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PA e-Comm News January 17

ADVERTISERS OF THE WEEK

Several law schools and privacy rights groups will benefit from a settlement that Amazon.com subsidiary Alexa Internet reached in 2001after several class-action lawsuits which alleged that it misused consumers' personal information without their consent. Alexa said it would destroy some of the personally identifiable records in its database and pay up to $40 per person to customers whose records were found in the database. The rest of the money was spread among 17 schools and organizations, including the Internet Education Foundation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the University of San Francisco, the University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University. Grants ranged from $50,000 to $250,000. 

Amazon.com had to cancel thousands of orders for a high-end cell phone because a technical glitch had appeared to make them freebies and allowed people to order the PCS Phone Handspring Treo 300 at no charge (the phone normally costs $200 after rebate). Amazon sent e-mail to affected customers Friday, notifying them of the mistake and that it had canceled the orders. This snafu affected only orders placed through Web sites participating in the Amazon Associates program, not orders made directly through Amazon.com. The Associates program gives some 900,000 Web sites the ability to link to products sold on Amazon and lets people buy products from Amazon via an associate's site. As expected, word of pricing errors spreads more quickly on the Web than in the world of brick-and-mortar retailers and poses a unique problem for Web retailers like Amazon. Thousands of orders for the free phone poured in after an alert was posted on FatWallet.com, a Web site dedicated to finding online shopping bargains. Amazon followed its policy on pricing errors, which is posted on its site, when it canceled the orders. 

Telecommunication companies are putting self-service tools at the top of their CRM project lists, according to the Yankee Group, by moving on self-service plans. The report outlines three functional areas in which communication carriers are rolling out self-service tools: billing and collections, customer service and customer acquisition. Online bill payment has been a mainstay of carrier Web sites for some time by encouraging customers to receive and pay bills online to save costs both for themselves and for the company. Now, rate plan changes and billing disputes are being handled through online tools to avoid increased call volumes in expensive call centers. Companies are even moving marketing functions to the Web by encouraging customers and prospects to purchase calling plans, equipment and accessories through e-commerce transactions rather than through brick-and-mortar stores or by phone. 

The true value of customer data cannot be known and cannot be used to predict customer behavior unless it is accessible and easy-to-use. This is where data mining comes in as an enterprise tool for analysis of customer demographics, spending habits and other behavior patterns. Analytics tools in use today provide information that goes well beyond "who bought the most stuff," and can provide answers to questions the user might not think to ask. And more information is always better. Despite the potential for large returns, not all companies have the technical, manpower and financial resources to implement data mining software. You need the right team of people, including quantitative analysts, IT, financial and business people but it is difficult to get all of them together. Also, by the very nature of data mining you can spark resistance. If used correctly, it can significantly alter the decision-making process but it can also force much change. Data needs to be clean, up-to-date and consistent. 
A recent Harris Interactive study reveals that 74% of American Internet users would like to see spamming outlawed while only 12% were opposed to making spam illegal. These numbers held true across all age groups, income groups, both sexes, blacks, whites and Hispanics, and Republicans and Democrats. The study also found that 80% of consumers find spam very annoying, up from just 49% two and a half years ago. Unsolicited pornographic emails are considered to be the most annoying spam emails, followed by messages selling mortgages and loans, investments, and real estate. 

Reports indicate that authorities have finally found a fugitive who was indicted more than two years ago on charges related to the auction of a fake Richard Diebenkorn painting on eBay. Kenneth Fetterman was arrested Saturday by Sedgwick County sheriff's deputies in Wichita, Kan., on charges of marijuana possession and driving without a license. He was initially pulled over for driving with a broken windshield. Sheriff's deputies identified Fetterman as the eBay fugitive through fingerprinting and detained him. He originally faced criminal fraud charges related to the eBay bidding in March 2001, when he and two other men were indicted on charges related to using a variety of eBay user IDs to place fake bids and drive up the price of auctions between November 1998 and June 2000. Prosecutors said the trio induced an eBay user to bid more than $135,805 for a fake Diebenkorn painting after posting more than 50 fraudulent offers for it. At the time, the incident was one of the highest-profile cases of online auction fraud. Fetterman faces four counts of wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud and six counts of money laundering. Each wire and mail fraud charge carries penalties of up to five years in prison and fines of $250,000. The money-laundering charges each carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and fines of $500,000. 

The majority of Americans will be able to file their taxes electronically for free as part of a program the Internal Revenue Service is unveiling. The IRS has been trying to increase the use of electronic filing for some time, saying it saves money and is less error-prone. But tax software companies had expressed concerns that a government-sponsored program would hurt their businesses. The new site, available through IRS.gov and FirstGov.gov, will connect people to various companies that offer both free preparation and free filing for eligible taxpayers. Around 15 to 20 companies are expected to offer filing services. Eligibility will vary among the companies, although many offers are targeted at low-income filers.

E-COMMERCE RELATED EVENTS AND INFORMATION

The following are links to upcoming seminars and other events that our readers might have an interest in and/or other information related to e-commerce. 
Access Pennsylvania Main Street classes will be offered through Penn State Cooperative Extension at central PA locations from March to September 2003. This is a 2-day educational program open to small business owners who want to learn about electronic commerce. For class info, contact Laura Watts, (717) 240-6500 or lwatts@psu.edu.

"Penn State's E-Commerce class was an eye opening experience. I thought I had my company web site under control. However, I realized, from Laura and Winifred, that I had only covered the tip of the iceberg. My site was up and running but that did not mean anyone was going to find me. With their help, I am now accessible."
 

PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The following is a listing of recently published technology procurement opportunities with various governmental entities. We hope our readers take the opportunity to investigate these postings and increase their business:

USAF - Air Force Materiel Command
ESC - Electronic Systems Center
R--Professional, Admin; Management Support Services
Other Files 93, Other Files 92
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/ESC/R189/listing.html

DOC - National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Acquisition and Logistics Division
D -- High Flux Backscattering Spectrometer (HFBS) Data Acquisition
System Upgrade
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOC/NIST/AcAsD/Reference-Number-03-856-4086/listing.html

USAF - Air Mobility Command
6th Contracting Squadron
D -- Dorian and Keyview software support
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AMC/6CS/Reference-Number-F43CYP23650200/listing.html

TREAS - Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
National Office Procurement (A:P)
R -- Graphic Design Services
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/TREAS/IRS/NOPAP/W-3-W1-17-PS-E22/listing.html

USA - U. S. Army Materiel Command
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (Base Ops)
70--Electronic Records Management System
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USA/USAMC/DAAH03/SFAEMSLARMMMF1/listing.html

DON - Naval Air Systems Command
Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Dept. 2
70 -- Veridian Software and Hardware Upgrade
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DON/NAVAIR/dept2/N68936-03-T-0037/listing.html

DON - Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
SPAWAR Systems Center Charleston
R -- ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES FOR TACTICAL/MOBILE
SYSTEMS, MARINE CORPS PROGRAMS, GLOBAL COMMAND AND CONTROL
SYSTEMS-MARITIME, AND FOREIGN MILITARY SALES CASES
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DON/SPAWAR/SPAWARSYSCEN_Charleston/
N65236-03-R-0327/listing.html

DON - Naval Sea Systems Command
NSWC Carderock Division
R--ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DON/NAVSEA/N00167/N0016703Q0151/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-14-Jan-2003/listing.html

HHS - Program Support Center
Division of Acquisition Management
D -- Pilot Test a Clinical Alert Network Using Palm
Pilots/Email/Wireless Communications
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/HHS/PSC/DAM/Reference-Number-03R000124/listing.html

NEWS & NOTES is a service of the PA e-Commerce Association. Please forward this e-mail to anyone else who might be interested in the content or in learning more about the Association. Remember to visit our website @ www.paecomm.org. or give us a call at 800-497-0809.

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