The companies drop suits

The largest retailer and the No. 1 Internet bookseller are making peace. Wal-Mart is dropping its lawsuit charging Amazon.com and Drugstore.com with raiding its employees to steal information about its state-of-the-art computer systems. Amazon.com, in turn, has withdrawn its lawsuit against Wal-Mart for libel and slander. No money was paid by either side, but Amazon.com and Drugstore.com have agreed to reassign some former Wal-Mart Information Systems workers to different tasks than the ones they did at Wal-Mart. The high-profile battle started last year, when Amazon.com lured Wal-Mart chief information officer R. Dalzell and other employees to work for the online bookseller and Drugstore.com. Wal-Mart filed suit in Arkansas last fall against both companies. When the Arkansas court dismissed the suit, Wal-Mart refiled in Washington State, where Amazon.com is based. The seller of books, movies and music fired back with its own suit, charging slander, defamation and libel. Wal-Mart has won praise for its sophisticated computer systems. Company officials say it allows them to track sales and stock shelves at any of their 3,600 stores.