FTC Announces Additional Day For Workshop on B2B Electronic Marketplaces

The Federal Trade Commission announced today that the workshop on Business-to-Business (B2B) electronic marketplaces originally scheduled for one day, June 29, 2000, will instead run for two days, June 29 and June 30. The program is being extended in light of the high level of public interest in the event.

B2B electronic marketplaces are software systems that enable buyers and sellers of similar goods to carry out procurement activities using common, industry-wide computer systems. The goal of the workshop is to enhance understanding of how B2B electronic marketplaces function and the means by which they may generate efficiencies, and to identify any antitrust issues that they raise.

Questions to be addressed and procedures for submitting written comments were identified in the initial announcement of the workshop, published in the May 10 Federal Register and at <www.ftc.gov> under the entry for Formal Actions and the sub-entry for Workshops.

The workshop is free and open to the public and the press. No preregistration is required. A transcript will be made available on the FTC web site following the event. Both sessions will begin at 9:00 a.m., and the June 30 session will end by mid-afternoon. Additional information concerning the workshop schedule, agenda topics, and panels will be made available at a later date.

For more information about the workshop please contact Gail Levine, Assistant Director for Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580, telephone (202) 326-3193, e-mail <glevine@ftc.gov>