No teams here but UK tops internet users' poll

By Mitch Phillips

Euro 2008

"We have had over 10 million unique users since June 1 with
a figure of 4.7 million daily users during the tournament,"
David Farrelly of www.euro2008.UEFA told a news conference
on Saturday.

"Sixty four percent of those users have been from Europe,
14 percent from north America, 13 percent Asia and nine from
the rest of the world.

"Most users are coming from the United Kingdom, followed by
Germany and the United States.

"The UK has been the top country. It was second during the
qualifying stage but top in the tournament, despite the fact
that none of their teams have qualified."

Farrelly said that "hits" were five times more than Euro
2004 but said a total figure for page views would be available
only after the group stage and again after the final on June
29.

The site is now available in 10 languages, seven European
and three Asian, and as well as providing news, video content
and interactive information, it carries live streaming of all
the tournament matches.

(Editing by Jon Bramley)

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Training helps bloggers hone professionalism

By CARYN ROUSSEAU, Associated Press Writer

Miami real estate agentdefamation lawsuit

In Lake Geneva, Wis., commodities trader Gary Millitte registered the Internet domain name LakeGenevaNews eight years ago, but is so worried about the legal boundaries of writing online that he still hasn't started the ultra-local news site.

Non-journalists entering the world of blogs, online feedback forums, online videos and news Web sites provide information that newspapers and other media can't or don't. But many are now turning to professional journalists for help with dilemmas they're facing: When is something libelous? What's the difference between opinion and news? And how do you find public documents?

About a dozen would-be reporters navigated the basics of journalism at a recent training offered by the Society of Professional Journalists in Chicago. The group plans similar seminars this month in Greensboro, N.C., and Los Angeles.

Lechuga, who didn't attend the training, said it would have been a good idea. Having jumped into the world of online publishing with a finance degree, he said the claims against him — which are still pending — arose from a question of semantics, and he would have chose his words differently if he had a second chance.

"It would definitely have been something that would be worthwhile and I'd (have) been able to prevent this," said Lechuga.

Roy Peter Clark, a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., which supports working journalists, praised the effort to offer training to so-called citizen journalists.

"I think that what we're moving toward is some king of positioning between amateur and professional," Clark said.

Amateurs have long contributed to professional news reports, including the film of John F. Kennedy's assassination and photos from the Virginia Tech massacre last year, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004, Clark said.

Now, many distribute their content on their own, and some have gotten into trouble, said Clint Brewer, the national president of SPJ.

Geoff Dougherty, editor of the Web site ChiTownDailyNews.org and a presenter at the SPJ program, is trying to prevent that by offering his reporters online training.

With a $340,000 Knight News Challenge, he's creating a team of 77 to report on the smallest of meetings in every city neighborhood — gatherings that mainstream news organizations don't cover.

"I see us in five years as the go-to source for Chicago news," said Dougherty. "It's a big goal."

Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, said more than 100 judgments valued at $17 million have been handed down against bloggers over the last three years — about 60 percent for defamation, 25 percent for copyright infringement and 10 percent involving privacy.

"It's the tip of the iceberg," Cox said. "Bloggers are being asked to write checks. The threats against bloggers are very real. The costs are very real."

Other groups offer help, including NowPublic — a site that gathers photos, video and news tips from the public and distributes them to news organizations, including The Associated Press. NowPublic, funded with venture capital, offers resources for contributors and helps them learn to police themselves, said co-founder Michael Tippett.

"A lot of our members are aspiring journalists," Tippett said. "They'll get half of it right. We'll push them to getting all of it right."

http://www.spj.org/cja.asphttp://www.kcnn.orghttp://www.everymannewshttp://www.chitowndailynews.org

FilipinaMoms: http://www.filipinamoms

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Google grows stronger in Microsoft-Yahoo fallout

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer

Microsoft Corp.Yahoo IncGoogle Inc

What began in January as Microsoft's most audacious attack yet on Google instead paved the way for the Internet's most powerful company to gain even more clout through a deal that gives Google access to a large chunk of Yahoo's advertising space.

By submitting to a partnership that endorses Google's search advertising technology as a better choice than its own, Yahoo is giving online marketers even more incentive to spend most of their money with its biggest rival, according to industry analysts.

It looks like such a sweet deal for Google that the U.S. Justice Department and lawmakers are expected to take a hard look at the arrangement to make sure it doesn't give Google too much control over the Internet's search advertising market.

Google currently has about 75 percent of the U.S. search advertising market followed by Yahoo at 9 percent, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc.

Although they contend their alliance won't lessen competition, Google and Yahoo have agreed to wait until late September to begin working together so the U.S. government has more time to assess the potential impact.

Even more importantly to Google, the Yahoo partnership keeps a potentially valuable weapon out of Microsoft's control.

Without Yahoo's renowned franchise, Microsoft once again is scrambling to find a way to fix its unprofitable online operations and narrow Google's commanding lead in the Internet's rapidly growing ad market.

Google shares gained $18.56 to close Friday at $571.51 while Microsoft shares added 83 cents to close at $29.07 — an indication that some investors were relieved the world's largest software maker concluded it would be too expensive and troublesome to buy Yahoo.

On the other side of the fence, Yahoo shareholders had been clinging to the possibility that Microsoft would revive its last offer of $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, to buy the Internet pioneer. But those hopes evaporated late Thursday after Yahoo disclosed Microsoft had "unequivocally" rebuffed an attempt to renew the negotiations.

In a sign of investors' frustration, Yahoo shares dropped as much as $1.77, or 7.5 percent, Friday before rallying late in the session to finish at $23.47, down five cents. The downturn marked Yahoo's lowest stock price since it closed at $19.18 at the end of January, just before Microsoft launched its takeover attempt.

That leaves Yahoo's market value 29 percent below Microsoft's last offer, which was withdrawn May 3 after Yahoo asked for $37 per share. Yahoo's stock hasn't reached that price since January 2006.

At least Microsoft still has a strong, highly profitable backbone — a suite of software products that run most computers around the world.

Yahoo, though, may have made a Faustian bargain by hiring Google to show ad links next to a significant portion of the ad links appearing alongside search results on its Web site in the United States and Canada. The Sunnyvale-based company also will pluck Google ads to show on other Web sites in its marketing network.

Yahoo expects its annual revenue to get an $800 million lift from the arrangement with Google while still showing show the majority of its own ads alongside its own search results. But most analysts viewed it as an act of desperation, asserting it's only a matter of time before advertisers shift all their business to Google because they know their messages will show up on Yahoo either way.

Deutsche Bank analyst Jeetil Patel described Yahoo's decision to farm out advertising to Google as "one of the worst strategic maneuvers seen in the Internet industry."

Google will get such great access to Yahoo's highly trafficked Web site that it should be able to gather more insights about the correlation between search requests and advertising, ThinkPanmure analyst William Morrison wrote in a Friday research note titled "Giving Away The Store (To Google)."

Jerry YangTerry SemelCantor Fitzgerald analystCarl IcahnMicrosoftoperating cash flowdoor open

AP Technology Writer Jessica Mintz in Seattle and AP Business Writer Christopher Rugaber in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.

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Verizon to give discounts for landline-less bundles

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer

Verizon Communications Inc

In response to households dropping traditional service in favor of cell phones, Verizon will introduce a Flex Double Play bundle starting some time next week, giving discounts ranging from $8 to $12 a month for those who combine a Verizon Wireless plan with broadband or FiOS TV.

Surveys point to about one in seven U.S. households now lacking landlines.

"We remain very bullish on the traditional copper-based phone service, but we also recognize that there's a growing segment of society that wants to have wireless as its principal home service," said Verizon spokesman Bill Kula.

The discount applies to DSL service with downloads at 3 megabits per second, and to FiOS, or fiber-optic, broadband at up to 20 megabits per second. The fastest DSL plan, at 7 mbps, and the fastest FiOS, at 50 mbps, are not eligible for the bundle.

Adding FiOS TV, Verizon's cable-TV service, on top of wireless and broadband yields another $8 a month in savings. The discount does not apply to the satellite TV service Verizon markets from DirecTV.

AT&T Inc. last year started giving discounts of $4 to $5 a month to people who lack landlines but sign up for wireless and mid-tier DSL service, according to spokesman Michael Coe.

Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of New York-based Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group PLC of Britain.

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Kevin Spacey to teach at Oxford

By Syantani Chatterjee

actor Kevin SpaceyOxford University

Spacey, 48, who won Academy Awards for supporting actor in
"The Usual Suspects" and lead actor in "American Beauty, is
following in the footsteps of fellow performers such as Patrick
Stewart, star of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Others who have occupied the post of Oxford's Cameron
Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theater at St.
Catherine's College include composer Stephen Sondheim,
playwright Alan Ayckbourn, actress Diana Rigg and lyricist Sir
Tim Rice.

"It really is an honor for me to have been invited to
follow such illustrious names and take up this role at Oxford,"
Spacey said in a statement. "The university is steeped in
tradition and has a great heritage in the arts, and I look
forward to working with the students and staff."

The college's master, Professor Roger Ainsworth, called
Spacey "a truly international star" who "will bring an enormous
wealth of talent and experience in both film and theater to
bear on the role."

Spacey has been the artistic director of The Old Vic
Theater Company in London since 2003.

He recently was seen in the HBO television movie "Recount,"
about the race for the U.S. presidency in 2000 between Al Gore
and George W. Bush. He also recently starred in movie thriller
"21," playing an MIT professor with a team of card-counting
poker players who make millions in Las Vegas casinos.

Reuters/Nielsen

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Microsoft offered $9 bln for Yahoo stake, search deal

By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Anupreeta Das

Yahoo IncMicrosoft CorpMicrosoft

In an e-mail to employees, Microsoft platforms and services
division president Kevin Johnson said it had offered $8 billion
for a 16 percent stake in Yahoo and $1 billion to buy Yahoo's
search business and assume its operations.

The proposal also included a revenue-sharing partnership
that would have delivered $1 billion a year in additional
operating income to Yahoo due in part to a three-year guarantee
of better rates for advertisements tied to its search results
than Yahoo's current Panama advertising system.

Microsoft's most recent offer was an alternative to its
previous full acquisition proposal. Instead, Yahoo entered an
advertising agreement with Google Inc on Thursday.

Microsoft, a dominant force in desktop software but a
laggard in online search advertising, is still open to
discussing its alternative proposal despite Yahoo's partnership
with Google, a source familiar with Microsoft's thinking said.

Yahoo had no comment. Microsoft spokesman Jeff O'Mara
declined to comment.

Another source familiar with the matter said Microsoft had
proposed a 10-year exclusive deal to handle Yahoo's search
advertising and only guaranteed higher advertising rates for
three of those years. Johnson's e-mail did not mention the
duration of the deal, only saying it was "long term."

By contrast, Yahoo's deal with Google, which will pit the
two companies' ads against each other in an auction, is
non-exclusive. It means other companies can join in the auction
to bid to place ads next to Yahoo's search results.

"Unfortunately Yahoo has chosen a different course, and
yesterday announced an agreement that would start to
consolidate over 90% of the paid search advertising market in
Google's hands," said Johnson in the e-mail.

"This will make the market far less competitive."

The deal with Google would boost Yahoo's cash flow by $250
million to $450 million in the first 12 months, according to
Yahoo. It would be less than half of Microsoft's forecast for
$1 billion in additional operating income, the source familiar
with Microsoft's thinking said.

A BETTER DEAL?

Microsoft said its proposal would have delivered $1 billion
of incremental operating income to Yahoo because it would
reduce Yahoo's operating costs for running search and the
company would receive large payments in the form of so-called
traffic acquisition costs (TAC) from Microsoft.

Yahoo would also not have to make hefty research and
development investments for search, Microsoft said.

"On the surface, it looks like a better deal," Gartner
analyst David Mitchell Smith said of Microsoft's search deal
proposal for Yahoo.

Smith cautioned, however, that there may have been issues
not revealed publicly that made the Google deal a better
option.

Microsoft abandoned its offer to buy all of Yahoo in May as
negotiations dragged on, making it unlikely that a deal could
complete regulatory review during the Bush administration, the
source said.

Nasdaq

(Additional reporting by Michele Gershberg in New York,
Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Carol Bishopric, Gary Hill)

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Sprint Nextel Unveils Four Push-To-Talk Mobile Phones

By W. David GardnerInformationWeek

regions of the United States beginningSprint Nextel

The new Nextel Direct Connect phones operate over Sprint's Mobile Broadband network and are powered by Qualcomm's QChat technology.

To be offered in 40 major markets beginning Sunday, the phones will be made available in additional markets throughout the year, Sprint said. Because the phones can operate on portions of Sprint's Rev. A network, call setup times of less than 1 second will be available.

The phones, which are available with a two-year service agreement, are supplied by LG, Samsung, and Sanyo.

LG's LX400 has a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities, as well as noise reduction features; it's available starting at $79.99.

A rugged model designed for harsh environments is offered at $79.99 by Sanyo and meets military standards for resisting dust, shock, and vibration.

Samsung's Z400 is an ultra-rugged device in a clamshell design that is certified to military specification 810F for dust, shock, and vibration. The Z400 has a 1.3-megapixel camera, and Sprint Navigation and Bluetooth support. It's priced beginning at $99.99.

Sanyo's PRO-200 also has a clamshell design and is available for $49.99.

Nextel rode its once-innovative push-to-talk feature to record sales and profits before Sprint acquired the company. However, Sprint has encountered difficulty melding the Nextel unit into its networks and has written off nearly all of the $30 billion it paid to acquire Nextel in 2004.

See original article on InformationWeek

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Business, Cyber Liberties Groups Fight Laptop Searches

By Thomas ClaburnInformationWeek

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE)Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)U.S. Circuit Court of Appealslaptop computersreasonable suspicion

The two organizations filed an amicus brief with the court arguing that the broad powers supported by the earlier appeals panel decision in United States v. Arnold represent a violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Nonroutine searches, such as a strip search, are distinguished by their invasiveness and require a "reasonable suspicion" that the person searched is involved in an illegal activity.

A Congressional Research Service report in March noted, "The issue that the federal courts have been confronting recently is whether the border search exception [to the Fourth Amendment] applies to electronic storage devices and, if it does, whether a laptop border search is routine or non-routine, and if found to be non-routine, what degree of suspicion or cause is needed to justify the search to satisfy the Fourth Amendment."

The ACTE and the EFF argue that the blanket right to seize, copy, and store information on electronic devices threatens the ability of businesses to protect confidential information and establishes an end-run around the Constitution. They argue that the contents of an electronic device are particularly personal and that such devices should be viewed differently than suitcases to be opened.

"In essence, a search of the contents of a laptop computer achieves electronics surveillance of a person's life," the amicus brief states. "Only an extensive search of a person's home could be expected to provide the government with as much private information about a person as a search of [his or her] laptop computer could provide."

Susan Gurley, executive director of ACTE, said that her organization wants to see the rules about data clarified so that businesses know where they stand and can take appropriate precautions. "It's a huge economic issue for businesses," she said.

"Once the information has been downloaded and it turns out you're not a criminal, what happens to your data?" Gurley asked. "How can you be assured that your information is destroyed?"

Gurley said ACTE has sought information about how the government deals with data it retains through a Freedom of Information Act request and that the government was unresponsive.

"We believe that it is not enough to say, 'We're the government; trust us,' " said Gurley. "Our position is people should know what the rules and regulations are so you can adjust your business practices to what happens at the back end."

The issue isn't black and white, however. As the CRS report observes, "Laptops can present a problem to the national interest in controlling what enters the country because the vast and compact storage capacity of laptops can be used to smuggle illegal materials." Child pornography, unauthorized copies of copyrighted material, and military secrets represent examples of such materials.

The fact that such content can travel more or less unhindered over the Internet can be seen either as ironic or as a sign that the Internet will eventually be subjected to the same broad scrutiny (if it isn't already).

Further complicating matters is the outrage expressed by U.S. officials over a report on Chinese cyberespionage in the National Journal that said several senior executives of U.S. corporations have "had their electronics 'slurped' while on business in China." The government's stance appears to be that it wants unhindered access to people's data but doesn't appreciate it when other nations take similar liberties.

Chances are this is an issue that will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

See original article on InformationWeek

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Yahoo To Show Google Ads Alongside Search Results

Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor

YahooGoogle

Yahoo will run Google-supplied ads alongside its own search results and on some of its Web properties in the U.S. and Canada. The agreement is non-exclusive, giving Yahoo the ability to display paid search results from Google, other third parties, and Yahoo's own Panama marketplace.

"This agreement provides a source of funds to both deliver financial value to stockholders from search monetization and to invest in our broader strategy to transform display advertising and advance our starting-point objectives with users," Yahoo President Sue Decker said. "It enhances competition by promoting our ability to compete in the marketplace where we are especially well positioned: in the convergence of search and display."

Yahoo's Strict Control

Yahoo will define its users' experience and will determine the number and placement of the results provided by Google and the mix of paid results provided by Panama, Google or other providers. The agreement applies to paid search and content match and does not apply to algorithmic search. The agreement also applies to current partners in Yahoo's publisher network.

Enhancing Search Monetization

Yahoo said the deal with Google will help it better monetize its search inventory. In the first 12 months following implementation, Yahoo expects the agreement to generate an estimated $250 million to $450 million in incremental operating cash flow.

Yahoo said the agreement will let it continue to invest in ongoing initiatives such as algorithmic search innovation and search and display advertising platforms. It allows Yahoo complete flexibility to continue using its Panama paid-search results.

"There's a lot of unanswered questions about how it will play out. Yahoo maintains it will have full control and flexibility and will be able to show Google ads when it wants to and not show them when it doesn't want to," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. "You get the sense that this really amounted to backfill to boost monetization when Yahoo didn't have good ads or any ads to show in certain long tail situations."

A Way of Escape

The agreement allows either party to terminate the agreement in the event of a change in control for either party. It also requires Yahoo to pay a termination fee if the agreement ends as a result of a change in control that occurs within 24 months. The fee is $250 million, subject to reduction by 50 percent of revenues earned by Google under the agreement.

Although Google and Yahoo said they are not required to receive regulatory approval of the deal, they have voluntarily agreed to delay implementation for up to three and a half months while the U.S. Department of Justice reviews the arrangement.

"This commercial agreement provides Yahoo with the opportunity to deliver more relevant ads to users and provide advertisers and publishers with better advertising technology to help them succeed in their own businesses," said Eric Schmidt, Google chairman and CEO. "This agreement will preserve the competitive and dynamic online advertising space."

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Microsoft Loses Creative Force Behind Halo 3 Launch

By Paul McDougallInformationWeek

Microsoft's Halo 3video

Jeff Bell, corporate VP for global marketing at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business unit, is leaving the company "to pursue other opportunities," Microsoft said in a statement Thursday.

Bell will stay on at the company through the summer.

His pending departure has sparked a shakeup in Microsoft's Xbox-related business groups. Shane Kim, VP for Microsoft Game Studios, has been promoted into the new role of VP for strategy and business development within the Interactive Entertainment group.

Additionally, Microsoft Game Studios veteran Phil Spencer takes over leadership of all first-party game development and publishing efforts worldwide. Spencer and Kim will report to Don Mattrick, senior VP at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business unit.

The departure of Bell, who helped conceive high-profile marketing campaigns around last year's launch of Halo 3 for the Xbox 360, is a blow to Microsoft.

The game broke industry records by posting $170 million in sales on its first day of availability last September, and more than $300 million in sales in the first week. It also broke records for online play with more than 2.7 million gamers logging in to play Halo 3 over Xbox Live in its first week on the market.

Halo 3 features Master Chief, a biologically enhanced soldier who has to blast his way through a futuristic, 3-D landscape to survive and accomplish missions. He's countered by The Covenant, an alliance of hostile aliens.

Bell's efforts also helped Halo 3 transcend gaming circles to take a place in popular culture. Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas last year installed a statue of Master Chief to stand alongside sports and entertainment stars like Elvis and Shaquille O'Neal.

See original article on InformationWeek

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TV newsman Tim Russert dies of heart attack

By David Morgan

Tim Russert

NBC interrupted its programming for a special report by
former anchorman Tom Brokaw, who announced in a voice heavy
with emotion that Russert had died at the network's Washington
bureau after returning from a trip to Italy with his family.

Russert was prerecording a segment for this Sunday's "Meet
the Press" program when he collapsed.

"I think I can invoke personal privilege to say this news
division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice.
He will be missed as he was loved, greatly," Brokaw said.

Russert was the NBC News Washington bureau chief as well as
a political analyst for "NBC Nightly News" and the "Today"
morning program. He also anchored "The Tim Russert Show," a
weekly interview program on the CNBC cable-TV channel.

"Here was a guy who, in a really affable way, was able to
do something that news anchors don't really do: provide cogent,
understandable, compelling analysis of really complex issues,"
said Syracuse University media expert Robert Thompson.

It was as host of "Meet the Press" since 1991 that Russert
became a leading voice in American politics by mixing his
cheerful on-air persona with the tough questioning of political
guests including President George W. Bush and leading
personalities of the 2008 presidential campaign.

"This was one of the most important years in Tim's life,"
Brokaw told viewers. "He loved this political campaign. He
worked to the point of exhaustion so many weeks."

'AN INSTITUTION'

"He was an institution in both news and politics for more
than two decades," Bush said in a statement issued in Paris,
where the president was traveling.

"Tim was a tough and hard-working newsman. He was always
well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as
gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it."

Russert was also a best-selling author. "Big Russ and Me,"
described his childhood in Buffalo, New York, and his
relationship with his father, who worked as a garbage
collector. He also wrote "The Wisdom of Our Fathers," inspired
by letters he received from children talking about their
relationship with their fathers.

Democrats and Republicans lauded Russert's work.

Speaking to reporters in Columbus, Ohio, Obama said, "There
wasn't a better interviewer in television, not a more
thoughtful analyst of our politics."

McCain said: "Tim Russert was at the top of his profession.
He was a man of honesty and integrity. He was hard but he was
always fair."

Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he
supervised the live broadcasts of NBC's Today show from Rome.
In 1986 and 1987, Russert led NBC News' weeklong broadcasts
from South America, Australia and China. NBC is controlled by
General Electric Co.

Vice President
Dick Cheney

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert, Steve Holland, Steve
Gorman, Jeff Mason, Andy Sullivan and Tabassum Zakaria; Editing
by Howard Goller and Mohammad Zargham)

Full Coverage: Tim Russert, 1950-2008


News Stories
Buffalo flags fly at half-staff as city mourns the death of Tim Russert 
at The Buffalo News, Jun 14
Tim Russert, 58, NBC's Face of Politics, Dies 
at The New York Times, Jun 14
Journalist Revitalized Washington Talk Shows 
at The Washington Post, Jun 14
Tim Russert's death saddens his beloved hometown of Buffalo 
at Newsday, Jun 14





Feature Articles
For Tim Russert, success began with lessons from home 
at The Buffalo News, Jun 14
Tiny Town: Washington After a Fall 
at The New York Times, Jun 14





Opinion & Editorials
Tim Russert: The Smile That Lit Up Journalism 
at The Washington Post, Jun 14
The Many Gifts of Tim Russert 
at The Washington Post, Jun 14

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India May Crack Blackberry Encryption

By Marin PerezInformationWeek

encryptionBlackBerrys

"If they fail to come up with any satisfactory solution, we will invoke other options. We have been approached by other companies with solutions to decrypt the data passed over the BlackBerry network," said Telecom Minister A Raja during a presentation to the country's Department of Telecommunications.

Previously, Indian security officials had pressured RIM to provide the government with a way around its encryption. The government expressed concern that because e-mails and data couldn't be intercepted, terrorists could be using BlackBerry services to coordinate terrorist attacks.

The government wanted RIM to set up servers that could be monitored by Indian security agencies or provide a "master key" to look into data and e-mails sent from the company's BlackBerry devices.

Additionally, security officials wanted RIM to lower its encryption from 256 bits to a 40-bit encryption.

RIM refused the request, saying that its data encryption is designed so that no third party, or RIM itself, can access the data being transmitted wirelessly. The company also said it's being singled out, as there are four other mobile e-mail products providing similar services that are not facing the same demands.

RIM is hoping to make inroads with Indian business customers, and its security features are a major draw. While there are only 115,000 BlackBerry users in India, the market for smartphones in India is expected to grow rapidly.

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Coming To The iPhone: Enterprise Apps

By Antone GonsalvesInformationWeek

Apple3GiPhone

That's because many of the 4,000 hand-picked developers who took part in Apple's beta program for the iPhone software development kit were enterprise developers, Gartner analyst Van Baker told InformationWeek on Friday.

"We're going to see an awful lot of consumer applications come July 11," Baker said. "The lion's share of the applications are going to be consumer apps, and they'll be thousands of them. But I think you will also see a significant number of enterprise apps as well."

Baker based his comments on a conversation with Philip Schiller, Apple's senior VP for global product marketing. Baker talked with Schiller on Monday after company chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the 3G iPhone during his opening keynote at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. While Schiller did not provide names of companies or numbers of developers, he raised expectations for what would be available for businesses.

"I think you may be surprised," Baker said. "An awful lot of the developers that managed to get into the beta program were enterprise developers."

Baker expects most of the applications to have "time-sensitive data." For example, there may be applications that salespeople can use to get the latest price for products, check inventory, look up terms and conditions on contracts, or find the delivery schedule from a supplier. "Those kinds of things where you need to have real-time access to get the latest data are probably the ones that we're going to see quickly deployed," Baker said.

Chris Silva, analyst for Forrester Research, said he expects to see a slow development cycle among major business-application vendors, such as IBM, Oracle, and SAP, who are likely to wait to get a handle on customer demand before committing a lot of resources to iPhone development.

"It'll be measured growth," Silva said. "They'll develop some applications and see what the uptake is."

Smaller business-application vendors will follow quickly, if the larger vendors prove there's a demand, Silva said. "They're the litmus test for the industry," the analyst said of the larger vendors.

Software makers expected to jump in with both feet right away will be players in niche markets that find certain iPhone features particularly well-suited for their needs. Examples include medical software companies Modality and MIMvista, which demonstrated during Jobs' keynote imaging programs that took advantage of the iPhone's high-quality graphics capabilities.

One barrier Apple will have to overcome to speed up adoption among businesses is the perception that the iPhone is a consumer device first, with business second, Silva said. That perception stems from the fact that Apple waited a year after version 1.0 of the iPhone was released before adding the features that companies need for deployment. "Many enterprises may look at that and see it as the enterprise being an afterthought," Silva said. "The delay in getting those features out may be at the cost of rapid, early deployment."

In the meantime, many experts believe that the 3G iPhone has the potential to become a strong competitor against the BlackBerry. Besides the new enterprise features, Apple has made the device more attractive by dropping the price of the base model to $199 from $399. In addition, the mobile phone has a global positioning system and a software development kit that has received high marks for ease of use.

The 3G iPhone will be available in 22 countries, versus six for the original, when it ships. Apple plans to make the smartphone available in 70 countries by the end of the year.

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Google and Yahoo Strike Deal, Microsoft's Out

Erik Larkin

Microsoft must be ticked.  It didn't get to buy Yahoo, or even just a slice of it.  Instead, all its efforts only served to drive Yahoo into Google's waiting arms.

The Google/Yahoo deal, announced yesterday, doesn't make a Goohoo (or would it be Yagle?) by any means. According to BusinessWeek, Yahoo will display some Google text ads for Yahoo search results. Yahoo will control when and how the ads show up, and says it stands to make up to $800 million from the deal.

It seems clear Yahoo will need to take further steps to get its house in order, but just what those steps might be is still up in the air.  Also in question is what Carl Icahn will do now that Microsoft appears finished (again) with its attempts to bolster its own lackluster online offerings with a Yahoo purchase. 

Icahn may still try to replace Yahoo's board come August, but as his primary goal for the proxy battle was to push a Microsoft deal, it's unclear if there would still be any point to such a move.  The Wall Street Journal has him "studying the situation" but not giving any clues about where he'll go.

Don't assume anything is a done deal in this saga, though. According to the Silicon Alley Insider, there's an escape clause in the search deal that allows Google to walk away if there's a 'change in control' for Yahoo.  Per the piece, that could mean Microsoft, News Corp., or Time Warner buying 35 percent of Yahoo's voting stock, Microsoft picking up 5 percent of total equity, or other triggers.  Looks like Google would get a $250 million parting gift from the purchasing company if that happens.

And then there's the potential for government regulators to put the kibosh on the plan.  BusinessWeek has Eric Schmidt arguing that the deal doesn't require regulatory approval, but guesses that Microsoft will still push for close scrutiny.

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eBay Sellers Gather In Chicago To Learn New Tricks

By K.C. JonesInformationWeek

EBayChicagoeBay Live 2008

Todd Lutwak, senior director of seller development at eBay, said during an interview Friday that the company expects about 10,000 people to show up for the seventh annual event. He said participants would learn about recent changes at eBay and how to capitalize on them.

In the last year, eBay created new incentives for sellers and changed its search algorithms. Rankings were based on the time remaining for sales. Now they take into account other factors like relevance and seller performance ratings.

"We're working with sellers to make sure they understand a lot of the changes and how they work with their experience," Lutwak said.

With the dollar declining, U.S. sellers are serving more customers from foreign countries. EBay's PayPal unit verifies credit card holders' addresses in 190 countries.

Sellers who attend the online auction company's live event in Chicago can learn how to better market their goods for buyers around the world. They can attend training sessions to find out how to use eBay's tools more effectively. They can also walk into a booth, present their user IDs, and have eBay employees bring up their accounts, receive diagnostic reviews, and obtain tips on increasing sales.

Lutwak's team has developed best practices and seven steps of scalability to help sellers improve their understanding of online business. That can include pointers about which keywords work better than others, insight into how to make a better product, or tips and tricks to help buyers understand what they'll get, Lutwak said.

Partners and developers who have created applications for eBay will demonstrate their products and services on the show floor. Participants can join in question-and-answer sessions and attend briefings from executives, including John Donahoe, president of eBay Marketplaces.

Finally, those attending will be able to network with others who do what they do and swap tales of their trials and successes.

An ACNielsen survey found that 1.3 million people earn part or all of their income by selling on eBay. Some started out with a plan for creating a new online business. Brick-and-mortar business owners sought an online venue for products that were difficult to move through traditional channels. Others started as hobbyists and were surprised to see their passion transform into a full-fledged entrepreneurial undertaking. EBay insiders refer to the latter group as "accidental entrepreneurs."

"They don't refer to themselves as businesses," Lutwak said. "If I ask 'How long have you been in business?' they'll say, 'Oh, no, this is not a business. This is fun."

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Qualcomm Says 3G Sales Booming, Despite Slow Economy

By W. David GardnerInformationWeek

3GQualcomm

The company, which provides components and other technologies for advanced cell phones, said it based its upgraded prediction on some 86 million mobile station modem chips that it expects will be shipped in the quarter.

The figures are something of a surprise, because improved shipment figures were expected to show up in low-cost mobile phones, not in 3G versions.

"We are expecting another successful quarter driven by the continued global migration to 3G," said Qualcomm's chief executive Paul Jacobs, in a statement late Thursday. "Our updated guidance reflects greater than expected demand for our 1xEV-DO and HSPA chipsets as well as revenues from advanced 3G network upgrades."

"The fundamental drivers of our business remain strong," said Jacobs, "and based on the current business outlook we are raising our fiscal 2008 pro forma earnings per share guidance range to approximately $2.09-$2.13." Previously Qualcomm had estimated earnings would come in between $2.04 and $2.09.

Qualcomm also alluded to its long-running and bitter litigation with Nokia, which is scheduled to be taken up in a Delaware court in the coming weeks. Qualcomm maintains that Nokia is obligated to pay it royalties, but Qualcomm said it hasn't been recording any royalty revenue due from Nokia after April 9, 2007, and doesn't plan to record the revenue "until a court awards damages or the dispute is otherwise resolved by agreement with Nokia."

Qualcomm's stock jumped more than 5% on the news in early stock market trading Friday.

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Verizon To Offer Wireless Batphone

By Marin PerezInformationWeek

Verizon WirelessThe Dark KnightBatman

The flip-phone handset is called the Nokia 6205 The Dark Knight Edition, and has a black cover with a Dark Knight emblem on the back. It also comes preloaded with Batman-themed screensavers, wallpaper, ringtones, and a complete movie trailer.

Batman fans in need of a mid-level cell phone may be interested in this handset. It features a 2-inch display on the inside and a 1.3-inch LCD external display. It has full support for text, picture, and video messaging, and a 1.3-megapixel camera with flash and digital zoom.

The 6205 has 58 MB of internal memory that's expandable up to an additional 4 GB with a microSD memory card. It's Bluetooth-enabled, including stereo Bluetooth, and it has multimedia capabilities for a variety of codecs. Hands-free operating is also enabled with voice dialing and voice commands.

The Dark Knight phone will utilize the carrier's EV-DO for mobile Internet access, and it sports a WAP 2.0 browser. The handset is compatible with Verizon's V CAST services, including the company's turn-by-turn navigation system. Users can also access carrier's Get It Now service to download applications to the phone over the air.

The Nokia 6205 The Dark Knight edition will be available online June 15, and it will cost $69.99 with a new two-year contract. The standard version of the Nokia handset will be light blue and silver, and it will be available online in the middle of July.

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Just a Minute With: Peter Gabriel

By Mike Collett-White

musician Peter Gabriel

The 58-year-old producer, former Genesis frontman, world
music champion and digital technology pioneer is involved in
two new ventures he hopes will address his concerns.

The first is The Filter (www.thefilter), which aims to
produce a blueprint of an individual's taste in music, movies,
news and views by analyzing what the person buys online.

Users can recommend songs and films to each other, and,
further down the line, may be able to customize their profiles
by selecting particular directors, artists and critics.

The second is a venture with speaker makers Bowers &
Wilkins that offers an exclusive album each month recorded at
his Real World Studios and available online as an uncompressed
file, which should ensure CD-standard quality.

Gabriel, who helps organize the WOMAD world music festival
in Britain, this year from July 25 to 27, spoke to Reuters
about his new projects.

Q: What is the main idea behind The Filter?

We're trying to integrate their parameters, if you like,
with 'you bought this therefore you might like this'. That is
part of the mixer idea and it's only in its first stage of
implementation. Those people whose taste is available through
The Filter, you can then allocate them to the mixer. That would
be the aim ideally.

Q: Has the Internet been as much of a force for good in the
music industry as you had hoped?

A: I think everyone thought that it was going to
democratize the music business, but it's done less of that than
we would have hoped. I think if you have good filtering then
that is a tool to really level the playing field. If people are
starting to really like what you do, and that enthusiasm and
that sort of rating is getting in there, then that will make
you more visible and accessible so it would then be based on
passion and enthusiasm rather than just on dollars of
merchandising and advertising.

Q: Are the kind of musicians you typically support, most of
whom are not household names, benefiting from the digital
revolution in music?

A: Not as much as I would like yet, and as a lot of the
artists are losing one of the central sources of their income,
i.e. record sales, they need to become smarter in building
their own database as a means of accessing their own fans and
learning and getting the feedback from their fans.

That's a channel through which they can sell other stuff.
We do need to democratize the process of discovery.

Q: Another negative aspect of the Internet you identified
is the poor quality of downloaded music many people listen to?

A: The iPod, for example, does have the capacity to hold
... what they call 'Apple Lossless' files, so it's built in and
available, but very few people use it and an MP3 has become the
sort of new standard and it's a giant step backwards. Whereas
in television now most of us are getting used to wide screen or
high definition, and that's gone forwards in terms of quality,
music has certainly gone back.

To get as small a number of digits taken up as possible
something has to be sacrificed and it's unfortunately the
music.

Reuters/Nielsen

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FCC Orders Revamped Broadband Data

Exactly how many residences are connected to broadband service in the United States? Not sure? Neither is the federal government.

In an effort to improve its broadband data collection, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Thursday night that Internet service providers will have to start providing the agency with data on the percentage of their subscribers who are residential clients based on census tract areas.

Wired, terrestrial fixed wireless, and satellite broadband service providers already provide data on broadband subscribers, but do not break that information out into residential vs. business. They also report the data based on ZIP codes rather than census tract, which can provide a more granular look at a geographic location. ZIP codes are used purely for mailing purposes, can overlap, and often do not give an accurate description of a geographic area.

The FCC has taken some heat for not having an updated definition of broadband service, which is currently defined as 200 kilobits per second.

Providers will also be required to report download and upload transfer rates.

Mobile wireless broadband providers only report data on the state level, but under the new order they will have to provide the number of subscribers whose data plans allow them to browse the Internet.

Data is due to the FCC on March 1 and September 1 of each year.

Increasing broadband penetration rates in the United States has long been a goal of the commission and Congress, but the lack of available data makes it difficult to know exactly what regions are most underserved.

"Our current efforts are woefully out-of-date and out-of-whack," Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said during a September congressional hearing.

Current FCC broadband maps are "a disgrace," Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said at the same hearing.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill last July that would require more stringent broadband data collection, but it has not yet seen any additional action.

The FCC approved a similar order in March, but did not require providers to distinguish between residential and business customers at that time.

"I'm pleased that the commission has reconsidered its position and will now require that the data provided identify the extent to which the broadband service is residential rather than business," Copps said in a Thursday statement.

Small ISPs who think this is too much work? Tough, said the FCC.

"We conclude that any incremental burden associated with providing this information on the Census tract basis is outweighed by the utility of the data we will obtain," according to the order.

Interest group Free Press applauded the move. "This is one of those rare instances where reason, logic and the desire to act in the public interest triumphed over the narrow special interests of big business," S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press, said in a statement.

Free Press was not as enthused by the FCC's annual report on the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability in the United States that was released the same day. Perhaps paradoxically, the report found that advanced telecom services are "being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion."

"This report is completely divorced from reality," Turner said in a separate statement.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin acknowledged that "there is certainly more work to be done" on broadband penetration, but noted that the number of high-speed broadband lines have increased from 9 million lines to over 100 million lines since he joined the FCC in 2001.

"I think we can get there but we're going to have to do more than just issue self-satisfied reports and set high-minded goals," Copps warned.

Republican Commissioners Robert McDowell highlighted the strides the U.S. has made in broadband deployment, but said he would look forward to reviewing the more accurate data that will become available under the new reporting requirements.

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Video Game Industry Sees Soaring Sales

By Antone GonsalvesInformationWeek

video

Revenue this year already has surpassed sales for all of 1997, The NPD Group said Thursday in releasing May figures for sales at U.S. retail stores.

For the fourth consecutive month, Nintendo captured the top two slots in terms of hardware unit sales. The console maker sold more than 675,000 Wiis and almost 453,000 Nintendo DS portables. Sony's PlayStation 3 was third, followed by Microsoft's Xbox 360, fourth; and the PlayStation Portable.

The video game "Grand Theft Auto IV" became the top-selling title of the year at stores with total sales so far of 4.2 million units. The success of the game, however, hasn't translated into big hardware sales for either Sony or Microsoft. "But there may yet to be a lift in June due to gift-giving for Father's Day and graduations," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in an e-mailed statement.

"GTA IV," which game maker Take-Two Interactive Software released April 29, had the hottest debut in the history of video games. Take-Two reported selling 6 million units worldwide in the first week.

Among the other popular titles, NPD singled out "Guitar Hero III", which has sold 2.5 million units, compared with 1.3 million for rival "Rock Band." Both games were among the top 10 titles for the year so far. "A lot of folks are interested in the battle of the bands," Frazier said.

Overall, video game software sales were up 41% from May 2007, and 45% in the first five months of the year, compared with the same period a year ago. Video game hardware sales were up 34% for May, and 17% from January through May.

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Google Deal Void If Icahn Wins Control Of Yahoo

By Paul McDougallInformationWeek

MicrosoftYahoosearchoutsourcingGoogle

According the deal's fine print, disclosed Friday by Yahoo in a Securities and Exchange filing, Google is free to tear up the pact if a majority of Yahoo's current board is replaced at the behest of a third party, such as Icahn, at either of the company's next two shareholder meetings.

Icahn, as of early Friday, still planned to present a hand-picked slate of pro-Microsoft directors for election at Yahoo's annual meeting next month. The billionaire corporate raider also has said that he would outsource Yahoo's search to Google if he gains control of the company but is unable to persuade Microsoft to rekindle merger talks.

It appears, however, that Google wants no part of an Icahn-controlled Yahoo. The search deal allows Google "to suspend performance of the services" if Yahoo's board is replaced by Microsoft, Time Warner, or News Corp. at any time, or if it's replaced within the next two meetings by "any other person or group."

Both News Corp. and Time Warner have been seen as possible Yahoo suitors in addition to Microsoft.

Additionally, Yahoo would have to pay Google up to $250 million in break-up fees if the agreement is terminated as a result of Microsoft, Time Warner, or News Corp. acquiring a 35% voting stake or more in Yahoo.

The break-up fee is just the latest reason why it's unlikely Icahn will be able to convince Microsoft to reopen merger talks with Yahoo, even if he wins his proxy fight.

While some might consider the $250 million fee pocket change for the world's largest software maker, it comes in addition to an expensive severance plan that would be triggered at Yahoo if a merger were to occur. The plan could add more than $2 billion to the cost of a deal.

Yahoo employees who are axed within two years of a change in control of the company would receive between four months and two years of regular pay. The package also includes reimbursement for the cost of outplacement services for up to two years, extended medical benefits, and accelerated vesting of stock options.

Icahn has said the plan would add $2.4 billion to the cost of a Microsoft-Yahoo merger and has labeled it a "poison pill" adopted by Yahoo's board to sabotage negotiations. That, along with the terms of the Google search deal, means that Icahn's only realistic move at this point may be to drop his fight for Yahoo.

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FCC Reviews Cell Phone Terminations Fees

By W. David GardnerInformationWeek

cell phone users FCCCalifornia

No matter, said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin who noted that he has long argued for federal oversight of the cell phone cancellation fee issue, favoring a nationwide policy over a patchwork of policies from the 50 states.

"While I'm respectful of state regulators, I have been skeptical that lawsuits are a good way of ensuring protection for all consumers," he said. Martin noted that all consumers don't benefit from class action lawsuits. Such suits often result in huge paydays for attorneys and small awards for consumers.

Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel hailed its victory. "We're pleased that upon hearing all the testimony and examing all the evidence, the jury recognized that Sprint makes a significant investment in its customers through reduced handset prices and discounted monthly rates," a company spokesman wrote in an e-mail to reporters.

Similar litigation is pending against Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile.

Martin and the other FCC commissioners focused on several issues involving the early termination fees. "Too often consumers are surprised that the amount they owe on their first bill is not what they expected, only to then learn that their 'trial' period already ended and cancellation will result in paying the early termination fee."

Commissioner Michael Copps, citing a possible penalty of $800 for a family of four callers wishing to cancel a cell phone contract, suggested that the FCC needs "to better understand how state consumer protection laws affect carriers and consumers."

Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein pointed to recent consumer surveys, which place cell phone service as "among the lower-rated services" reviewed.

Some cell phone service providers have been working to improve their early termination fee policies and some favored the establishment of a national policy. At Thursday's hearing, a Verizon Wireless spokesman, for instance, said the company favors a national approach.

"Faced with the prospect of multiple state policies on this issue," said the firm's executive VP of public affairs Tom Tauke, "Verizon believes that appropriate federal action to establish a national policy is preferable."

The jury in California's Alameda County found that Sprint had suffered damages of $226 million because of customers who terminated their service early, while Sprint subscribers had paid $73.8 million in early termination fees. The Sprint spokesman said the figures used by the jury "validate the use of the early-termination fee and indicate that it was appropriate."

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US senator pledges antitrust review of Google-Yahoo deal

US Senatejoint ventureYahooGoogle

Senator Heb Kohl made the announcement late Thursday after Yahoo and Google announced a deal to put the Internet search king's expertise to work pumping money from advertising posted next to Yahoo Internet search results.

"This collaboration between two technology giants and direct competitors for Internet advertising and search services raises important competition concerns," Kohl said.

"The consequences for advertisers and consumers could be far-reaching and warrant careful review, and we plan to investigate the competitive and privacy implications of this deal further in the Antitrust Subcommittee."

The alliance focuses on text ads posted alongside Yahoo online search results but has the potential to expand to include display advertising.

The deal is limited to Yahoo web properties in the United States and Canada, but Google said there is potential to extend it to other parts of the world.

In a move evidently crafted to address anticipated antitrust concerns, the agreement frees Yahoo to also display paid search results from other third parties and its own Panama ad platform.

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Yahoo seeks Google's aid after Microsoft talks die

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer

Yahoo IncGoogle Inc

But after eluding Microsoft's grasp, Yahoo is now turning to Google to help squelch a rebellion among its shareholders who believe it should have accepted Microsoft's $47.5 billion buyout offer while it was still available last month.

Yahoo announced its decision to let Google handle some of its advertising sales late Thursday, just a few hours after revealing it unsuccessfully tried to persuade Microsoft to renew its previous offer of $33 per share. The snub caused Yahoo to conclude that there is no hope for any kind of deal with Microsoft.

Although Yahoo believes Google could help boost its annual revenue by $800 million, the advertising partnership wasn't enough to ease the disappointment of investors who had been holding out hope for a Microsoft deal.

Yahoo shares fell 85 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $22.67 in morning trading Friday after plunging 10.1 percent a day earlier. Google shares rose $12.96, or 2.3 percent, to $565.91 and Microsoft shares gained 53 cents to $28.77.

Part of the problem for Yahoo is that antitrust concerns might prevent an alliance with Google.

Google already holds about 75 percent of the $11 billion search advertising market in the United States with Yahoo a distant second at 9 percent, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc.

Microsoft and a variety of consumer-interest groups already have signaled they will turn up the political heat in an attempt to prevent Google from working with Yahoo.

The outcry already has drawn the attention of U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights.

"The consequences for advertisers and consumers could be far-reaching and warrant careful review, and we plan to investigate the competitive and privacy implications of this deal further," said Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat.

Yahoo and Google have voluntarily agreed to wait until late September to begin working together to give the government adequate time to review the arrangement. If it isn't blocked, the partnership could last for the next decade.

The antitrust scrutiny appears to be the least of Yahoo's worries for now.

The Sunnyvale-based company also is trying to fend off a shareholder mutiny led by activist investor Carl Icahn, who has vowed to replace the company's board because of the way the directors handled the Microsoft negotiations during the past 4 1/2 months.

But Icahn has been hoping to engineer a sale to Microsoft, so his campaign could be hurt by the perception that the software maker has lost all interest in buying Yahoo. Shareholders may be reluctant to support Icahn's attempted coup unless he can demonstrate his slate of directors has a better turnaround plan than the current board.

Icahn did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday.

The fate of Yahoo's board is scheduled to be determined at the company's Aug. 1 annual meeting.

"If you are a Yahoo shareholder, you just have to be scratching your head right now," said Standard and Poor's equity analyst Scott Kessler.

Jerry YangTerry SemelMicrosoft CEO Steve BallmerGoogleSergey BrinTime Warner Inc.SalesforceFacebook

Nevertheless, Yahoo still intends to use its own search engine to distribute some ads and process all search requests. Working with Google will give Yahoo "the best of both worlds," Yahoo President Sue Decker said a Thursday conference call.

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Yahoo, Google Partner On Ads, IM

By Thomas ClaburnInformationWeek

MicrosoftYahooGoogle

Google said that it has signed a nonexclusive deal to display its AdSense for Search and AdSense for Content ads on Yahoo's U.S. and Canadian Web properties. The arrangement gives Yahoo the option to display Google ads alongside Yahoo search results, on its Web properties and on the sites of its publishing partners.

"This commercial agreement provides Yahoo with the opportunity to deliver more relevant ads to users and provide advertisers and publishers with better advertising technology to help them succeed in their own businesses," said Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt in a statement. "This agreement will preserve the competitive and dynamic online advertising space."

The deal also includes a commitment to make the two companies' instant messaging networks interoperable.

"I believe [the Google-Yahoo deal] puts Yahoo on a faster track to creating value," Yahoo CEO Executive Jerry Yang said to investors on a conference call on Thursday afternoon. Yang said the same thing on Yahoo's blog.

Yahoo expects the deal to generate between $250 million and $450 million in incremental cash flow during its first year. The company estimates that the deal represents an $800 million annual revenue opportunity.

"I wanted to put this arrangement in perspective and comment on what it is and what it isn't," Yang wrote in his blog post about the deal. "First, it does not signal that Yahoo plans to exit paid search. Quite the contrary. Through the financial benefits of better monetizing our search traffic, we'll be investing in search services and ad platforms, including Panama. An independent search business is critical to our future. We will retain complete flexibility and will call the shots on where and how often Google ads will appear. While Google has better advertiser coverage in some query areas, we still have the ability to provide Panama ads where they are most valuable."

Panama is Yahoo's name for its search advertising platform. Delays in the deployment of Panama contributed to Yahoo's inability to deliver ads as profitably as Google.

Executives from both Yahoo and Google stressed that the deal would promote competition. That competition is likely to be most apparent in mobile search and display advertising efforts, given that the deal covers advertising on the Web. Both Google and Yahoo see significant upside potential in advertising on mobile devices.

"The truth is, this kind of arrangement is commonplace in many industries, and it doesn't foreclose robust competition," said Omid Kordestani, Google's senior VP of global sales and business development, in a blog post. "Toyota sells its hybrid technology to General Motors, even though they are the number one and number two car manufacturers globally. Canon provides laser printer engines for HP, despite also competing in the broader laser printer market. Google and Yahoo will continue to be vigorous competitors, and that competition will help fuel innovation that is good for users."

The reason for this is clear. As Kordestani acknowledged, Google and Yahoo have been in contact with regulators and will have to address their concerns about the deal. The companies have agreed to delay implementing the deal for three and a half months to allow the U.S. Department of Justice time to scrutinize the deal. The arrangement could last as long as 10 years: There's an initial term of four years and two three-year extensions are possible, at Yahoo's discretion.

Nonetheless, the chairman of a U.S. Senate antitrust subcommittee said on Thursday lawmakers would "closely examine" the collaboration between Google and Yahoo, Reuters reported. Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin said the deal between Google and Yahoo "raises important competition concerns."

"The consequences for advertisers and consumers could be far-reaching and warrant careful review, and we plan to investigate the competitive and privacy implications of this deal further in the Antitrust Subcommittee," Kohl said in a statement.

But antitrust lawyers said the deal would probably not meet trouble with antitrust authorities.

Reuters quoted antitrust lawyer Stephen Axinn, of the firm Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, as saying: "I can't visualize this being a problem. It seems to me not to be an anti-competitive contract on its face."

The main question antitrust officials will look at, Axinn said, is whether the arrangement would lock out competitors or eliminate competition. "And I don't think it does either one," he said.

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Intel Promotes Greater Multi-Core Use Through SOA Tool

By Charles BabcockInformationWeek

service-oriented architecture development toolbusnetwork protocols

Dubbed the SOA Expressway, Intel announced it at Gartner's Application Architecture, Development & Integration Summit this week in Orlando, Fla. "We are very agnostic about the endpoints on either side. We can be an intermediary between them," said Intel's Girish Juneja, director of SOA products.

SOA Expressway is intended to speed up the conversion of large and small enterprise infrastructures to multiple, interoperable services, regardless of the technology origin of the service. It can integrate applications or services built in Microsoft's .Net, for example, with database servers or Web server applications built in Java.

Intel terms it a soft appliance, although that means something different than VMware's software appliance. With the latter, you get an application and operating system teamed up in a file ready to run in a virtual machine. A "soft appliance," on the other hand, has nothing to do with virtualization; it's Intel's way of saying there's no hardware involved but the appliance will do its job faster than the software it replaces, something like a hardware appliance.

SOA Expressway can act as an intermediary between software islands, such as servers and applications on one network protocol that are isolated from those on another. If IT developers are connecting one application to another using XML data, SOA Express will speed up the parsing and conversion of XML from one point to the other.

It supports discovery of services based on WSDL and the WS- line of Web standards, such as WS-Security and WS-Transactions from the Oasis standards group. It also includes a Web Services Designer, a graphical development environment for creating data mappings and workflows, and Web Management Console, a browser-based administrative console to use Expressway components to set up database connections, server clusters, or network protocol adapters.

Business processes may be designed as a set of services in Web Services Designer, then given a workflow to execute in Business Process Execution Language. Intel built SOA Expressway in part for its own SOA needs. It included intelligence that knows how to take common integration tasks, such as XML processing, and spread it across a multicore Xeon chip, yielding much better performance in SOA projects than might otherwise be obtained.

Joe Natoli, Intel's platform architect for the SOA product group, said Intel will sell SOA Expressway through its own sales team until it can seed the market. Then it will offer it through resellers and system integrators. More information on SOA Expressway may be found at www.intel/pressroom, blogs.intel. Information may be requested from intelsoainfo@intel.

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Obama combats darker side of Internet politics

by Jitendra Joshi

Democrat Barack Obama

Pausing from a war of words with Republican John McCain over taxes, the African-American senator Thursday unveiled an interactive website to debunk false rumors peddled by email and right-wing media outlets.

The site at www.fightthesmears was created after one recent, and thus-far unfounded, assertion that Obama's wife Michelle had been caught on tape slurring white people.

"People can upload their address books and easily send fact-based emails to their friends and family," he said.

Obama's main campaign website already has a fact-check section to refute rumors such as that the Christian candidate is a secret Muslim. But aides said the new site went further in inviting supporters to spread the word.

Political candidates have traditionally refused to acknowledge slanderous rumors for fear of giving them respectability.

But given the slew of attacks being spread by email against Obama, his campaign said it had to respond in kind by harnessing the "viral" power of the Internet to add to his impressive record of online fundraising.

Another online political fund-raising phenomenon, Republican Congressman Ron Paul, announced Thursday he was bowing out of the presidential race.

The longshot libertarian-leaning candidate had harnessed the power of the web early on in the White House race by raising tens of millions of dollars online for his bid, and drew a huge grass-roots following.

Obama's new website was launched after reports, by conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh among others, that a videotape existed showing Michelle Obama using the derogatory term "whitey" in the couple's former church.

No such tape has surfaced despite frenzied speculation by right-wing pundits and blogs, and Obama last week decried the mainstream media's attention to "dirt and lies."

The Democrat was back on the offensive a day after ditching Washington insider Jim Johnson, who was leading his search for a vice presidential nominee, over allegations of sweetened mortgage terms from a lender at the heart of the US "subprime" housing crisis.

Obama and McCain clashed afresh on policy as a CNN poll suggested that 50 percent of voters prefer the Democrat on the economy against 44 percent for the Republican. But McCain led by 54 percent to 43 on foreign policy.

Citing a new study by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill said one-quarter of the benefits under McCain's tax plan would go to people earning more than three million dollars a year.

President George W. BushRepresentative Eric CantorSenator Barack Obama

Website refutes smears directed at Barack Obama

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Australian regulator signals no deal on eBay plan

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer

EBayAustralia

Australia was the first place where eBay was planning the PayPal-only system, though the company often tests big changes in smaller markets before expanding them worldwide.

The plan angered some users who said using PayPal would cost them more than other payment methods such as bank transfers, and that eBay was just interested in increasing revenue for PayPal, which it owns.

The government's fair-trading regulator the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission opened an investigation into the plan and considered submissions from Australian banks and users of the online auction site claiming the restrictions were unfair.

"The ACCC is concerned that the notified conduct will allow eBay to use its market power in the supply of online marketplaces to substantially lessen competition in the market in which PayPal operates," Chairman Graeme Samuel said in a statement Thursday.

Acknowledging one of eBay's main arguments for the change, Samuel said plan had "the potential to deliver some benefits to users such as increased buyer protection insurance in certain circumstances."

"However, the ACCC believes that consumers are in the best position to decide which payment method is most suitable for them," he said.

EBay said it will delay the removal of non-PayPal methods from its Australian site until July 15 — a postponement of almost one month from the June 17 planned start date — and will again try to convince the regulator to let it go ahead.

"EBay believes the consumer benefits of this initiative are worth fighting for on behalf of its buyers which will ultimately benefit sellers," the company said in a statement.

EBay Inc., based in San Jose, Calif., said says it wants to reduce disputes and restore trust in its marketplace with the PayPal-only plan. Because eBay and PayPal can share information on each transaction, eBay says use of PayPal allows it to stop fraud more efficiently than outside payment services.

PayPal allows individuals who are not able to accept credit cards to receive payment for items sold online. Buyers use their credit cards and bank account information to make payments, and PayPal relays the funds to sellers' PayPal accounts, charging them a fee plus a commission.

Other methods of payment on eBay currently include bank transfers, personal checks, money orders, and cash on delivery.

The commission had informed eBay in a notice that it planned to block the PayPal-only plan, and invited the company and other interested parties to make submission before a final decision is taken.

"EBay challenges (the) Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's draft notice and is disappointed that the ACCC's current view delays the opportunity to provide consumers a more secure way to shop on eBay.au with confidence," the company said.

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Chinese Woman Disrobes Online for Earthquake Donations

Steven Schwankert, IDG News Service

Known only by as "Xiaoyun," or "Little Cloud" in Mandarin, she has posted as many as 100 photos of herself in various poses ranging from clothed to in her underwear to seemingly naked.

However, she claims her motivation is not intended to publicize herself, but to keep eyes focused on her native province. "I am not from Shanghai, I'm from Sichuan, my hometown was hit by the recent earthquake. I have seen people from all over the country help Sichuan, and I am really happy. I hope everyone can continue donating for Sichuan, so I am posting some photos to encourage contributions."

Chinese bulletin board users have had mixed reactions to the photos. "What is with these post-90 girls, why don't they know anything about Marxist theory and work ethic? What do they hope to achieve taking everything off?" wrote one poster known as "First Light on South Street." "Post-90 girls" refers to young women born after 1990 who are often stereotyped for being materialistic and lacking morals.

"This just gets more and more crazy. I don't understand it," said a poster known as "pthxhy2008."

In May, police detained Gao Qianhui, a 21-year-old woman from Liaoning province, for making an online video of herself complaining about the lack of regular television programming during a three-day national mourning period. The mourning period commemorated the nearly 70,000 victims of the May 12 earthquake.

Xiaoyun is not the first person, in China or elsewhere, to use the Internet as a vehicle for self-promotion. In 2005, Shi Hengxia, better known as her online persona "Sister Lotus" ("Furong Jiejie" in Mandarin), achieved national notoriety for her blog posts and attempts at alluring photos. Chinese government regulators moved against her in 2006, keeping her off state-run television and asking Internet portals to keep her off of prominent positions on their sites.

One observer dismissed the woman's altruistic claims, saying she is just the latest person to be elevated to an Internet celebrity by posting racy photos of herself. But "the difference is perhaps that a lot more people in China seem to care," said Jeremy Goldkorn, editor of English-language media blog Danwei.org.

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MySpace revamping Web site to help boost usage

MySpace

Search capabilities are being improved, for instance, with results on other users, music, video, the general MySpace site and the Web at large sorted into separate tabs. The most relevant tab will be automatically highlighted, and searches on other users will include the ability to filter by location, gender or age and invite them to be friends.

The News Corp.-owned social-networking site also is updating its profile editor to make customization easier, while a new navigation bar provides easy access to messaging, friends and other community features from wherever users are, not just on the home page.

Tom Anderson, MySpace's co-founder and president, said the changes are part of an ongoing effort to shatter any perception that the site is only for teens and young adults. That meant finding ways to make it easier for the average Internet user to customize their personal profiles and find features like classifieds that might have gotten lost in the clutter.

"We felt like we reached a point where MySpace in its original incarnation had peaked in a way," Anderson said in an interview. "We were wondering how we can expand our market and appeal to new people. We looked at some of the reasons why someone might not use MySpace."

MySpace also plans to reduce the number of ads displayed in hopes of letting the higher-priced premium placements stand out.

The new features will begin to appear on MySpace Wednesday.

MySpace's leading rival, Facebook, also is undergoing a redesign.

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Ashanti's bloody videos spark protest

By Mariel Concepcion
13 minutes ago

Los Angeles

Led by civil-rights organization Project Islamic Hope and
its leader, Najee Ali, more than two dozen parents and
religious leaders gathered outside the West Coast
Universal/Motown offices on Tuesday (June 10) to voice their
displeasure with the videos.

One clip features a scorned lover, played by Ashanti, who
gets revenge on her cheating boyfriend by stabbing him to
death. Images include a murder scene with a bloody knife and
the boyfriend's body in a tub.

A separate promotional video includes a fake news reports
about a killing spree allegedly inspired by Ashanti's love
crime, as well as bloody walls with the words "black children
will die" smeared on them. Before the protest, the promo video
was viewable on TheWayThatILoveYou, but the site has since
been removed.

The site allowed visitors to send customized versions of
the promotional video called "Gotchagrams," with options to
input a friend's name, their "crime" and "weapon of choice."

"Following discussions with Ashanti, we have jointly
decided to remove the TheWayThatILoveYou website that hosts
the Gotchagram," reads a statement from Universal. "Ashanti and
her music have always been about self-empowerment and
addressing the issues that are most meaningful to her. We stand
by our artist and her creative choices."

"The Way That I Love You" is the first single from her new
album, "The Declaration," which debuts this week at No. 6 on
the Billboard 200.

Reuters/Billboard

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AT&T looking at charging heavy Internet users extra

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer
53 minutes ago

AT&T IncInternet provider

"A form of usage-based pricing for those customers who have abnormally high usage patterns is inevitable," spokesman Michael Coe said this week.

The top 5 percent of AT&T's DSL customers use 46 percent of the total bandwidth, Coe said. Overall bandwidth use on the network is surging, doubling every year and a half.

AT&T doesn't have any specific plans or fees to announce yet, Coe said.

Most cable companies have official or secret caps on the amount of data they allow subscribers to download every month. Time Warner Cable started a trial earlier this month in Beaumont, Texas, under which it will charge subscribers who go over their monthly bandwidth cap $1 per gigabyte.

Cable companies are at the forefront of usage-based pricing because neighbors share capacity on the local cable lines, and bandwidth hogs can slow down traffic for others. Phone companies have been less concerned about congestion because the phone lines they use to provide Internet service using DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line technology, aren't shared between neighbors, but AT&T is evidently concerned about congestion higher up in the network.

Those who mainly do Web surfing or e-mail use little data and have scant reason to pay attention to traffic caps. But those who download movies or TV, particularly in high definition, can hit the caps imposed by cable companies.

Download caps could put a crimp in the plans of services like Apple Inc.'s iTunes that use the Internet to deliver video. DVD-by-mail pioneer Netflix Inc. just launched a TV set-top box that receives an unlimited stream of Internet video to a TV set for as little as $8.99 per month.

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