Legal

An Arizona man is suing eBay over the auction giant's automatic bidding system, claiming that the policy runs counter to the company's user agreement and that it unfairly undercuts the final price paid by the winning bidder.

Plenty of brands, lawmakers and regulators aren't happy that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is going right ahead — despite 11th hour hearings — and opening the doors on Jan. 12 for a possible barrage of applications for new generic top-level domain names.

Amazon.com soon will no longer be able to avoid collecting sales tax in Indiana, which means you also won't be able to bypass paying the tax on your online purchases. Gov. Mitch Daniels said that the Seattle-based retailer has agreed to begin collecting tax in 2014, adding an estimated $20.million to $25.million to the state's coffers each year. Indiana sales tax is 7 percent.

The Fiorentino brothers were aggressive entrepreneurs who grew a small direct mail catalog company into what is now CompUSA, a national electronics chain. Then greed got in the way. Nearly nine months after Gilbert, Carl and Patrick Fiorentino were physically escorted out of the Miami headquarters of the company they started in 1987, the first official account of their transgressions has emerged in a lawsuit that was filed by CompUSA's parent company in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

eBay sellers who filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit against the company last year have until Jan. 27 to file a second amended complaint, a judge ruled. eBay had filed a motion to dismiss, which the judge granted in part and denied in part. According to the lawsuit allegations, "While eBay lists purported alternative payment methods, eBay has through its intentional action made it so PayPal is the only viable option for sellers."

Apple is threatening a Chinese firm with legal action if it doesn't discontinue its sale of a Steve Jobs doll. Manufactured by In Icons, the 12-inch action figure bears an uncanny likeness to the late Apple genius who passed away last year. The doll comes complete with Jobs’ trademark blue jeans, trainers and black turtleneck jumper.

The countdown until the British government's ban on displaying tobacco products in large retail stores comes into effect is now underway. New legislation announced last March ruled that large stores over 3,000 square feet will have to hide cigarettes and other tobacco products under the counter or in closed cabinets, with the aim of changing attitudes to smoking and reducing promotion of these products.

Buying toys for kids is great. You know what's not? Putting them together. Which is exactly why Alisa Speller paid Toys"R"Us an extra $15 on top of the $128 she already spent to put together the Radio Flyer Pathfinder Wagon she bought for her 1-year-old daughter, Skyla Price. Thing is, though, when Alisa took Skyla out for a spin in the Bronx, a wheel popped off.

eBizcuss, the largest Apple reseller in France, has sued Apple alleging that the company competes unfairly by favoring its own retail stores with new product inventory and by undercutting proposals to small businesses.

A small shop owner is standing up against Amazon.com and its recent promotion urging customers shopping in brick-and-mortar stores to use its price check app. By scanning a barcode in the store, Amazon would give the customer a 5 percent discount, up to five dollars.