYT.

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Posted 09/17/09 at 08:09:56 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Entertainment Weekly has debuted video ads in its latest print edition. It is the first print publication in the world to do so. The magazine features a very thin TFT LCD screen, which can be charged via a USB cable, to display video ads for Pepsi Max and CBS shows. The technology has been developed by a company called Americhip.

It uses chip technology to store up to 40 minutes of video content. The video ads begin playing when the page is turned. The chip technology that turns readers into viewers in the blink of an eye is said to be comparable to that found in singing cards. Entertainment Weekly has limited the circulation of this special version of its current issue to Los Angeles and New York only.

Rajesh Mirchandani, BBC News' Los Angeles correspondent, criticized the embedded video screen for being too bulky. "And when you do open up the relevant page, the actual advert takes several seconds to load and play and that's a lifetime's lag in the advertiser's world," he said.

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Posted 01/14/09 at 11:07:43 AM by Paul Lilly

In what some might view as a dark day in e-commerce, a New York Supreme Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Amazon.com and Overstock.com over a new law that requires online retailers to collect sales tax. Despite not having a physical presence in the state, the cleverly conceived law taxes any online retailer who has an affiliate marketing program in New York.

At stake is an estimated $73 million for New York this fiscal year. But lawyers representing Amazon and Overstock contend that the law violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and were seeking an permanent injunction prohibiting New York from enforcing the law. Judge Bransten didn't see it the same way.

"The neutral statute simply obligates out-of-state sellers to shoulder their fair share of the tax collection burden when using New Yorkers to earn profit from other New Yorkers," the judge wrote.

Amazon and Overstock are expected to appeal the ruling with the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, and failing that, it would then go the New York State Court of Appeals. And yes, being a constitutional issue, this could also end up being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Posted 08/27/08 at 09:32:10 AM by Chris Moody

Nothing is worse than when the government decides to levy another tax someplace. Newegg customers of New York were irked on June 1, 2008 when they found out that Newegg was being required to collect sales tax to orders sent to New York, even though Newegg doesn’t have a store there.

However, Newegg has backed away from that stance, sending out an email from Newegg Company Spokesperson and Vice President of Merchandising, Bernard Luthi, saying that it reversed it’s decision based on feedback from it’s customers.

“This decision was driven by your direct and candid feedback and our continued commitment to you as our valued customers.” He went on to thank customers for their patience as they worked things out.

Of course, New York residents are still responsible for paying their sales tax.

Newegg should be applauded for taking a stand. Collecting taxes for different states, counties, and localities would be a terrible mess for any online retailer to wade through. It would only serve to drive up prices for consumers and stifle internet commerce.

How do you feel about taxes on items purchased over the web?

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Posted 08/07/08 at 12:21:51 PM by Paul Lilly

Brett Favre going to the Jets has given New Yorkers plenty to chatter about, and according to AOL's fourth annual email survey, many of them might be doing it through email. Either that or they're working really, really hard. The survey shows that 62 percent of people check their work email accounts on weekends, and of all the respondents who took the survey, 55 percent of New Yorkers said they are addicted to email communication. By comparison, the national average sits at 46 percent.

"As technology continues to advance, we begin to rely upon it more and more," email productivity expert Marsha Egan said in a statement. "The constant connectivity offered by email and PDA products has people logging on so frequently that they don't have time to do anything else."

Lest anyone dispute that the internet is serious business and email addiction is a real problem, New Yorkers are being offered help to cut the digital chain. Egan, CEO of EganEmailSolutions.com and author of the eBook 12 Steps to Curing Your E-Mail E-ddiction (clever!) has offered to let New Yorkers and residents from other high addiction rate cities join her 12-step program this month for half off.

Are you an email addict?

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Posted 06/20/08 at 03:14:55 PM by Pulkit Chandna

The days of tax-free purchases for online shoppers are numbered, feel many experts. A new law in New York has made sales tax mandatory on internet purchases. This has widened the grin on the faces of offline store managers in the state, who expect some internet shoppers to turn their attention and wallets towards them. New York might have just shown the way to other states that are deliberating upon ways to tax online purchases.

Read on to see why this is happening, and whether you'll be affected. 

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