Carney Direct Marketing

Amazon.com, a technology company obsessed with secrecy, is hiring a former press secretary for President Obama, whose administration has been widely criticized for its aggressive leak investigations. Jay Carney, who resigned as the president's chief spokesman last spring, is joining Amazon as senior vice president for global corporate affairs, a new position, the retailer said Thursday. It's an unusual hire for the Seattle-based company, which tends to groom its talent internally rather than bring in prominent outsiders. Mr. Carney, who begins his new job on Monday, will report to Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO.

The Black Keys aren't shilling power tools or pizza, the band said in copyright infringement lawsuits against The Home Depot and Pizza Hut. The "Lonely Boy" band filed the federal lawsuits last Thursday, claiming Home Depot didn't have permission to use elements of the hit song in an ad promoting power tools and that Pizza Hut misused "Gold on the Ceiling" in a recent ad. Both songs appeared on the rock group's seventh album, El Camino, which was released last year and has sold nearly 840,000 copies. The Black Keys are comprised of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney.

While Barnes & Noble touts stellar holiday sales, rival Borders continues to teeter on the verge of a bankruptcy filing. Widespread reports indicate Borders CEO Mike Edwards is meeting with publishers in New York this week to get their sign off on a plan to refinance debt and suspend payments. In response, one major distributor, the National Book Network, said it will suspend book shipments to the retailer.