EBay monopoly suit dismissed

EBay has convinced a US District Court Judge in San Jose, California, that it is not monopolising the online auction business, reports Examiner.com.

A suit was filed by three sellers who stated that eBay was a monopoly in the online auction business as well as the vehicle to pay for goods via such a venue. Judge Jeremy Fogel based his decision to throw out the case on the grounds that the sellers did not show that anyone has been damaged by eBay's behaviour.

In the decision, the judge said: “Plaintiffs have not drawn the court's attention to any actual proof of antitrust injury caused by eBay.”

US clothing retailer Gap will unveil its e-commerce operation in the UK later this year. The operation will sell Banana Republic merchandise as well as its own, writes Computing.co.uk.

The distribution centre for the online shop will be based in the UK and will also cater for nine other European countries. Last year, the brand started selling its products through online retailer Asos.

“We are now ready for our business to grow and move forward, as we aim to gain market share in North America and make a series of investments to bring our well-known brands to more customers around the world,” says Gap's chairman and chief executive Glenn Murphy.

Some 30.8% of smartphone users accessed Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites via their mobile browser in January 2010, according to new research from comScore, states eWeek.

That number is an 8.3 point jump from the 22.5% figure the researcher tallied one year ago, and is much greater than the 6.8% of feature phone users who accessed social networking sites on their mobile phones.

The specific breakdowns, which do not include access of social networks by the six million mobile phone owners who do so solely through mobile applications, are even more encouraging for the top social network sites.