Australia intros e-commerce bill

The federal government has moved to bring Australia's e-commerce laws into the 21st century with the introduction of the Electronic Transactions Amendment Bill 2011 into the house of representatives, says Reseller News.

The bill, which amends the Electronic Transactions Act 1999, seeks to align Australia's electronic transactions legislation with technological change and, according to attorney-general, Robert McClelland, support and promote firms and business operating in the digital economy.

"The bill will provide increased legal certainty in trade by electronic means, and encourage further growth of electronic contracting both domestically and internationally," he says.

Visa has agreed to acquire privately held PlaySpan, whose platforms handle global transactions for digital goods in online games and other digital media, for $190 million plus potential milestone payments, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Visa says the deal, expected to close in the current quarter, complements last year's $2 billion acquisition of Cybersource, a provider of electronic-payment security services to online merchants - and extends its reach into a fast-growing sector.

PlaySpan's platform allows merchants to use its technology to enable consumers to purchase online items such as game credits, premium memberships and digital goods.

Borders Group is expected to file for bankruptcy, the result of declining annual revenues and mounting rent obligations as well as its struggle to catch up to the e-book business that is credited with keeping the publishing industry afloat, reveals The Christian Science Monitor.

Borders, which is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the third largest bookseller in the US. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is turning to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after failing to get publishers to agree to a plan that would have restructured a debt that currently totals over $500 million.

The company released a statement saying it received a conditional refinancing commitment from GE Capital for $550 million, but the agreement required approval by Borders creditors.