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AP Technology NewsBrief at 6:34 p.m. EDT
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Microsoft backs Icahn's bid to oust Yahoo boardSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Microsoft Corp. threw its weight behind investor Carl Icahn's effort to dump Yahoo Inc.'s board, saying Monday that a successful shareholder rebellion would encourage the software maker to renew its bid to buy Yahoo's Internet search engine or possibly the entire company. The unexpected endorsement gives Icahn a carrot to dangle before Yahoo shareholders as he wages an acrimonious campaign to replace Yahoo's nine directors at the company's annual meeting Aug. 1.
Digital threat prompts movie industry downgradeLOS ANGELES (AP) _ A Lehman Brothers analyst downgraded the entertainment industry Monday and slashed forecasts for its five major companies, saying digital downloads of movies and TV shows posed a huge threat to profits from DVD sales that the companies rely on. The stocks of The Walt Disney Co., News Corp., CBS Corp., Time Warner Inc. and Viacom Inc. fell slightly more than the market by close, with CBS falling the most, by 4.7 percent, or 87 cents, to $17.73.
Game maker tries to legitimize Facebook ScrabbleNEW YORK (AP) _ As Facebook has blossomed into a hot Internet hangout, its users have passed countless hours playing Scrabble with friends _ or at least, an unauthorized version of the word game that Scrabble's owners have tried to shut down. Now a video game maker will try to legitimize the activity.
Rights like free speech don't always extend onlineNEW YORK (AP) _ Rant all you want in a public park. A police officer generally won't eject you for your remarks alone, however unpopular or provocative. Say it on the Internet, and you'll find that free speech and other constitutional rights are anything but guaranteed.
Court orders YouTube to give Viacom video logsNEW YORK (AP) _ Dismissing privacy concerns, a federal judge overseeing a $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against YouTube has ordered the popular online video-sharing service to disclose who watches which video clips and when. U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton authorized full access to the YouTube logs after Viacom Inc. and other copyright holders argued that they needed the data to show whether their copyright-protected videos are more heavily watched than amateur clips.
Internet addressing agency loses its own addressesNEW YORK (AP) _ This doesn't sound good: The nonprofit agency in charge of the Internet's addresses recently lost track of its own. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, said it happened when an Internet registration company it oversees got fooled into transferring the domain names to someone else.
NBC to use Olympics to see how people use mediaNEW YORK (AP) _ NBC is using the Olympics as a "billion-dollar research lab" to get a sense of how people are using different media platforms to experience the Beijing Games that begin Aug. 8. Besides giving advertisers a clearer picture of how much consumers are paying attention to the games, NBC hopes its research provides a comprehensive picture of how people are supplementing TV viewership with tools such as video streaming, video on demand and mobile phones, said Alan Wurtzel, the company's research chief.
Police wnt u to fight crime w/txt msgsTAMPA, Fla. (AP) _ Police in the 1970s urged citizens to "drop a dime" in a pay phone to report crimes anonymously. Now in an increasing number of cities, tipsters are being invited to use their thumbs _ to identify criminals using text messages. Police hope the idea helps recruit teens and 20-somethings who wouldn't normally dial a Crime Stoppers hot line to share information with authorities.
Study says many dial-up users don't want broadbandNEW YORK (AP) _ A new study suggests that attitude rather than availability may be the key reason why more Americans don't have high-speed Internet access. The findings from the Pew Internet and American Life Project challenge the argument that broadband providers need to more aggressively roll out supply to meet demand.
EU musicians oppose Europe-wide online licensingBRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) _ The Bee Gees' Robin Gibb and other European music composers warned Thursday that standardizing music royalties across Europe could hurt musicians and the songs they write. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is close to finishing an antitrust investigation into how royalties are collected. The outcome might help large music retailers like Apple Inc.'s iTunes sell from one store across Europe, rather than different stores with different products in each of the 27 EU nations.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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