European e-commerce web site Vente-Privee.com has announced the launch of UK and Italian blogs, aimed to offer a more direct line of contact with its seven million strong membership base and increasing transparency.

The press release suggests that the blog “reveals all the secrets behind the website: how it works, tricks of the trade, the latest news, new projects, prizes awarded, the professional teams… In a nutshell, everything that goes on behind the scenes.” read more

Nate Anderson of Arstechnica reports that the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is planning to require auction site eBay to disclose how much money its individual sellers make in a year. This is to ensure that those who make significant amounts of money off eBay transactions correctly report these in their tax statements, and therefore pay the corresponding income taxes. Government estimates that this move will rake in as much as $2 billion annually–not a paltry amount. read more