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AP Technology NewsBrief at 8:14 a.m. EDT
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Cable ads attacking Verizon confuse consumersNEW YORK (AP) _ Avery Axel was annoyed with his cable company, Comcast, and was considering switching to Verizon's new FiOS fiber-optic TV and Internet service. The picture on his TV would freeze now and then, and he had heard good things about FiOS. Then the 21-year-old student saw a TV commercial from Comcast that made fun of FiOS and claimed the cable TV company has a larger fiber-optic network.
N.M. school tries to reach students via podcastFORT SUMNER, N.M. (AP) _ Students at a rural New Mexico school made a unique pledge last winter: Right hands raised, they promised to take care of their Zunes. This past semester, nearly every one of the roughly 100 students at Fort Sumner High School was outfitted with the Microsoft media player, similar to Apple's iPod, enabling them to watch videos and listen to recorded lectures created or recommended by teachers and fellow students. It was one of two schools nationwide taking part in the project.
Canadian court allows largest ever leveraged buyoutTORONTO (AP) _ BCE Inc. on Friday won the right to go ahead with the largest leveraged buyout in history, a US$35 billion deal that the telecommunications company's bondholders fought, saying it would reduce their holdings to junk. Canada's Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that the sale of BCE, the parent of telecommunications holding company Bell Canada, to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and its minority U.S. partners didn't adequately consider bondholders' interests.
Microsoft must pay Alcatel-Lucent $512M for patentsSEATTLE (AP) _ A federal judge ordered Microsoft Corp. to pay Alcatel-Lucent $511.6 million in damages and interest, letting stand a jury's decision that the software maker infringed on two patents. Microsoft vowed to appeal the decision, which marked the latest move in a 5-year-old patent scuffle between the two companies.
AP, blogger resolve dispute over copyrightNEW YORK (AP) _ A news discussion site and The Associated Press have resolved a dispute over an AP demand that the site remove some of the news agency's content. In a statement Friday, Rogers Cadenhead said he is "glad" the dispute over his site, the Drudge Retort, has ended. He said a larger conflict remains between AP's view of acceptable use of its content and the practices of many bloggers. Cadenhead declined to comment further, referring all questions to his attorney.
3 more Yahoo execs reportedly jumping shipSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Yahoo Inc.'s management ranks are rapidly thinning as the Internet pioneer fends off a shareholder mutiny threatening to culminate in the firing of Chief Executive Jerry Yang. Three more executives have decided to jump ship, according to reports published Thursday by two blogs _ AllThingsD and Techcrunch _ and The New York Times. The reports were based on unnamed people with knowledge of the departures.
Text-message ruling could change corporate policiesSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Most employees know their bosses are usually within their rights snooping on workers' e-mail, but text messaging has been in murkier territory. A federal appeals court sought to clarify matters in a ruling Wednesday by distinguishing between electronic communication that employers store on their servers, or pay someone to store, and communication they contract out for.
MetroFi ending Wi-Fi service in Calif., Ore., Ill.PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ With no buyers in sight, MetroFi Inc.'s free wireless projects in Portland and in cities in California and Illinois appear to be ending. MetroFi contracted with Portland in 2006 to blanket the city with a network for free, wireless Internet access _ the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's largest project.
EBay to strengthen PayPal's anti-fraud provisionsSAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ EBay Inc. hopes to attract more online traders by expanding the protections available to people who use its PayPal payment service for transactions on eBay's Internet marketplaces. EBay executives said Thursday at the company's annual user conference that buyers who pay for items with PayPal will be eligible for full refunds, with no cap, if a seller fails to deliver an item as promised. Previously a buyer's coverage was capped at $200, or $2,000 if the item's seller enjoyed a particularly good reputation on eBay.
Unhappy Yahoo shareholder reaches out to MicrosoftSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ One of Yahoo Inc.'s disgruntled shareholders is urging Microsoft Corp. to make a more compelling case for its bid to buy the Internet pioneer's search operations _ a proposal that was trumped by an advertising deal Yahoo reached with Google Inc. Mithras Capital, which owns 1.7 million Yahoo shares, made the plea to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer in a letter sent Thursday.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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