TowerOne.com

Now thats funny. According to the NY Times, eBay, who bought over 28% of Craiglist in 2004, have filed a law suit against the company claiming that ..”Craigslist’s two directors, the founder Craig Newmark and the chief executive, Jim Buckmaster, took actions that unfairly diluted eBay’s economic interest in the company.”

There is speculation that this is connected to Craiglist raising another funding round despite have wads of cash in the bank.

Don’t you just love families?

Tags: Craiglist, eBay

Packaged goods giant Mars will become the first advertiser to sell actual products on Facebook, a move aimed at building the commercial credentials of the social network.The deal follows the recent backlash around the launch of Facebook’s Beacon, an advertising platform that allowed brands to pump ads without user consent. Facebook was forced to change the service to include an opt-in element.

This will be the first time that users on Facebook will be able to purchase actual and not “just virtual” products.

The applications will launch on Valentine’s Day. Called Celebrate, the service will enable users to buy actual Mars gifts which can be redeemed at participating stores through the use of a scanable, unique mobile voucher ID.

A user on the Celebrate [Read more]

Tags: Facebook, Mars

Zazzle, the only on-demand retail platform to offer billions of products that ship in 24 hours, has announced a deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records to provide custom merchandise on-demand. Zazzle will provide premier services and launch artist galleries for Grammy(R) nominated Plain White T’ s and platinum selling label mates Breaking Benjamin, with other artists to be announced soon.

Nominated for two Grammy Awards including Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for “Hey There Delilah” from their album Every Second Counts, the Plain White T’ s have made Zazzle their official customizable merch partner.

In addition, label mates and platinum selling alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin have chosen Zazzle as their online, on-demand merch partner. The band achieved their first number 1 single in 2007 with “Breath,” and are currently on tour in support of their album Phobia.

Zazzle investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures.

www.zazzle.com

Tags: Disney, Hollywood Records, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sherpalo Ventures, Zazzle

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Audible Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBL).Audible.com provides premium digital spoken word audio content, specializing in digital audio editions of books, newspapers and magazines, television and radio programs and original programming. Through its web sites in the US and UK and alliances in Germany and France, Audible.com offers over 80,000 programs, including audiobooks from well-known authors such as Stephen King, Thomas Friedman, and Jane Austen, and spoken word audio content from sources including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Fresh Air and Charlie Rose.

“Audible.com offers the best customer experience, the widest content selection and the broadest device compatibility in the industry,” said Steve Kessel, Amazon.com’s senior vice president for worldwide digital media. “Working together, we can introduce more innovations and bring this format to an even wider audience.”

“This deal brings together two pioneering companies that share a long history of ceaseless focus on improving the customer experience,” said Donald Katz, founder and chief executive of Audible.com. “We are very excited to be joining a company as innovative as Amazon.com.”

In recent months, Amazon has announced a number of innovations in the digital space, including Amazon Kindle, a wireless portable reader that provides instant wireless downloads of more than 90,000 books, blogs, magazines and newspapers to a crisp, high-resolution electronic paper display.

Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon.com will commence a cash tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Audible.com for $11.50 per share and will assume Audible.com’s outstanding stock-based awards, for an aggregate transaction value of approximately $300 million which includes Audible.com’s cash and short-term investments at closing.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by the second quarter of 2008.

Shoring up Kindle perhaps?

Release

Tags: Amazon, Audible.com