Some of the biggest names on the web have written to Business Secretary Peter Mandelson to express “grave concerns” about elements of the Digital Economy Bill, the BBC reports.
Four firms including Facebook and Google object to clause 17 of the bill, which could give Government the power to amend copyright law in the future. “We urge you to remove Clause 17 from the bill,” the letter read.
The consortium, which also includes Yahoo and eBay, believe …

Ministers are to announce plans for an eBay-style Government to help to save £3 billion in taxpayers’ money, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Private companies would be invited to bid for Government contracts at an internet auction, on a similar model to the leading e-auction website. However, unlike on eBay, the contracts would be awarded to the lowest bidder, helping taxpayers get better value for money as the Government attempt to cut Britain’s record £175 billion budget …

The car in which Michael Schumacher captured his first world drivers’ championship in 1994 is being auctioned for millions of pounds on eBay, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The Benetton B194, which is ready to drive and comes complete with spare parts, is being sold by its private owners. The price sailed through the €2.5 million (£2.24m) mark yesterday with the bidding set to close at just before midnight on Monday for the car in which Schumacher won …

A lost Charlie Chaplin film has been discovered in a can of nitrate film bought on eBay for £3.20, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Morale Park from Henham, Essex, purchased the tin simply because he liked the look of it. He was amazed to discover its fragile contents: a previously unknown seven-minute film Chaplin film called Zepped.
His interest was piqued, he said, when he could not find any mention of it on the internet.
The film features footage of …

Customers are being urged to desert Royal Mail as they face a catastrophic national strike, and many big internet retailers already plan to switch, the Daily Mail reports.
The decision by postal workers yesterday to take industrial action will heap misery on both families and businesses with Christmas approaching.
Energy companies and banks are already encouraging customers to sign up for online accounts.
Leading internet retailers such as Play.com, Amazon, Tesco Direct and Argos are drawing up plans …

eBay have agreed to sell a majority stake in Skype to a group of private investors in a deal valued at roughly $2 billion, MarketWatch.com reports.
eBay said they will sell Skype to an investor group led by private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners. That group also include Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Andreessen Horowitz are led by Silicon Valley icon Marc Andreessen, who shot to youthful fame as a co-founder of …

eBay plan to announce today a deal to sell their Skype division to a group of private investors, the New York Times reports.
The investment group is likely to include Andreessen Horowitz, a new venture capital firm headed by the Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, two people briefed on the company’s plans said.
One added that Index Ventures, a London-based venture capital firm that was an early investor in Skype, and the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners …

The “new” General Motors which have emerged from bankruptcy are going to focus more on customers (who did they focus on before???) and they’re in partnership with eBay for people to buy vehicles by online auctions.
Company’s CEO Fritz Henderson said that the “new” GM will be far faster and more responsive to customers than the old one, and will make money and repay government loans faster than required, FoxNews reports.
Henderson promised that they will repay …

Demand pushed the price of a rare dateless 20p coin to £7,100 on eBay yesterday, the Daily Mail reports.
Many sellers are offering purchasers the chance to “buy it now” at prices of up £6,200.
Several are hoping to get more than £3,000 for their 20p. But the top seller fetched £7,100 at 2pm yesterday – 35,500 times its face value – although it is not clear whether the coin has been paid for, the report says.
Thousands …

Daniel Finkelstein of The Times has compiled a very nice list of possible Hanukkah presents that one can get from eBay. It’s just amazing what is being sold there.
If I had to choose from Daniel’s list, I’d pick Elvis’s fork and perhaps Jackie Kennedy’s maternity outfit.