Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gary Walker who wrote (22109)	10/18/1998 1:40:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164684

From WSJ <Wal-Mart Hits Amazon With Suit In a Spat Over Its Trade Secrets Associated Press Wal-Mart Stores Inc. filed suit Friday against Amazon.com Inc. and its affiliates, alleging the Web bookseller infringed on Wal-Mart trade secrets. In a lawsuit filed in Chancery Court in Benton County, Ark., Wal-Mart asked the court to issue an injunction against Amazon to prevent the Seattle company from allegedly trying to duplicate proprietary technology. Wal-Mart claims in its lawsuit that Amazon recruited former Wal-Mart associates and targeted Wal-Mart vendors to learn more about its information systems, which include data on sales, inventory and consumer buying habits. <Picture: [Go]>Company Profile: Amazon.com Under the Arkansas Trade Secrets Act, it is illegal for an individual or a group of individuals to use a company's trade secrets for their personal advantage, or to the advantage of a competing company. "Our information and logistics systems are world-renowned and a key factor in our success," said Robert Rhodes, senior vice president and general counsel for Wal-Mart, of Bentonville, Ark. "Clearly, Amazon.com has targeted a specific combination of individuals for their expertise and inside knowledge of Wal-Mart's distribution, data-warehousing and merchandise-management systems." A spokesman for Amazon declined to comment on the lawsuit, which also cited its affiliates Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Drugstore.com. The lawsuit touches on Wal-Mart's extensive information database, which some analysts say is second in size only to that maintained by the U.S. government. Besides raw sales, profit margin and inventory numbers, the system also documents what consumers buy together, like cereal and milk. If Amazon could mimic such a model, it would allow it to better know and service its customers. That could help Amazon expand from its core base of books into other areas of online retailing. This summer, Amazon paid $280 million for Junglee Corp., which offers one-stop electronic-shopping services to Web sites, and PlanetAll, a provider of online address books that could boost loyalty among shoppers. "The bottom line is they are trying to be the Wal-Mart of cyberspace, and that is a legitimate thing to aspire toward," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Inc. in San Jose, Calif. "Amazon is very smart without pulling the Wal-Mart guys into help them," he said. "But there is no question that they can speed up their process of making themselves into the premier site in cyberspace if they have additional experience working with them.">