EBay, the Online Auction Company, Has an Impressive Portfolio of Cooperative

eBay, the online auction company, has an impressive portfolio of cooperative agreements. This portfolio includes an agreement with the U.S. Postal Service to facilitate the shipping of goods purchased through eBay auctions, an agreement to allow MBNA to use eBay's name on a credit card, and an agreement in an online auction company in Korea that is supplemented with an investment by eBay in the Korean partner. In addition, at one time eBay had formed an independent firm, called eBay Australia and New Zealand, with an Australian company known as ecorp.
-eBay's former agreement with ecorp is best characterized as a(n)

A) joint venture.
B) equity alliance.
C) licensing agreement.
D) nonequity alliance.