eBay

Google, eBay, Facebook, Yahoo Air Concerns on U.K. Legislation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 3, 2009 - 12:58pm.
London - Internet industry giants Google (NASD: GOOG), eBay (NASD: EBAY), Facebook and Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) have written to the U.K. government, expressing concerns over proposed new legislation that would impose "three-strikes" on file-swappers, and potentially empower the Secretary of State to amend the country's copyright law at will. "We want to express our grave concerns regarding the inclusion of measures, which risk stifling innovation and damaging the Government's vision for a Digital Britain," the companies said, in their letter to the U.K. Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

eBay Completes Sale of Skype Unit to Investor Group

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 9:34am.
San Jose, Calif. - Nearly three months after first announcing the deal, online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) said that it has completed the sale of a majority stake in its Skype Internet telephone business to an investment group headed by Silver Lake Partners. Under the deal, the investor group -- which also included Joltid Limited, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz -- paid $1.9 billion and a $125 million note in exchange for a 70% stake in the unit.

Skype Litigation Settled; Sale by eBay to Investors to Proceed

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 8:35am.
San Jose, Calif. - Skype parent company eBay (NASD: EBAY) announced on Friday that litigation between an investor group looking to acquire Skype and the creators of the Internet telephone service has been settled, and that its sale of a majority stake in Skype will now proceed. As a result of the settlement, the acquisition deal has been restructured, and Skype creators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will now join the investor group, led by Silver Lake, and make a "significant capital investment" in exchange for a 14% stake in Skype.

Report: Skype Creators, eBay, Investors Near Settlement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 9:29am.
San Francisco - Litigation between the inventors and former owners of Internet phone service Skype, current owner eBay (NASD: EBAY), and an investor group looking to acquire Skype from eBay, could be nearing a settlement, The New York Times reported, citing several people who have been briefed on the situation. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis -- the inventors of Skype and the peer-to-peer technology behind file-sharing service Kazaa and video portal Joost -- sued the investor group in a bid to block their acquisition of Skype from eBay.

eBay Launches "Bill Me Later" Payment Option

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 19, 2009 - 12:02pm.
San Jose, Calif. - A year after paying $945 million to acquire Bill Me Later, online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) and that it has officially added the company's service as a payment option at checkout. The service, available through PayPal, lets online shoppers pay for items without the use of a credit card, Instead, shoppers provide their birth date and last four digits of their social security number, and later receive a bill in the mail.

Skype Creators Seek Injunction Against Former Joost CEO Volpi

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 15, 2009 - 9:00am.
Wilmington, Del. - The creators of peer-to-peer services Kazaa, Skype and Joost have asked a federal court for an injunction against former Joost CEO Mike Volpi and Index Ventures, where he is now a partner, to prevent them from using trade secrets in their bid to acquire Skype from eBay. Developers Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis allege that Volpi breached his duties to Joost while employed there by dangling a prospective workaround -- that would eliminate the need for Skype to use Zennstrom's and Friis' peer-to-peer technology -- to investors looking to acquire Skype from eBay (NASD: EBAY).

Skype Founders Sue eBay for Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 17, 2009 - 9:41am.
San Francisco - Joltid, the company operated by Skype and Kazaa creators Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, has filed a copyright infringement suit against Skype parent company eBay (NASD: EBAY), which could have an adverse affect on eBay's $2 billion sale of the Internet telephone company to a group of investors, The Wall Street Journal reported. The pair left Skype two years after eBay acquired the company from them for $2.6 billion in 2005, but retained the rights to the service's underlying peer-to-peer technology.

eBay Sells 65% Stake in Skype to Investor Group for $1.9B

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 1, 2009 - 7:12am.
Menlo Park, Calif. - Online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to sell a majority 65% stake in its Skype Internet telephone unit to an investor group led by Silver Lake for about $1.9 billion in cash. Other members of the investor group include Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The deal values Skype at $2.75 billion.

EFF Creates Website Terms of Service-Tracking Tool

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 5, 2009 - 9:35am.
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital civil liberties advocacy group, has launched a news Web tool that tracks changes to the "Terms of Service" policies of major companies, which govern how they use personal information.

eBay to Launch MP3 Download Store in Spain

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 8, 2009 - 12:40pm.
Los Angeles - Online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) plans to launch an MP3 download store in Spain, Billboard reported. The eBay download store in Spain will be powered by France-based Starzik, and offer games and other entertainment in addition to song downloads. Ebay has also partnered with Universal Music Australia to launch a download store in that country.

tags: Music | eBay | Retail | Starzik |

eBay to Acquire Korean Commerce Site Gmarket

Authored by Jay Baage on April 17, 2009 - 10:35am.
San Jose, Calif. - Hoping to sharply boost its business in Korea, online auction giant eBay said that it will pay up to $1.2 billion to acquire Korean e-commerce site Gmarket.
tags: Korea | eBay | Investing | IAC | eals | Gmarket |

EBay Announces IPO for Skype in First Half of 2010

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2009 - 11:05am.
San Jose, Calif. - Online auctioneer eBay (NASD: EBAY) announced on Tuesday that it plans to spin-off its Skype Internet telephone unit in an initial public offering in the first half of 2010. "Skype is a great stand-alone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating momentum," said eBay president and CEO John Donahoe. "But it's clear that Skype has limited synergies with eBay and PayPal. We believe operating Skype as a stand-alone publicly traded company is the best path for maximizing its potential."
tags: Deals | eBay | Skype | IPOs |

EBay Unloads StumbleUpon Recommendation Engine

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2009 - 8:32am.
San Jose, Calif. - Online auction giant eBay (NASD: EBAY) has sold its StumbleUpon recommendation engine back to its original founders for an undisclosed sum.

NYT: Skype Co-Founders Seek to Repurchase Firm From eBay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 13, 2009 - 10:12am.
New York - The co-creators of Internet telephone service Skype, who sold their venture to eBay (NASD: EBAY) four years ago for $2.6 billion, are now looking to raise money to help finance a repurchase of the company from eBay, The New York Times reported. Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis "have approached several private equity firms and are pooling their own substantial resources to make a bid for the Internet calling service," people with knowledge of the plan told The Times.
tags: Deals | P2P | eBay | Acquisitions | Skype |

Skype to Launch Applications for iPhone, BlackBerry

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2009 - 11:28am.

New York - Skype, the Internet telephone service unit of eBay (NASD: EBAY), plans to launch an application that make its service available to users of Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone tomorrow at a mobile industry trade show, and another in May that will enable its service for RIM's (NASD: RIMM) BlackBerry, Reuters reported. "The No. 1 request we get from customers is to make Skype available on iPhone. There's a pent-up demand," Skype COO Scott Durchslag told Reuters.

tags: Mobile | Apple | eBay | Skype | BlackBerry | RIM | iPhone |

Nokia to Integrate Skype Internet Phone Service Onto Mobiles

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 17, 2009 - 1:48pm.
Barcelona - Skype, the Internet phone service owned by eBay (NASD: EBAY), on Tuesday announced a deal with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to bundle its service on a range of Nokia mobile phones. Set to first become available on the Nokia N97 in the third quarter, the service will let mobile callers use 3G and WLAN to make and receive free Skype-to-Skype voice calls, as well as low-cost Skype calls to landlines and mobile devices.

tags: Mobile | eBay | Skype | Nokia |

Former eBay Head Meg Whitman Launches Run for CA Governor

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 9, 2009 - 12:04pm.
San Jose, Calif. - Meg Whitman, the former president and CEO of eBay (NASD: EBAY), on Monday took the initial steps in her possible run for governor of California.
tags: Law | eBay | Politics | Meg Whitman |

eBay Founder Omidyar's Twitter Venture Ginx Gets $2 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 15, 2009 - 8:31am.

Honolulu - eBay founder Pierre Omidyar has co-founded a new venture, a twitter client called Ginx, and raised around $2 million in financing for the company, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing.

eBay Bans Sale of Obama Inauguration Tickets

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 14, 2008 - 10:49am.

Washington - Though more than 1 million people are expected in DC for January's historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, they won't be able to purchase highly coveted tickets to the event on eBay (NASD: EBAY).

eBay Closes $945 Million Deal for Bill Me Later

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 7, 2008 - 10:24am.

San Jose, Calif. - eBay (NASD: EBAY), the online auction giant, said on Friday that it has completed its $945 million acquisition of Bill Me Later, developer of a service that allows customers to pay for their online purchases without using a credit card.