Firms Launch Relief Effort
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Microsoft and Cisco last week led an effort to create an umbrella Web site to connect those organizations with people who want to help. Other key organizers of the American Liberty Partnership, at www.libertyunites.org, include Yahoo, eBay, AOL Time Warner and Amazon.com.
eBay also launched a plan to collect $100 million in 100 days in its Auction for America. The entire purchase price of items sold in the program will go to relief organizations. eBay will waive fees on the charity auctions, and Visa, MasterCard, Wells Fargo and Discover also waived their fees.
The plan drew a mixed reaction in chat rooms. Some applauded it and said they will contribute. Others said it was a cynical attempt to garner publicity and that it was unfair to people selling items outside of the program.
Dueling Lawsuits
The latest shot in the high-tech industrys version of the Hatfields and the McCoys was fired last week, when Via Technologies filed the U.S. version of its patent-infringement suit against Intel.
Via wants the courts to stop Intel from selling its Pentium 4 chip, saying it infringes on technology being developed by Via and its U.S.-based subsidiary, Centaur. Via has already filed suit against Intel in Taiwan, and earlier this month, Intel filed suit against Via alleging patent infringements stemming from Vias P4X266 chip set.
The two last year settled an earlier suit filed by Intel against Via.