Autorize.net down, slows e-commerce

A fire in Seattle's Fisher Plaza appears to have taken down Authorize.net, a service used by online businesses to process credit card and electronic cheque payments, reports VentureBeat.

That's a big problem for any vendor using Authorize.net, since this basically means they can't accept payments through their Web site until the service is up again.

This affects both one-time and recurring payments.

The furniture retailer has decided to take advantage of the growth of online shopping, states Computing.co.uk.

Planning for the revamped Web site started in January, in partnership with e-commerce specialist eCommera, with BT Fresca supporting the online store's infrastructure.

“Right now, you cannot buy products from our Web site, which is not a good thing as our clients' expectations on service are quite high. We need to provide an online operation that matches the high quality that we provide in the real world,” said Jacques Dekock, chief information officer at Habitat.

US anti-trust regulators are to investigate a $125-million-deal Google has made with book publishers to settle copyright issues, reports say, according to BBC News.

The settlement compensates copyright holders and gives Google a share of online book sales and advertisements.

The deal "warrants further inquiry", US deputy assistant attorney general William Cavanaugh said in a letter filed to the New York District Court.