Yahoo! News: Internet News

Internet News

• Twitter's new censorship rules face opposition (Reuters)

  Reuters - It was only two weeks ago that Twitter was protesting online censorship in the form of anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA. Now the social networking site faces a surge of opposition to its own censorship practices.

• Hacker group Anonymous targets Mexican websites (Reuters)

  Reuters - The activist hacker group Anonymous attacked three Mexican government websites on Friday in protest at a proposed bill that seeks to toughen local laws about online file-sharing.

• Detroit Symphony offering series of free webcasts (AP)

  AP - The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has launched a webcast player that will allow music lovers to enjoy an upcoming performance of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 and other concerts online for free in the comfort of their homes.

• Twitter's new censorship plan rouses global furor (AP)

  AP - Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, found itself the target of global outrage Friday after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws.

  
  

• US cybersecurity efforts trigger privacy concerns (AP)

  AP - The federal government's plan to expand computer security protections into critical parts of private industry is raising concerns that the move will threaten Americans' civil liberties.

• Fresh iPhone Apps for Jan. 27: Frequency, Steam Mobile, RAGE HD update, Baseball Superstars 2012 (Appolicious)

  Appolicious - Start your weekend with all the best videos the Internet has to offer with Frequency, an iPad app that makes finding and organizing great videos from all over the place a snap. It’s our top Fresh App today, followed by Steam Mobile, an iOS app that ties to the popular digital video game download portal and lets you impulse-buy during Steam’s crazy game sales no matter where you are. A big update with new levels to RAGE HD tops off our games picks for this weekend, followed by a new, free edition to the Baseball Superstars series from Gamevil.

• Viadeo vies for Arab expansion with Moroccan branch (Reuters)

  Reuters - Viadeo, the world's second-biggest online networking site for professionals after LinkedIn, said on Friday it had opened a regional branch in Morocco as it seeks to expand its presence in the increasingly-wired Arab world.

• How Brands Can Manage Facebook Comment Overload (Mashable)

  Mashable - Jason Keath is the CEO of Social Fresh, the leading social media education company for marketers. He works with industry leading brands, agencies and vendors to produce social media conferences and online social media training programs. Follow him on Twitter @jasonkeath. Human beings are social by nature, and not surprisingly, we choose to spend much of our talkative time on Facebook.

• Facebook, Washington state target online spam (AP)

  AP - Facebook is partnering with Washington state to combat a type of spam called "clickjacking" that is plaguing the social networking site, company and state officials announced Thursday.

• NZ court bails two associates of Megaupload founder (Reuters)

  Reuters - A New Zealand court granted bail on Thursday to two associates of the founder of online file-sharing website Megaupload, accused of being involved in a scheme that allegedly made more than $175 million from Internet piracy and illegal file sharing.

• House lawmakers seek Google answers on privacy policy (Reuters)

  Reuters - Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked Google Inc on Thursday to provide answers about recent changes to the search engine's privacy policy.

• CNN behind on TV ratings, ahead of rivals online (Reuters)

  Reuters - CNN may lag behind most of its competitors in the television ratings department, but digital is another story.

• Poland signs copyright treaty that drew protests (AP)

  AP - Poland on Thursday signed an international copyright agreement, sparking more demonstrations by Internet users who have protested for days over fear it will lead to online censorship.

  
  

• ACTA 'Is More Dangerous Than SOPA' (Mashable)

  Mashable - SOPA and PIPA are stalled (or dead) in the halls of the U.S. Congress. Yet, there may be a bigger, perhaps more dangerous threat to Internet freedoms on the way, called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA. At least that's how U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R. - Calif., sees it, telling an audience, "As a member of Congress, it's more dangerous than SOPA. It's not coming to me for a vote. It purports that it does not change existing laws. But once implemented, it creates a whole new enforcement system and will virtually tie the hands of Congress to undo it."

• AP Interview: Wikipedia founder hails role in US (AP)

  AP - The founder of Wikipedia hailed the online encyclopedia's role in helping halt U.S. legislation aimed at cracking down on Internet piracy, saying the proposed bills needed to be stopped because they were flawed.

  
  

• Israel sets sights on next-generation Internet (AP)

  AP - Israel is often referred to as "Startup Nation," thanks to its long history of high-tech breakthroughs produced by scrappy little companies. But in one critical area, the speed of Internet connections, Israel has fallen behind other tech-savvy countries.

  
  

• U.S. Takes First Steps Toward Internet Voting (Mashable)

  Mashable - The 2012 Republican primary's first vote was not cast in New Hampshire, as most Americans would assume. An Okaloosa County, Fla., resident living in Thailand got that privilege in December, thanks to a new technology called LiveBallot. LiveBallot, a new platform for accessing ballots built on the Windows Azure operating system, allows American citizens living abroad to access their official ballots from the cloud, 45 days before a state primary or national election.

• Facebook After Death: What Should the Law Say? (Mashable)

  Mashable - When you die, your social media presence lives on. But should it? Lawmakers and lawyers are tackling the question of what should happen to your digital life after death. The Uniform Law Commission recently approved a study committee on fiduciary power and authority to access digital property and online accounts during incapacity and after death. Uniform laws are created when there is little current legislation for states to follow.

• Monster Worldwide cautious on 2012 (Reuters)

  Reuters - Online recruitment firm Monster Worldwide Inc forecast a weak start to the year and said it will cut jobs, as it does not expect the global job market to improve drastically in the near term.

• Netflix wins over Wall Street with subscriber growth (Reuters)

  Reuters - Netflix Inc won back Wall Street's affections on Thursday after adding more U.S. subscribers than expected in the fourth quarter, a rebound that prompted analyst upgrades and the company's biggest one-day stock jump in two years.