ETD: 737 People sell people; E-commerce: you owe a royalty;
Patents and Learning Entrepreneurial skills; New Taxes On Your
Internet Usage?; How Small Businesses Can Afford E-Commerce
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Tue, 11 Nov 2003 06:42:16 -0500
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0737 November 11, 2003
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem@gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] People sell people
[3] E-commerce: you owe a royalty
[4] Patents and Learning Entrepreneurial skills
[5] New Taxes On Your Internet Usage?
[6] How Small Businesses Can Afford E-Commerce
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
18 days to Black Friday - are you ready?
I've adopted Willi Nelson's theme song - "On The Road Again." Today I'll
be in Chicago, then Green Bay, Wisconsin. I'm anxious to see if my new
laptop adapter does work on the plane, and I'm anxious to see if my
wireless connection will work in the airports. I'll keep you posted. And,
of course, I want to hear list member Jim D'Arcangelo's talk about
Corporate Governance and
Sarbanes-Oxley.
http://www.darcangelosoftwareservices.com/media/inthenews/SkyRadio.htm
Some of our list members have posted some interesting stuff today. Did you
know that you owe a royalty to a patent holder if you do e-commerce?
There was a conference at my alma mater - Rutgers University, where the
theme of one keynote speaker was people are most important in business
success. What do you think?
Let's hear about your business, which will remain for posterity at
our "Members: Who Are You?" site.
http://etailersdigest.com/resources/members/index.htm And we have a form
there for you to tell us about you. As I said when I first proposed this
idea, we have "known" each other for a long time, yet we often don't know
anything about each other. So, tell us who you are and what you do.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] People sell people
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"The success of our business is 100% about people." So said David Neelman,
founder of Jet Blue Airways at a two-day financial education conference at
my alma mater - Rutgers University.
Which got me to thinking - isn't that the main ingredient for all
successful businesses? What business succeeds without good people? I
can't think of any industry or business where people aren't the main
ingredient for success.
Which is why whenever I consult with companies, I ask them to name three
things that differentiate their business from their competition, and don't
say your people or your products. Out of the 200+ companies where I
consulted and asked that question, only two ever had an answer. What about
you?
George
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[3] E-commerce: you owe a royalty
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The article posted on patents reminded me of a legal battle going on now
for online retailers.... (pardon me if you and your list members know about
this already, as I just recently re-joined the list)
In a nutshell:
PanIP is a company in San Diego CA, that claims to have 2 patents that
together cover all of e-commerce on the internet. If you sell online, and
haven't paid their royalty of $5000, you are infringing on their patents.
(The royalty was lowered from $30,000 when the first defendants they went
after closed up shop instead of paying or going to court) PanIP goes after
small businesses only, and always many states away from CA, so it would be
very costly to fight them in court.
A small group of e-commerce web site owners who have been served papers
have banded together to fight "our fight". One of the group put together
an informational web site that has updates, a forum to discuss the fight,
links to news articles that have been published, and a place to donate
toward the defense fund.
Read about it at www.youmaybenext.com
Again, I apologize if you already know of this.
Larry Verkeyn
WhimsiKidz
www.whimsikidz.com
www.lvmultimedia.com
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Thanks Larry. It's like the post in issue 652... E-Data Corporation has
had their patent upheld, which makes it illegal to offer downloadable
software without paying them a license fee. It was an interesting case
where Arnold Freilich bought the Feeney patent in 1985, and applied the
content to the Net, first in 1996. The case was knocked down, then
overturned by the U.S. Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. To quote an
attorney defending a company in this action "If the patent owner prevails
in its view, they stand to be wealthier than Microsoft."
Details...
Small patent may have big impact (1996)
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-214313.html?legacy=cnet
Software download patent refuses to die
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-270021.html?legacy=cnet
E-Data
http://www.e-data.com/
What made this interesting to me originally was the guy bought the patent
and sent out his first letter from his condo in Secaucus, NJ. Of course,
the papers picked it up, and the 800 pound gorillas said no way would it work.
Such a country....
George
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[4] Patents and Learning Entrepreneurial skills
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>"Now what does the Provisional Application for Patent does for me, one it
>gives me a 12 month time frame to complete a Non Provisional Application
>and in the mean time I can put up on my web site "Patent Pending". Also
>what it does is give my company an increase in value, especially if you are
>looking for financial help from say your Bank, SBA, Venture Capital and any
>other sources."
To which our moderator stated...
>As I understand, a Provisional Patent merely establishes a date for the
>patent. To be protected, you still need a full patent.
Yes it does establish the date, but under the old provision in order to use
Patent Pending you had to file a Non Provisional Application which is a
very time consuming and costly process as you may be aware.
Just so you understand where I am coming from, I am using it as a Marketing
Tool to say Patent Pending or if I am granted a Patent to have the Patent
on the Web site. Can some one modify what I am doing and go around the
Patent you and I know this can be done, but I will defend it if we find
someone who steals it.
Yours truly
Jules Kaplan
Ez Payment Solutions LLC
E-commerce Payment Solution Provider
Find Out How to Reduce Billing and Collection Cost by 90%+
Available now at: www.ezpaymentservices.com
E-Commerce Solution that you have to SEE to BELIEVE www.onlinechek.com
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Hmmm. Interesting. The "Patent Pending" can be a great marketing
tool. Of course, as Martha Retallick said in the last issue - make sure
you have a great patent attorney.
George
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[5] New Taxes On Your Internet Usage?
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U.S. lawmakers are at it again - debating issues that will affect you as
an Internet user. Even if you don't live in the United States, these laws
might apply to you if you send email to or receive it from the U.S. or do
business over the 'Net with U.S. companies. It's a good idea for all
Internet users to try to keep up with the laws being passed by various
governments, especially the U.S. and E.U., that can impact us all.
In late October, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the "Can Spam Act,"
which imposes a number of new federal regulations on commercial e-mail,
with penalties up to $1 million and up to five years in prison. It hasn't
passed the House yet, but political observers expect some sort of anti-spam
bill to be sent to the president before the end of the year. The Senate
bill has both good and bad aspects. It makes it illegal to use misleading
subject lines or fraudulent return email addresses in commercial email,
which we think is a good policy (although it will be difficult to enforce
against spam that originates outside the country). Of more concern, this
bill is reported to assess penalties against email service providers whose
customers send spam; we're not so sure this is a good idea. It's like
holding the phone company responsible if someone uses their service to make
harassing telephone calls.
Another controversial provision is the establishment of a "Do Not E-mail"
registry patterned after the national "Do Not Call" list. We have
reservations about this one; do we really want to provide spammers with a
huge list of valid email addresses? We're not sure that what works for
telemarketers will work equally as well in the online world, if only
because very few telephone solicitors call from other countries.
Another thing about the bill that has some up in arms is the fact that it
supersedes state laws. Thus, states that have passed more restrictive spam
laws (such as the California legislation we discussed here a few weeks ago)
won't be able to impose their own laws. While this provides standardization
and solves some of the complex jurisdictional issues involved in regulating
spam, it's also a Constitutional (states rights) issue that's likely to be
challenged.
Another important legal event occurred with little fanfare on November 1st,
when the federal moratorium on state taxes for Internet access expired.
This opens up the possibility for states, and maybe even local governments,
to rush to slap new taxes on your ISP service (including cable, satellite
and DSL service), resulting in higher costs to end users. With nothing
preventing it, these taxes could be assessed in whatever way the government
wanted. Thus it's conceivable that the "x cents per email" tax that's long
been feared by 'Net users could become a reality.
What do you think about the new spam laws and the prospect of paying new
taxes on Internet usage? Let us know at feedback@winxpnews.com - and if
you're a U.S. citizen, let your representatives know, too. For information
on how to write to your elected officials, see:
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=031104ED-Congress
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[6] How Small Businesses Can Afford E-Commerce
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With many online behemoths still struggling to turn a profit in the
e-commerce sector, smaller businesses may question whether the online sales
model is truly a road to riches or just a pipe dream. In the latest
incarnation of SMB e-business, many companies are abandoning their aging
homegrown systems in favor of prepackaged software.
After all, it costs big bucks to design, develop and maintain an e-commerce
site that can draw the kind of customer volume needed to generate
significant revenues and profits. That is why many small and medium
businesses (SMBs) are choosing to abandon their homegrown, cobbled-together
e-commerce systems, which often are vintage 1996 or 1997. Instead, they are
buying prepackaged software to manage their e-tailing strategies from end
to end, forgoing the high expense and risk associated with building
solutions from scratch.
"You can't afford not to sell online," Wintergreen Research president Susan
Eustis told the E-Commerce Times. "If companies don't do it, their
competitors will throw them out of the market. And that goes for businesses
of any size."
See the Full Story:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/32071.html
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