[Software News] Sports superstars top young earners list
[Software News] Experts Warn of Online Coupon Scams
SAN FRANCISCO - Online shopping scams could become a major security threat in the weeks leading up to Christmas as consumers eagerly type in credit card numbers, click on discount coupons and participate in online promotions, security experts worry. Instead of moneysaving deals, e-mailed coupons could lead recipients into "phishing" schemes where the consumer is redirected to a copycat site, whose r...
[Software News] Facebook lets users block marketing tool
SAN FRANCISCO - Saying it went too far in its pursuit of profit, the popular Internet hangout Facebook Inc. is allowing its 55 million users to permanently turn off a new marketing tool that tracks their activities at other Web sites. The privacy control, announced in a Wednesday apology by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, will likely limit the reach of an application called "Beacon." The tool is p...
[Software News] House ups penalties on Internet porn
WASHINGTON - Internet service providers would be given specific responsibilities to report child pornography on their sites and face tough penalties for not doing so under a bill passed Wednesday by the House. The House also approved a bill to double spending for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a private, nonprofit group created in 1984 with a congressional mandate to act as ...
[Software News] Facebook apologizes for ad platform 'mistakes'
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday apologized online to members for "mistakes" made implementing a new ad platform and gave them a way to switch it off. Last week the hot social networking website changed its nascent "Beacon" advertising platform to an opt-in system to soothe members outraged by what they saw as an assault on thei...
[Software News] News Corp. buys Beliefnet
LOS ANGELES - News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group has acquired Beliefnet, a Web site catering to faith communities, in a move designed to boost online marketing and distribution of Fox's film and TV programs. Financial terms of the deal, which closed Tuesday, were not disclosed. Beliefnet boasts of being the largest online community for "spirituality and inspiration," offering social-networking too...
[Software News] F-Secure: Malware samples doubled in one year
San Francisco - Finnish security vendor F-Secure has collected twice as many malicious software samples this year than it has over the last 20 years, a trend that highlights the growing danger of malicious software on the Internet. Through the end of 2006 and 20 years prior, F-Secure counted a total of 250,000 samples, said Mikko Hypponen, F-Secure's chief research officer. This year a...
[Software News] Apple, AT&T Sued over Visual Voicemail Patents
On Monday, Klausner Technologies filed a patent lawsuit against AT&T, Apple, Comcast, Cablevision, and eBay. The allegation: a violation of its visual voicemail patents. The suits were filed in a federal court in the Eastern District of Texas. In suing AT&T for selling the Apple iPhone with its visual voicemail service, Klausner is seeking damages and future royalties estimated at $360 million...
[Software News] Music group seeks share in concert ticket re-sales
LONDON (Reuters) - Music management groups representing some of Britain's biggest acts are seeking a share of the proceeds from concert tickets re-sold over the Internet on Web sites like eBay, Viagogo and Seat Exchange. But they are likely to face stiff resistance from the sites, one of which has argued that such a levy would effectively mean paying an artist twice for the same ticket. Managem...
[Software News] Al Qaeda-linked Web sites number 5,600: researcher
RIYADH (Reuters) - There are now about 5,600 Web sites spreading al Qaeda's ideology worldwide, and 900 more are appearing each year, a Saudi researcher told a national security conference on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has identified the Internet as a key battlefield with militants who launched a campaign to topple the U.S.-allied ruling royal family in...
[Software News] Britney tops Yahoo searches for 2007
NEW YORK - Curious about Britney Spears...and wrestling...and Iran? So are millions of Internet users, said Yahoo Search. Spears topped Yahoo's list of top 10 searches in 2007. The pop star's troubled year propelled her past professional wrestling mecca WWE, Paris Hilton, the Japanese cartoon Naruto and Beyonce. Lindsay Lohan, the online adventure game Rune Scape, Fantasy Football, Fergie and Jessica Alba also made the list, respectively. ...
[Software News] Estonia launches embassy in virtual world Second Life
TALLINN (AFP) - Tech-savvy Estonia Tuesday launched an embassy in the Internet fantasy world Second Life, with features ranging from highbrow exhibition halls to a canine news anchor, the foreign ministry said. Estonia, a European Union minnow nation of 1.3 million people, had its appetite whetted after Baltic Sea neighbour Sweden opened a virtual diplomatic mission earlier this yea...
[Software News] Update: Sun dangles prize money over open-source efforts
San Francisco - Sun Microsystems on Wednesday will release details of a new award program meant to spur growth and activity within the company's open-source efforts, according to a post by Sun's open-source officer, Simon Phipps, on his corporate blog. "We'll be providing a substantial prize purse and working with the communities involved to develop the approach that works best,&quo...
[Software News] Nokia sees growth in mobile users in '08
HELSINKI, Finland - Nokia Corp. said Tuesday it expects the global market for mobile devices to grow 10 percent next year, and the company plans to provide its handset owners with more music as part of efforts to enhance its Internet services. But markets had expected higher growth, and shares in Nokia dropped $1.17, or nearly 3 percent, to $39.07 in New York. In a phone interview Tuesday, Pacific C...
[Software News] Nokia Details Mobile Strategy Shift
Nokia executives told investors this week that the company's increased focus on Internet-based services and software would provide the world's No. 1 cell-phone maker with the extra edge it will need to continue to grow its commanding share of the handset market in 2008 and beyond. "We are at the dawn of a new era in mobile communications driven by the rapid convergence of the Inte...
[Software News] Kyrgyz candidate barred from election over blog
BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyz authorities disqualified an opposition candidate on Tuesday ahead of next week's parliamentary election, accusing him of illegally publishing a copy of the official ballot paper on his personal Web site. The Central Election Commission said publishing the ballot papers could help forgers falsify the vote and barred Edil Baisalov of the Social Democratic party f...
[Software News] Web site helps Canadian shoppers get U.S. deals
TORONTO (Reuters) - A Web site is offering help for Canadian shoppers crossing the border to find bargains in the United States, offering a range of tips including estimated border wait times and directions to the best deals. The Canadian site, www.crossbordershopping.ca, also provides information on personal tax exemption allowances, importing vehicles, exchange rates, and a deal-alert new...
[Software News] Nokia Unveils Internet Services
Nokia unveiled an ambitious plan on Tuesday to move beyond cell phones and deeper into the world of Internet services, where it will compete more directly with Google, Apple and Microsoft. The plan centers on its Web site at Ovi.com, which Nokia will market as a "personal dashboard" where users can share photos with friends, buy music and access third-party services like Yahoo's Flickr...
[Software News] Google integrates AIM into Gmail
San Francisco - Google has integrated AOL's popular AIM instant-messaging service into its Gmail Web-based e-mail client, the company announced on Tuesday. Gmail has had its own chat service since February 2006, but now Gmail users will be able to connect to AIM through a drop-down menu on the Gmail Web page, Google said. Gmail users can sign into AIM through the "set status here" menu...
[Software News] Adobe Unveils Flash Media Server 3 Product Line
Adobe Systems on Tuesday introduced the Flash Media Server 3 product line, cutting prices on the software used to stream applications and Flash-encoded video to Web sites. The platform upgrade, scheduled to ship in January, comprises a streaming server edition and an interactive server edition. The products are capable of nearly double the amount of streams than the previous FMS 2 platform, accor...