April 30, 2024
April 16, 2024
April 15, 2024
In a recent letter to the editor, Virginia small business owner, John Feigenbaum, defends Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) from critics that are saying that, as the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Goodlatte is hurting Virginia small businesses by failing to pass the Senate-passed Marketplace Fairness Act.
Last week, Sarah Davis, founder of Fashionphile, shared her stories of exporting to Brazil with the Internet Retailer. In the article, Davis explained that for a long time, she had made a business decision to not export any of her high-end designer handbags to Brazil.
David London, eBay Inc.’s Sr. Director of U.S. State Government Relations, participated in a panel discussion entitled “Cybersecurity and Technology: Public and Private Sector Opportunities in a Changing Landscape” during the 2014 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference.
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), held a hearing to discuss the future of the Open Internet entitled “Why Net Neutrality Matters: Protecting Consumers and Competition Through Meaningful Open Internet Rules.” Read the opening remarks and highlights.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it had received over 3 million comments regarding their Open Internet proceedings. The Internet Association, of which eBay Inc. is a member, officially filed comments with the FCC last week. In their comments, the Internet Association reiterated its support of strong non-discrimination and no-blocking rules to protect consumers, startups, and innovation.
Last week, eBay Inc., along with the Internet Association and other Internet companies, hosted Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Mark Doms to discuss the Commerce Department’s Data Strategic Plan. The Data Strategic Plan, released earlier this year by Commerce Secretary Pritzker, pledges to “improve government, business, and community decisions and knowledge by transforming Department data capabilities and supporting a data-enabled economy.”
Last week, Virginia small business owner, Jonathan Gonzales, wrote a letter to the editor of the Roanoke Times expressing his concern and frustration with the Senate passed Marketplace Fairness Act. If enacted into law, the Marketplace Fairness Act would require hundreds of thousands of small tech-enabled businesses, like Gonzales’, to collect and remit sales taxes for taxing jurisdictions across the country. It would also allow states to impose rules and regulations on businesses not located in their state.
Last week, Congressman Blake Farenthold (R-TX) introduced legislation that would protect the first sale doctrine for electronic devices and the software on those devices. The legislation, titled You Own Devices Act (YODA), simply states that if you want to sell, lease, or give away your device, the software that enables it to work is transferred along with it, and that any right you have to security and bug fixing of that software is transferred as well.
In June 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Request for Information related to mobile banking and financial management services. The CFPB was established by Congress to protect consumers by carrying out federal consumer financial laws. PayPal works closely with the CFPB on issues related to digital payments and mobile banking and responded to the CFPB’s Request for Information with a letter.
Speakers from eBay and PayPal were invited by Mal Brough MP, Federal Member for Fisher (located in Queensland) to keynote at the Future of Online Retail forum on the Sunshine Coast last week.