EBay
changes tack in China
EBay plans to announce today that it is changing direction
in China, shutting down its auction site there and replacing
it with one majority-owned and run by a Chinese company,
said a source familiar with the company's plans.
The San Jose auction giant is forming a partnership
with Tom Online, a Beijing-based wireless phone and
online portal company. Tom Online will invest $20 million
and own a 51 percent stake in the joint venture, which
will operate eBay's new Chinese auction effort. EBay
will invest $40 million and own the remaining 49 percent.
Representatives for eBay and Tom Online declined to
comment. The deal was first reported by the Wall Street
Journal on Monday.
Online
auctions called real steal - Fencing ring sold pricey
items on eBay, state says
Investigators
raided two storefront businesses and four homes in Chicago
and a nearby suburb Wednesday to break up a lucrative
fencing operation in which valuable items stolen from
major retailers were sold on eBay, authorities said.
A spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's
office said five people were arrested and charged with
receiving stolen property, a felony.
EBay reopens
campus with beefed up security following blast
EBay's
North San Jose campus reopened this morning, clearing
the way for 1,900 employees to return to work after
a powerful explosive blew out a window Tuesday night
and closed the campus all day Wednesday.
The company has increased security at the campus, which
includes the headquarters for the PayPal division, spokeswoman
Catherine England said. She declined to elaborate on
specific security measures.
Bomb-sniffing dogs and investigators spent Wednesday
at the site, looking for any signs of who planted the
explosive. San Jose Police Sgt. Nick Muyo said the investigation
is ongoing.
Nobody was injured in the Halloween night blast --
and other Silicon Valley companies were not put on alert.
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