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AP Technology NewsBrief at 4:20 p.m. EST(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) FCC adopts new rules against 'robocalls'NEW YORK (AP) _ The federal government is cracking down on "robocalls," those automated phone calls with the tendency to interrupt Sunday dinners and otherwise annoy consumers. The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it will now require telemarketers to obtain written consent from people before placing a robocall. Written does not mean handwritten, though _ electronic forms are OK. Cisco challenges Microsoft takeover of Skype in EUBRUSSELS (AP) _ Networking company Cisco said Wednesday that it is challenging Microsoft's $8.5 billion takeover of Skype at the European Union's top court to ensure Microsoft won't block other video conferencing services. Microsoft completed the deal in October shortly after the European Commission, the EU's competition regulator, cleared the takeover. Microsoft Corp. hopes that owning Skype will allow it to better compete with other tech giants including Apple Inc. or Google Inc. FCC plans to nix wireless network that may jam GPSNEW YORK (AP) _ Federal officials plan to kill a proposal to build a new national high-speed wireless network after concluding it would in some cases jam personal-navigation and other GPS devices. The Federal Communications Commission sought comments Wednesday on revoking LightSquared's permit after a federal agency that coordinates wireless signals, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, concluded that there's no way to eliminate the risk of interference with GPS devices. Chicago asked not to stifle wireless at summitsCHICAGO (AP) _ Protesters will be flocking to Chicago for May's G-8 and NATO summits armed with smartphones, video cameras and links to social media sites they'll use for strategizing and sharing images of what's happening _ right in front of a police force known for responding with tough tactics. Now a city councilman wants to forbid the police department from pulling the plug on the electronic communication during the events, taking away a tactic employed by authorities during a crackdown on democratic protests in Egypt and during protests in the San Francisco Bay Area last year. Swiss craft janitor satellites to grab space junkGENEVA (AP) _ The tidy Swiss want to clean up space. Swiss scientists said Wednesday they plan to launch a "janitor satellite" specially designed to get rid of space junk, the orbiting debris that can do serious and costly damage to valuable satellites or even manned space ships. Alibaba to reach out to Yahoo CEO on stalled dealHONG KONG (AP) _ Alibaba Group and Japan's Softbank will go directly to Yahoo's chief executive, bypassing negotiators from the U.S. Internet company, after talks over the sale of Yahoo's Asian holdings broke down, a person familiar with the negotiations said Wednesday. The struggling Internet company has been in discussions to sell its stakes in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Yahoo Japan back to Alibaba and Yahoo Japan shareholder Softbank Corp. Comcast subscribers almost stop cancelling cableNEW YORK (AP) _ It's become the routine in the cable industry that subscribers stream out the door every quarter, hanging up on cable in favor of service from satellite or phone companies. But in the October to December quarter, Comcast Corp. nearly managed to stop that flow. The country's largest cable company on Wednesday said it lost 17,000 TV customers in the fourth quarter, the smallest number of defections in five years. It compares with a loss of 135,000 subscribers in the same quarter a year earlier. Urgent tweet in Kenya village: Help, sheep missingLANET UMOJA, Kenya (AP) _ When the administrative chief of this western Kenyan village received an urgent 4 a.m. call that thieves were invading a school teacher's home, he sent a message on Twitter. Within minutes residents in this village of stone houses gathered outside the home, and the thugs fled. "My wife and I were terrified," said teacher Michael Kimotho. "But the alarm raised by the chief helped." Japan planned review of tsunami risk, but too lateTOKYO (AP) _ Four days before a tsunami devastated a Japanese nuclear plant, its operator promised a fuller assessment of the risk of such a disaster _ but not for seven months. The disclosure in a three-page briefing paper obtained by The Associated Press raises questions about whether the utility and regulators were too complacent about studies that suggested a tsunami could overwhelm the defenses at the 40-year-old Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. Yahoo faces investor mutiny as Asia talks unravelSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Yahoo's hopes for a fresh start under a new CEO faded Tuesday as its closely watched discussions to sell most of its Asian holdings unraveled and a frustrated shareholder announced that he will try to seize four seats on the struggling Internet company's board. The developments, which unfolded within a few hours of each other, mean Yahoo's recently hired CEO Scott Thompson will have to deal with more uncertainty and potential upheaval than he probably would have liked as he tries to end a strategic and financial malaise that has depressed the company's stock price for years. (c) 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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