E-commerce

Microsoft plans to stop accepting paid subscriptions to Windows Live OneCare in mid-2009. The security software is slated to be replaced by a free offering code-named Morro, which will focus on providing consumer PCs with core protection from viruses, spyware, rootkits, trojans and other forms of malware.

The day after I spoke to Rich Barton by phone last week, he laid off 25 percent of his staff at Zillow.com.

According to New York Times blogger Damon Darlin, Zillow "has been the envy of many a Web entrepreneur because it has a healthy $87 million in financing (about $540,000 per pre-layoff employee)."

The company, founded in 2006, boasts 5.4 million monthly visitors, but has yet to turn a profit.

Electronic commerce giant eBay is stepping up overseas expansion efforts, making good on pledges that it would use a growing cash pile to fuel growth. San Jose-based eBay plans to acquire a minority stake in Asian e-commerce giant Gmarket, worth $404 million as of Aug. 12.

After Hurricane Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast, small businesses such as the Silk Road Collection antique store in New Orleans had little hope of surviving. Tourists and local customers had vanished, and it would take years for the city to rebuild.

Donald St. Pierre, the owner of Silk Road, and his business and life partner, Robert Turner, feared that they might have to close the shop. They couldn't land government or bank loans, and their personal savings were keeping the business afloat.