2005-2014

Market compulsions make strange bedfellows. So it has, of Microsoft and Yahoo who have decided to marry their instant messaging (IM) services in a bid to take on market leader America Online (AOL). The move comes just as the popular communications tool is beginning to expand into video chatting and Internet telephone functions. Microsoft's Steve Ballmer: IM interoperability is the right thing for...

Yahoo's chairman and chief executive officer Terry Semel strongly defended the company's decision to turn over evidence to Chinese authorities that helped the government convict a local journalist and send him to jail for 10 years. Companies that do business internationally have to respect and abide by the laws of the countries in which they operate, whether that be China or any other country, he...

Even as the big Internet players are falling over each other in a bid to have a slice of the RSS (really simple syndication) pie, the reality of user survey statistics shows that market is not that yummy yet. Two recent surveys have demonstrated that the awareness of RSS is low even in a country like the United States (US). But yes, the scope is tremendous. While users of more advanced RSS...

Google Inc. hopes to eclipse its success as a company by committing nearly $1 billion to help solve problems including poverty and environmental destruction. The Mountain View search engine formally unveiled its philanthropic plans Tuesday with the introduction of Google.org, an umbrella organization charged with making the world a better place. Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure from prosecutors, a New York Times reporter testified on Wednesday to a federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity about a previously undisclosed conversation with a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. In her second appearance before the grand jury, Times reporter Judith Miller was questioned for more than an hour after turning...

Those planning to cover the football World Cup in Germany next year may have to wait until the crowds have gone home. FIFA, football's international governing body, announced its rules for press coverage today and included a ban on publishing digital images of the games for one hour after the final whistle. FASTEST GOAL: According to the rules, a picture shot in the first minute of a game cannot...

Reporters Without Borders today roundly condemned a government ordinance issued at King Gyanendra’s behest on 9 October that imposes drastic new curbs on the Nepalese news media. The ordinance bans all news broadcasts, criminalizes all press offences, imposes a ten-fold increase in fines for press law violations, and forbids the news media to cover "subjects that could have negative effects for...

A battle has erupted over who governs the internet, with America demanding to maintain a key role in the network it helped create and other countries demanding more control. The European commission is warning that if a deal cannot be reached at a meeting in Tunisia next month the internet will split apart. At issue is the role of the US government in overseeing the internet's address structure...

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- While marketers are pushing for print’s answer to product placement, it turns out that most magazine readers already consider it rampant. A study released yesterday by Starcom USA found that 65% of the consumers believe that advertisers pay for editorial mentions. Readers receptive Moreover, Starcom found, readers are receptive to reading about brands in articles. Nearly 83...

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Financier Carl Icahn launched a new attack Tuesday against the management of Time Warner Inc., arguing in a letter to shareholders that the media company's board needs new outside directors due to past mistakes. The letter, which was included in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Icahn early Tuesday, said the board is not taking enough steps to enhance...