The Internet, with its octopus-like, global reach and affordable commercial real estate, was going to rewrite the rules of commerce, giving corporate CEOs and small-time home-business owners even odds at pioneering this digital shopping frontier. Online advocates gushed over how the Net would foster never-before seen head-to-head competition between the commercial Davids and Goliaths in a forum where ideas and ingenuity, not just money and clout, marked the boundaries. But as competition builds on the Internet, it appears that equal footing ....