Legal

The rapid growth in internet sales is great for online retailers, but it's bad news for state and local governments as many online purchases don’t have any sales tax attached to them. Long before the internet was on anybody’s radar, the Supreme Court ruled that states couldn’t require that retailers without a physical presence in a state, like mail-order companies, charge sales tax on their behalf.

Chinese e-commerce supplier Alibaba says two of its top executives are resigning to take responsibility after a probe discovered more 2,326 suppliers had defrauded online customers. Alibaba said in a notice this morning that its chief executive and chief operating officers, who were not implicated by the investigation, were resigning to take responsibility for the company's "breakdown in integrity."

Target has updated its corporate donation policy following a corporate review that occurred in the wake of the backlash surrounding the company’s $150,000 donation last summer to a group that ran ads supporting Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, according to the Minneapolis/St.Paul Buisness Journal.

LivingSocial is being sued by two Seattle residents who claim its mobile and online offers violate federal and state gift card laws and Washington's Consumer Protection Act.

Consumers have filed lawsuits against more than a dozen national retail chains operating in California since the state Supreme Court ruled it's illegal for clerks to ask customers for their ZIP codes.

The average combined U.S. sales and use tax rate for 2010 hit a new record average of 9.64 percent, compared to the previous record of 8.63 percent in 2009, according to the annual Sales Tax Rate Report for 2010 issued by Vertex Inc.

Fabric and craft store chain Jo-Ann Stores said that after a nearly two-month "go-shop" period, it's received no other takeover bids, and therefore will ask shareholders to vote on the company's proposed $1.6 billion sale to Leonard Green & Partners LP.

Borders Group filed for bankruptcy in New York today after management changes, job cuts and debt restructuring failed to make up for sagging book sales in the face of competition from Amazon and Wal-Mart.

Discount retailer Family Dollar Stores received a bid from activist investor Nelson Peltz's firm to take the company private in a deal worth up to $7 billion. The Trian Fund is offering $55 to $60 per share for Family Dollar, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Blockbuster plans to cash in on the DVD rental kiosk trend in 2011 by installing 3,000 more of its Express kiosks, even as the retailer closed stores and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.