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AP-AM Prep-Cyber Corner(Canadian Press Broadcast Wire (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MORNINGPREP-MORNINGPREP-MORNINGPREP-MORNINGPREP ! CYBER CORNER ! IN THE NEWS: CALIFORNIA PASSES LAW TO DELAY TAX RULES ON ONLINE SALES SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ It isn't going away. But the latest move in California on the issue of taking online sales means there may be growing pressure on national standards on the subject. California Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation that puts off new state tax rules for online sales. The rules now won't go into effect until at least September 2012. The compromise decision provides more time for traditional and online retailers to lobby Congress for a nationwide decision on whether online sales should be taxed. With state budgets strained, many are seeking to tax online sales as well as sales in brick-and-mortar stores. IN THE NEWS: MO. REPEALS LAW BLOCKING TEACHES FROM CHATTING WITH STUDENTS JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Missouri lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to do away with part of a new law that had barred teachers from chatting privately with students over Internet sites such as Facebook. If the repeal is signed by the governor, school districts would have to develop their own policies on the use of electronic media between employees and students. So far, the governor says he wants to talk with teachers and local school boards before making a decision. A judge placed Missouri's law on hold shortly before it was to take effect August 28, saying the law ``would have a chilling effect'' on free-speech rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. ON THE WEB: IT WAS PROVIDENCE CYBERSPACE (AP) _ The mayor of Providence, Rhode Island says hackers defaced the city's Web site, but that its servers and data weren't compromised. A spokesman for Mayor Angel Taveras says outsiders replaced the city's home page with a black screen the word ``hacked'' in red letters. The hacking was noticed early yesterday morning _ but the site was restored within hours. Online: Providence Rhode Island site: http://www.providenceri.com IN STORES: BLOCKBUSTER TAKING ON NETFLIX _ AGAIN SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Blockbuster is hoping that turnabout is fair play when it comes to DVD rival Netflix. Back in the early 2000s, Netflix began eating away at Blockbuster's visit with its mail-order DVD rental service. Now Blockbuster is trying to repay the favour by coming out with a less expensive way to watch streaming video online and renting DVDs through the mail. Blockbuster hopes to siphon off some of the customers Netflix upset when it raised its prices _ and announced it was spinning off its DVD-by-mail service, now named ``Quickster.'' Blockbuster went into bankruptcy after losing its foothold as king of video rentals. But it was bought out by satellite TV provider Dish Network _ and is now going after what it sees as a weakened Netflix. Online: Blockbuster site: http://www.blockbuster.com Netflix site: http://netflix.com by Oscar Wells Gabriel II Oscar Gabriel can be reached at ogabriel(at)ap.org. (The Associated Press) (c) 2011 The Canadian Press |