EU raises privacy issue for Google Street View

Europe's data protection supervisor, Peter Hustinx, urged Google Thursday to respect local privacy rules as it prepares to launch its Street View function this side of the Atlantic. ...continue reading 'EU raises privacy issue for Google Street View'

Twitter restored after outage

Twitter resumed normal service just before 6 p.m. PDT Thursday following an unscheduled outage, the company confirmed on its blog. ...continue reading 'Twitter restored after outage'

Rent-a-botnet makes cyber crime a breeze

Online fraudsters that aren't highly skilled in the arts of cyber crime can now rent a service that offers an all-in-one hosting server with a built-in Zeus trojan administration panel and infecting tools, allowing them to create their own botnet. ...continue reading 'Rent-a-botnet makes cyber crime a breeze'

EBay seller pleads guilty to software piracy charges

A 23-year-old Oregon man has pleaded guilty to charges that he used identity theft to set up bogus accounts on eBay, where he sold counterfeit software with a retail value of more than $1 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said. ...continue reading 'EBay seller pleads guilty to software piracy charges'

Study: Comcast, Cox slowing P2P traffic around the clock

Cable broadband providers Comcast and Cox Communications are slowing BitTorrent traffic at all times of the day, not just during peak traffic, according to a new study by a German computer research group. ...continue reading 'Study: Comcast, Cox slowing P2P traffic around the clock'

Icahn takes on Yahoo board

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has sent a letter to Yahoo's board announcing he is nominating 10 candidates to replace all incumbent directors at the company's shareholders meeting in July. ...continue reading 'Icahn takes on Yahoo board'

DNS trouble knocks National Security Agency off Internet

A server problem at the U.S. National Security Agency has knocked the secretive intelligence agency off the Internet. ...continue reading 'DNS trouble knocks National Security Agency off Internet'

U.S. online ad revenue hit $21.2 billion in 2007

U.S. online ad spending increased 26 percent in 2007 over 2006, as the Google-dominated search format not only remained the market's largest, but also increased its share of the overall pie. ...continue reading 'U.S. online ad revenue hit $21.2 billion in 2007'

Yahoo Search Monkey opens to all developers

Yahoo will make available to all developers its Search Monkey platform on Thursday, another step in its wide-ranging effort to open up its sites and services. ...continue reading 'Yahoo Search Monkey opens to all developers'

AOL to open its e-mail sites to third-party applications

AOL plans to launch later this year a program that will allow third-party developers to develop applications and content, including instant messaging and social networking, for its e-mail sites. ...continue reading 'AOL to open its e-mail sites to third-party applications'

CBS to buy CNET Networks for $1.8 billion

CBS has agreed to pay $1.8 billion in cash for online media company CNET Networks in a deal that has the backing of both companies' boards. ...continue reading 'CBS to buy CNET Networks for $1.8 billion'

IBM boosts BlackBerry access to Cognos, Lotus software

IBM has released software that allows BlackBerry users to access more of its applications, including its Cognos business intelligence software and Lotus Connections. ...continue reading 'IBM boosts BlackBerry access to Cognos, Lotus software'

Comcast to buy Plaxo for social networking

Comcast will acquire social-networking company Plaxo to power upcoming community features on its TV, broadband data and phone services. ...continue reading 'Comcast to buy Plaxo for social networking'

AT&T limits iPhone, one per customer

AT&T is now limiting iPhone sales to one unit per customer, presumably to stretch out available stock pending release of the new version iPhone. ...continue reading 'AT&T limits iPhone, one per customer'

Report: Icahn to launch proxy fight against Yahoo

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn will proceed with his plan to replace Yahoo's entire board in an effort to force the company to reopen merger negotiations with Microsoft, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. ...continue reading 'Report: Icahn to launch proxy fight against Yahoo'

Craigslist countersues eBay, escalating legal fight

Classified-advertising site Craigslist is countersuing eBay, accusing the online auction company of using its stake in Craigslist to misappropriate proprietary information and engage in false advertising, trademark infringement and a host of other wrongdoings. ...continue reading 'Craigslist countersues eBay, escalating legal fight'

Hacker writes rootkit for Cisco's routers

A security researcher has developed malicious rootkit software for Cisco Systems' routers, a development that has placed increasing scrutiny on the routers that carry the majority of the Internet's traffic. ...continue reading 'Hacker writes rootkit for Cisco's routers'

SEC charges former Broadcom executives with backdating

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two current and two former officers of semiconductor vendor Broadcom for their alleged participation in a supposed five-year scheme to backdate stock options granted to almost all of the company's employees. ...continue reading 'SEC charges former Broadcom executives with backdating'

FCC takes first step toward spectrum re-auction

The Federal Communications Commission has taken a first step toward re-auctioning a band of spectrum that failed to sell in the 700MHz auctions that ended in March. ...continue reading 'FCC takes first step toward spectrum re-auction'

Philly won't fight to save Wi-Fi network

The city of Philadelphia is moving on after its brief municipal Wi-Fi relationship with EarthLink, no longer trying to find a way to keep the network up and running. ...continue reading 'Philly won't fight to save Wi-Fi network'

Virgin USA in talks over mobile operator Helio

Virgin Mobile USA is in talks with SK Telecom over a possible deal involving Helio, the U.S. mobile operator that gears itself toward affluent youngsters but has struggled to make a profit since its launch. ...continue reading 'Virgin USA in talks over mobile operator Helio'

Powerset unveils test version of Google-killer

The public will get its first chance Monday to test a search engine from start-up Powerset that eschews conventional keyword technology and instead is designed to understand the meaning of Web pages. ...continue reading 'Powerset unveils test version of Google-killer'

BlackBerry Bold beats iPhone to 3G

Amid swirling rumors about the impending announcement of a 3G iPhone, Research in Motion today introduced its slickest, speediest, most powerful, and most connected BlackBerry to date: the BlackBerry Bold 9000. ...continue reading 'BlackBerry Bold beats iPhone to 3G'

China earthquake takes out mobile network in Chengdu

An earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter Scale knocked out mobile phone service in the western Chinese city of Chengdu, although fixed-line networks remained in service, Chinese state television reported Monday afternoon. ...continue reading 'China earthquake takes out mobile network in Chengdu'

Vertica moves BI database to Amazon's cloud

Database maker Vertica Systems is moving its technology to Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud infrastructure (EC2), hoping to score customers who want a hosted, pay-as-you-go model for data warehousing and BI (business intelligence), the company announced Monday. ...continue reading 'Vertica moves BI database to Amazon's cloud'

MSI's upcoming Wind laptop priced from $560

Taiwanese hardware maker Micro-Star International's upcoming Wind laptop can be preordered starting from US$560. ...continue reading 'MSI's upcoming Wind laptop priced from $560'

AMD refreshes low-power Quad-Core Opterons lineup

Advanced Micro Devices is shipping B3 versions of its low-power Quad-Core Opteron processors. ...continue reading 'AMD refreshes low-power Quad-Core Opterons lineup'

Hackers create their own social network

Hackers now have their own social network, backed by GnuCitizen, a high-profile 'ethical hacking' group. ...continue reading 'Hackers create their own social network'

Srizbi grows into world's largest botnet

The prodigious Srizbi botnet has continued to grow and now accounts for up to 50 percent of the spam being filtered by one security company. ...continue reading 'Srizbi grows into world's largest botnet'

Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptops

Microsoft is launching a program to promote the use of its Windows OS in ultra low-cost PCs, one effect of which will be to limit the hardware capabilities of this type of device. ...continue reading 'Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptops'

FBI worried as DoD sold counterfeit networking gear

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is taking the issue of counterfeit Cisco equipment very seriously, according to a leaked FBI presentation that underscores problems in the Cisco supply chain. ...continue reading 'FBI worried as DoD sold counterfeit networking gear'

Hackers find a new place to hide rootkits

Security researchers have developed a new type of malicious rootkit software that hides itself in an obscure part of a computer's microprocessor, hidden from current antivirus products. ...continue reading 'Hackers find a new place to hide rootkits'

Microsoft to appeal $1.3 billion EU fine

Microsoft is appealing the US$1.3 billion (€899 million) fine imposed on it by the European Union for failing to honor a 2004 antitrust agreement, the company said Friday. ...continue reading 'Microsoft to appeal $1.3 billion EU fine'

Google takes Street View snaps in Paris; lawsuits may follow

Google has begun scanning the streets of Paris, gathering data for its Street View service, which adds street-level photography to the satellite views offered by Google Maps. The search company will gather a wealth of data from the project but, thanks to France's strict privacy laws, it may also pick up a few lawsuits on the way if it chooses to publish the photos unedited. ...continue reading 'Google takes Street View snaps in Paris; lawsuits may follow'

Vint Cerf supports municipal broadband networks

Municipal broadband networks could help boost the availability of high-speed Internet access and even help to ensure Net neutrality in the U.S., said Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google. ...continue reading 'Vint Cerf supports municipal broadband networks'