Here is the AuctionBytes online-auction news roundup for Thursday, December 30, 2004.

Industry News & Trends

"What Bay Area executives made last year: Genentech, eBay each had 5 leaders on the top 100 list," by Todd Wallack, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/28/04
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/28/BUGVOAHO7I1.DTL
Chart: http://digbig.com/4cjbf

"Holiday packages still in route," by Michelle Relerford, NewsCenter16, 12/27/04
http://www.wndu.com/news/122004/news_39274.php

"Home Depot Starts Online Sales," Wall Street Journal, 12/29/04
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110424725009011000,00.html

"EBay slammed over quake adverts," Scotsman.com, 12/29/04
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1472292004

"Unwanted Gift Cards Find Second Life Online," By Angela Moore and Mark Weinraub, Reuters, 12/28/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=7194283

"Hired Help Eases Angst Over eBay," by Mark Minton, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 12/29/04
http://digbig.com/4cjde

"Canonsburg man starts online auction service," by Linda Metz, Observer-Reporter, 12/29/04
http://www.observer-reporter.com/295755604393546.bsp

"Area firms make eBay easy: Drop-off stores sell clients' products on the auction site for a commission," By Nick Bunkley, The Detroit News, 12/29/04
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0412/29/D01-44516.htm

"eBay gum! Look what's up for auction," by Kirsty Scott, The Guardian, 12/27/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/christmas2004/story/0,15386,1380028,00.html

"With EBay Auctions, Theaters Bid On a New Brand Of Fundraising," By Jacqueline Trescott, Washington Post, 12/28/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30409-2004Dec27.html

Weird, Unusual, Celebrity or Charity Auctions

"The year according to eBay," By Kevin Maney, USA Today, 12/30/04
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2004-12-29-ebay_x.htm

"Garage sale bargain gets big price on eBay," (AP), Albany Democrat-Herald, 12/28/04
http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2004/12/26/news/oregon/state02.txt

"Purported eau de Elvis sells on eBay" (Reuters), Swissinfo.org, 12/29/04
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5434350

Fraud, Privacy, Security Issues

"Santy.E worm poses threat to sites badly coded in PHP," By Peter Sayer (IDG News Service), InfoWorld, 12/27/04
http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/12/27/HNsantyphp_1.html

This is an article about tech-industry's attempt to create a standard for authenticating email addresses to fight spam and phishing hoaxes. May not be of interest to the general eBay user.
"Valid ID Required," by Karen Epper Hoffman, Redmond Magazine, 12/28/04
http://www.redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?EditorialsID=454

Miscellaneous

"Amazon: Giving Away the Store," By Wade Roush, Technology Review, January 2005
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/01/issue/roush0105.asp

"Major Shopping Sites Performed Well In Holiday Season," InformationWeek 12/29/04
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=56700170

"Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human," by Katie Hafner, 12/30/04
Free registration required
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/technology/circuits/30serv.html