Legal

Think big — really big — and you may understand the stakes in an upcoming Supreme Court case that could have a profound impact on nearly every American business with employees.

Michigan's unique law requiring individual price tags on most retail items is about to disappear once Gov. Rick Snyder signs the bill repealing it. The Republican governor is scheduled to sign the bill at 2 p.m. today. He first mentioned his desire to get rid of item pricing in his January State of the State address.

Harry & David, the gourmet food-gift company, filed for bankruptcy protection after reaching an agreement with lenders to trim debt. The Medford, Ore.-based retailer, owned by investment funds controlled by Wasserstein & Co., listed assets and debt of as much as $500 million each in a Chapter 11 petition filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Companies use Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code to reorganize, cut debt and continue operating.

Blockbuster intends to cancel leases on more than 150 U.S. stores and abandon any property left in the buildings to the landlords. The company listed the leases it plans to cancel in two motions filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Borders, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February and has announced plans to close about a third of its stores, said it plans to pay key employees as much as $8.3 million in incentives and retention bonuses.

Amazon began selling applications for the Google Android smartphone in its new "Appstore" just days after Apple filed a lawsuit claiming that the digital storefront infringes its "App Store" trademark.

Tax-free shopping is under threat for many online shoppers as states facing widening budget gaps increasingly pressure Amazon and other internet retailers to start collecting sales taxes from their residents. Billions of dollars are at stake as a growing number of states look for ways to generate more revenue without violating a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibits a state from forcing businesses to collect sales taxes unless the business has a physical presence, such as a store, in that state.

Landlords anxious to know whether their centers will be affected by the Borders reorganization will have to wait a little longer. The bankruptcy court granted the retailer an extension to decide which leases to keep and which to terminate. In addition, the court approved $505 million in debtor-in-possession financing Borders arranged prior to filing for Chapter 11.

Wal-Mart, Target and other large retailers are ratcheting up a political campaign to force Amazon to collect sales taxes, sensing opportunity in the budget crises gripping statehouses nationwide. The big-box stores are backing a coalition called the Alliance for Main Street Fairness, which is leading efforts to change sales-tax laws in more than a dozen states including Texas and California.

On the issue of taxes applied to internet retailers, former President Bill Clinton appeared to more fully shift away from the laissez-faire stance he struck while in office, arguing that a "consumption tax" should be placed on e-commerce. Clinton spoke at the 40th public meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body that oveersees the Domain Name System (DNS) at the heart of the internet.