Internet

If you're a long-time Internet user, you may remember NetZero, one of the first free Internet providers. Now the company is making a comeback bid by offering free wireless access. However, there's a catch. NetZero launched in 1998 offering free ... dial-up access, but making users view advertising in a display window they could not close. The idea was that advertisers would support the company by paying for ads in that window. (Source: cnet.com ) The system soon caught on and helped bring hundreds of thousands of new users to the web. Eventually, though, a collapse in online advertising rates ... (view more)

A recent Facebook scam has apparently duped professionals closely linked with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). A spokesperson for the company later confirmed that no confidential information was leaked. Facebook Friendship Unlocks Personal ... Info Recently, an unknown number of Facebook members accepted a friend request from a person they apparently believed was US Navy chief Admiral James Stavridis, who is also the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. (Source: guardian.co.uk ) Among those fooled into agreeing to the online friendship were several senior military officers and government ... (view more)

Yahoo is taking Facebook to court for violating approximately ten patents related to Internet advertising systems. It's the first patent showdown between these two web companies. The lawsuit has been filed in a San Jose, California federal court. ... Yahoo is reportedly represented by the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart ... (view more)

A new industry insider report suggests Yahoo may be preparing for a major corporate overhaul that could result in thousands of employees losing their jobs, possibly before the end of March, 2012. Right now the company employs more than 14,000 people ... worldwide. While the report has received no official confirmation from Yahoo, analysts familiar with the company believe the rumor probably contains more truth than fiction. The report comes from "AllThingsD", an online publication that "specializes in technology and startup company news, analysis and coverage." (Source: ... (view more)

Facebook has announced it will step up the amount of advertising displayed to users. It plans to include ads within news feeds and, for the first time, on mobile devices. Advertising makes up the vast majority of Facebook's revenue, the remainder ... coming from revenue associated with applications, like Farmville. However, to date Facebook has not followed the traditional model of offering advertisers a variety of different ad sizes and spaces at different prices. Instead, it has concentrated on its ability to target ads at users who meet a specific description set by the advertiser. That's ... (view more)

Microsoft has accused Google of ignoring the privacy settings on browsers. Google says it's all a misunderstanding, but politicians have suggested there could be legal consequences. The dispute centers on web browser cookies, which are small text ... files a website sends to a user's computer, intended to provide information to various sites for customizing the user's online experiences. However, cookies can also be used to track a web user's online activity. To prevent this, most browsers allow users to limit the acceptance of cookies. For Apple's Safari, the default setting accepts cookies only ... (view more)

British business tycoon Richard Branson has prevailed in one of the first high-profile test cases of the new triple-x website address system. A US tribunal ruled that Australian Sean Truman acted in bad faith registering the richardbranson.xxx ... domain name, and ordered it be turned over to Branson immediately. (Source: adrforum.com ) Notably, Branson had not protected his name under the rules governing the new top-level domain. His victory may therefore lead more people challenging similar unwanted registrations. After a lengthy, controversial debate, the red-light domains debuted last year . ... (view more)

A woman accused of pirating an adult-oriented film says the United States Constitution prevents such movies from being copyrighted. Liuxia Wong received a letter last year from Hard Drive Productions, claiming she illegally shared a copy of "Amateur ... Allure Jen" through the BitTorrent file-sharing system. The company then threatened to sue Wong for $150,000 damages -- the maximum for a single copyright infringement -- unless she immediately paid $3,400 in compensation. Accused Woman Strikes Back Wong refused to pay, and instead filed for declaratory relief. A declaratory relief is a ... (view more)

Microsoft has released a customized edition of its popular Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) web browser, this one intended for use by children. In addition to adding links to online safety sites, the new version includes content protection that is switched ... on, by default. The new children's edition of IE9 has been developed with the help of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), a British organization that includes police officers, government officials and representatives from some major tech firms, including Microsoft. Bookmarks, Tabs Bring Safety to Forefront The updated ... (view more)

Both Facebook and Google have removed online material alleged to pose a risk of social unrest in India, following legal threats to block the sites completely. The two companies are among 21 firms hit with a civil lawsuit regarding offensive content. ... The lawsuit, brought by a private citizen, claims the material involves religious issues that could provoke unrest. Google's problems appear tied to its sites Blogger and YouTube. Google says it has taken down the material pursuant to a court request, its standard policy regarding legal issues, regardless of country. The material has been removed ... (view more)