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The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the timing of a stock sale by Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, the company confirmed. Spokesman Bill Curry said Bezos has responded to the SEC's request for information about the sale of 800,000 shares of stock worth roughly $12 million. He declined to say what information the commission was seeking. Bezos filed documents Feb. 2 and Feb. 5 saying he intended to sell the stock. On Feb. 6, a Lehman Bros.

Amazon.com Inc.'s marketing wizardry continues to pay off. The Web retailer said nearly 1.6 million people worldwide had preordered "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final volume in the boy wizard series, compared with the 1.5 million who signed up in advance for a copy of the sixth book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Amazon.com said it had logged more than 1 million preorders in the U.S., breaking the record of 919,000 preorders set by the previous installment.

Amazon.com Inc., seeking new revenue sources to turn an operating profit by year's end, said it will start charging publishers for recommending their books in e-mail promotions. The new tactic will extend paid book promotions, known in the publishing industry as co-op placements, from Amazon's Web site to e-mails sent out to many of its 29 million customers. "What we've done is in essence to give publishers the opportunity to have co-op placements in e-mails," spokeswoman Kristin Schaefer said.

Corbis Corp., a photography provider owned by Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, said it sued Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. for being party to illegal sales of its images. Amazon said that the images in question were being sold by independent poster and picture sellers on Amazon's "zShops" program. A spokesman said Amazon removed 15 merchants, who also were named in the lawsuit, from its Web store after learning of Corbis' lawsuit.

Amazon.com Inc., the largest Internet retailer, agreed to pay $27.5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit that alleges the company misled investors about its finances. The suit accused the company, Chairman Jeff Bezos and two former executives of making false and misleading statements during a three-year span that ended in October 2001, Seattle-based Amazon.com said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Amazon.com Inc. shares sank 6%, reversing earlier gains, after a report poured cold water on investor optimism that the online superstore could join forces with retail powerhouse Wal-Mart Stores Inc., analysts said. Amazon shares rose in early Nasdaq trading amid a rally in tech stocks, but ended the day off 75 cents at $11.88 after a report in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal said a tie-up between Amazon and Wal-Mart was not expected soon.

Amazon.com Inc.'s fight to bar rival Barnesandnoble.com Inc. from using a patented single-click online purchasing method goes before a federal appeals court, which will hear arguments today in a case that could shape the future of Internet business. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington will decide whether to lift a preliminary injunction blocking Barnesandnoble.com from using technology that enables online purchases with one click of a computer mouse. Amazon.

Amazon.com Inc.'s Bibliofind unit, which links buyers and sellers of hard-to-find books, said hackers broke into its Web site and gained access to about 98,000 customers' credit card numbers and personal information. The hackers had access to the data from October through February, said Bibliofind spokesman Jim Courtovich. Bibliofind discovered the break-in last month after the company's Web site was defaced, he said. An Amazon.

Borders Group Inc., the nation's second-largest book retailer, said it will eliminate all 70 jobs in the Borders.com operation it is turning over to competitor Amazon.com Inc. The two companies confirmed that Borders was effectively getting out of the online bookselling business by entering into a partnership with Amazon. A new Borders.com Web site, bearing the Amazon as well as the Borders brand, will be launched in August. Both companies declined to comment on specific terms of the agreement.