A new e-commerce research outfit is drawing attention to its independent status in a bid to distinguish itself from competitors notorious for conflicts of interest and other undisclosed biases. The Center for Internet Commerce claims it has no relation to any publicly traded companies, promotional firms or holdings. With that unusual qualification now a matter of public record, the company says it hopes to provide research to analysts, brokers, investors and other members of the financial community through a new, free web site at http://www.e- tail.org. The site will include the usual array of free real-time quotes and indexes of net stocks, so that even if the companies that built them are radically different, it may take an expert to tell the various e-commerce research sites apart.
