From the category archives:

E-Commerce

E-Commerce

Peter Sunde on Flattr

by Jerry Brito on August 16, 2010 View Comments

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 Episode 31: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Peter Sunde, co-founder of BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay and creator of Flattr, a new online social micropayments system, discusses Flattr. Sunde explains the Flattr concept, how it differs from previous micropayment platforms, and why it’s more meaningful than the Facebook “like” button. He also briefly discusses progress of the Pirate Bay case.

Microgifts and superdistribution

by Tate Watkins on August 9, 2010 View Comments

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Will Flattr exist in 5 years? It’s solved many micropayment problems but begs the question, “What problem does it solve?” Many, like Shirky and Tim Lee, have long argued that micropayments are a solution in search of a problem — we already award content-creators with fame by paying them with our eyeballs. Will microgifts find a problem to solve?

Gilbert Wondracek on the economics of online porn

by Jerry Brito on August 2, 2010 View Comments

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 Episode 29: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Gilbert Wondracek, research fellow at the International Secure Systems Lab and postdoctoral fellow at the Vienna University of Technology, discusses his research on the online porn industry. He addresses various economic roles of online porn providers and the industry’s connections to malware and cybercrime. Wondracek also explains how he investigated the industry, how he set up adult websites to assess user vulnerabilities and examine traffic, what he learned, and how he got approval for the project.

Another Use for a Bargain Online Casket

by Jerry Ellig on May 12, 2010 View Comments

A 62 year old former gravedigger in Britain bought a steel cakset on ebay and turned it into a sports car.

Shortcuts That Don’t Save Time

by Jerry Ellig on April 29, 2010 View Comments

We’d get better and quicker decisions from the FCC if it followed the same regulatory procedures as the FTC.

The Sideways, Alcoholic Commerce Clause

by Jerry Ellig on April 21, 2010 View Comments

Federal legislation introduced last week could threaten electronic commerce as it further entrenches middlemen who normally profit from every bottle of alcohol that passes from producers to consumers.

Branding Bloggers for E-Commerce

by Stefanie Haeffele-Balch on April 8, 2010 View Comments

How much influence do bloggers and internet celebrities have? Maybe enough for encourage a new e-commerce trend.

Debit Card Overdrafts: More Term Substitution

by Jerry Ellig on March 10, 2010 View Comments

A major bank prohibits debit card overdrafts in response to regulations that were only supposed to make consumers aware of overdraft fees.

Competition and patience

by Jerry Brito on February 22, 2010 View Comments

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Market processes–especially those surrounding new technology and distribution channels–can be less than instantaneous, but they have a way of ultimately conforming to economic reality.

Is Italy the next China?

by Massimiliano Trovato on February 1, 2010 View Comments

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Under the current proposal in Itay, websites like YouTube or Vimeo that stream video over the internet would be required to seek a Government license and to prevent users from uploading illegal content through their infrastructure.