eBay, with $3.5 billion in cash last month, has been aggressively acquiring smaller companies to compete against rivals ranging from Google to Amazon.com. EBay already owns Skype and portals such as Shopping.com and Rent.com, and completed the buyout of StubHub for $310 million earlier this year. These days, everybody are trying to get into each other's businesses. The business lines are getting blurred.

As the saying goes, do it to them before they do it to you!!!

What can you say. Microsoft has shown that no mercy is to be shown to competitors.