Internet tax ban extended

Congress has unanimously voted to extend the ban on internet taxes by another seven years, it has been reported.

The senate passed the moratorium last week, which means that now all that remains is for president George W Bush to sign it. On Thursday of this week the current ban runs out. The new one would last until the year 2014. Many had been pushing to make the ban on internet taxation permanent. Among them was the Arizona senator John McCain, who said that a ban must be made permanent before state governments put in place their own internet taxes. And Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon, the head of the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force, commented: "People use the internet to access information and purchase goods and services.

"It is not appropriate to tax someone for walking into a library or a shopping mall. On that rationale, we should not be taxing the internet."

For more information on digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Spam levels rise

The levels of spam on the internet climbed substantially during the month of September, research from the security firm SoftScan has found.

Spam levels rose by a full 39 percent during the month and sometimes 98 percent of all the emails canned by the company were spam. The amount of viruses present during the month were relatively low, however there was a greater variety. Diego d'Ambra, chief technology officer of SoftScan, said: "Since June this year we have seen an increase of 95 percent in the amount of spam we stop each month.

"We are fortunate that the reputation filter we introduced last year, which effectively hangs up the phone to servers sending spam, catches the vast majority of junk mail before it reaches our spam filters". Often network administrators have struggled to deal with the amount of spam present, he added. Recently a hacker broke into the website Art.com and stole confidential information, it has been reported.

For information on digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Hillary Clinton's Plan for Rural America

By: HillaryClinton.com

Hillary Clinton's Plan for Rural America

Today, Hillary Clinton highlighted her agenda to support rural America. Hillary understands the importance of rural communities to America's economy and way of life. She understands that rural America face challenges in economic development, agriculture, education and health. But she also knows that with the right policies in place, rural communities can thrive and can help America solve pressing national problems, like providing a safe and health food supply, producing renewable energy to move us toward energy independence, creating vibrant rural communities and jobs, and helping to tackle global warming.

Hillary has said many times that most of the problems faced by our nation can be solved in our rural communities. As a Senator, Hillary has worked hand-in-hand with farmers, small businesses, and local leaders to promote a better life in rural areas. She was proud to receive the 2007 Golden Triangle Award from the National Farmers Union as recognition of her work on behalf of family farmers and rural communities. Hillary has a vision for rural America rooted in experience, and she is ready to lead us there.

SUPPORTING FAMILY FARMS

In the Senate, Hillary has made a strong commitment to supporting family farms. She has consistently promoted legislation and initiatives that will help small farmers remain competitive in the face of a growing threat by corporate agriculture and vertical integration that/to dominate agricultural markets. She has also promoted efforts to help farmers get healthy, fresh food directly into the hands of consumers.

For more information on digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

EDS' Eight Cyber Security Tips

According to a CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Study, cyber crimes cost the United States economy an estimated $67 billion in damages(i), which is comparable to the U.S. federal government's estimated information technology (IT) spending
for fiscal year 2008(ii).

Corporations and governments have long known an effective IT security program requires dedicated resources - people, processes and technology. Investing wisely in cyber security is a fundamental cost of doing business in the relatively new wired world.

"The big business and government approach to cyber security contrasts sharply with many small business and home computer users who can unsuspectingly be the 'back doors' to a full-scale cyber attack," said Dave Morrow, EDS chief security and privacy officer. "This weakness at the grassroots level requires all users to be responsible citizens in the collective online world with equal time and energy spent to protect these computers. Everyone must practice safe computing habits and good personal computing hygiene."

In honor of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, EDS security and privacy experts have identified EDS' eight tips to help consumers secure their part of cyberspace:

1. Know the threat. The online world is a dangerous place. Just like any
city or town, there are "good" neighborhoods and "bad" ones.

2. Use the tools. Every home or small business user should install
commonly available security tools such as anti-virus software,
anti-spyware software and a personal firewall.

3. Be smart online. Like the physical world, cyberspace has its
"con-artist side" typified by bogus e-mails advertising
"get-rich-quick" schemes, "can't-miss" stocks and come-ons from the
opposite sex who "can't wait" to chat. All too often, these are teasers
drawing users to Web sites with viruses, bot programs or other cyber
risks.

4. Never respond to unsolicited requests for personal information. Be wary
of e-mails from organizations or individuals asking for your personal
information.

5. Beware of "phishing" e-mails. Phishing is one of the fastest-growing
forms of online fraud for identity thieves. Phishing e-mails appear
legitimate, often addressing you by name, which makes them even more
convincing.

6. Do not use personal information for passwords. Using information such
as Social Security numbers, birth dates, names, e-mail addresses or
telephone numbers as passwords can make you an easy target.

7. Review privacy and security policies for the companies you do business
with online. All reputable companies post a privacy and security policy
or statement on their Web site.

8. Monitor online activity regularly. If you conduct business online,
review your account statements regularly and consider using a separate
credit card for online purchases or payments to ensure all transactions
are in order. By reviewing online statements and transactions
frequently, you could detect a theft and limit its damage.

For information on other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Art.com hacked

The website operator Art.com, which sells art and posters, has been broken into by a hacker, the company has announced.

Credit card numbers and names of clients that used the company's sites between July and September this year were stolen. The company runs the websites Art.com and Allposters.com. Michael Heinstein, chief executive officer of Art.com, said: "We value our customers tremendously and understand how important security is to them.

"This is why we have acted to notify affected customers and credit card companies as quickly as possible after vigorously investigating this event." Art.com then swiftly took more action to make sure its sites were secured against "future attacks of this type", added Mr Heinstein. So far none of the credit card numbers that were stolen have been used in illegal transactions or for identity theft, Art.com stated.

Recently the website Bobbear, which combats money laundering was attacked by cyber criminals, according to the security software company Sophos. For more information on digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Fewer parents approve of internet

A smaller amount of parents consider the internet a good influence in their children's lives than previously, new research has discovered.

Currently 59 percent of American parents with children aged 12 to 17 approve of the internet, contrasted to 2004 when 67 percent did, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found. And 30 percent of the parents surveyed thought that the internet did not have an influence at all on their children's lives.

Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at Pew, said: "The internet for a lot of parents is now a mature technology. "They are not in a honeymoon period with the internet anymore. They are realizing the internet is something with good and bad things." It is the content being perused by children rather than the amount of time they spend online that has parents the most concerned, the research found.

Meanwhile, Miss America, Lauren Nelson, is touring the US lecturing to children about how to stay safe online. For more information on digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Global Crossing Expands VoIP Local Service to 16 Mexico Markets, Nearly 400 More U.S. Cities

Service Now Offered in 21 Countries Worldwide

Global Crossing a leading global IP solutions provider, today announced it
has once again broadened the scope and reach of its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services for customers around the world by extending its Global Crossing VoIP Local Service(TM) to 16 major metropolitan cities in Mexico and nearly 400 additional cities in the United States. The addition of Mexico brings to 21 the total number of countries worldwide where the service is offered. In the U.S., the company expanded availability of VoIP Local Service to nearly 400 additional cities, including Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Tucson, bringing that total to more than 1,400 nationwide.

Initially, Global Crossing will be serving 16 metropolitan markets in Mexico with VoIP Local Service, including Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla, Leon and Monterrey. Global Crossing VoIP Local Service also is available in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. A complementary offer, Global Crossing VoIP Outbound(TM), is available from 29 countries around the world and provides the consistency customers
require from global services.

For information on VoIP and other digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Cable to link US and China

A new fibre-optic telecommunications channel is to be laid across the Pacific Ocean to link China and the US, reports the China Daily.

Work has started on the cable, which is due to be finished in July 2008. Once installed, it will provide 60 times more capacity than the cables currently in place. Dubbed the Trans-Pacific Express, the cable will cover 18,000 kilometers, running from the Chinese coastal city of Qingdao to the west coast of America at Nedonna Beach, Oregon. The route of the cable is being laid so that if there is an earthquake, service will not be disrupted.

Among those invested in the cable are Verizon, China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, Korea Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom. The cable will cost $500 million. Approximately 62 million phone calls will be able to be simultaneously carried by the cable, which will be able to support internet expansion as well.

Google to use Nielsen results

Google is to sharpen its strategy with access to information from Nielsen, it has been reported.

Google will pay Nielsen for access to its data so that it can see which demographic watches certain TV shows. Nielsen, based in New York, measures age, marital status, gender and other factors and is the universally-accepted benchmark for gauging viewer figures. The overall goal of Google in buying the Nielsen information is to more specifically target its television advertisements.

Michael Steib, director for television ads at Google, told the NY Times: "We want to bring all the advantages that we see in online advertising - like more accountability, a better sense of the audience, better tools to optimize a campaign - and bring them to television to make TV advertising more effective." Nielsen ratings first started being used in the 1940s and since then have become the most important factor in gauging advertising rates and content. For more information on digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Cyber criminals 'take advantage of Halloween'

As Halloween draws nearer, cyber criminals have launched a campaign of spam emails related to the celebration, according to the software security company Sophos.

The most prevalent piece of spam is one that promises a gift card worth $250 in exchange for the personal details of the recipient. Among the information requested is email addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth.

Senior technology consultant for Sophos, Graham Cluley, said: "It's not immediately obvious whether this spam is being sent to commit identity theft or whether it's market research gone mad. "If you visit the site and give it your personal information the chances are that you will be bombarded with unwanted junk email until hell freezes over."

It is not likely that those behind the spam emails will really send out the promised gift card, Mr Cluley added. Meanwhile, the infamous storm worm is still as prevalent as ever, almost a year since it was first noticed, reports the Toronto Star.

New console includes five games, wireless controller and storage to save games - all for $279.99

Just in time for holiday, Microsoft Corp. today released a new Xbox 360(R) console that
delivers games and content to everyone in the family for an incredible value of $279.99 (U.S. estimated retail price)*. Available in stores beginning today, Xbox 360 Arcade console is the first Xbox 360 console to include five family-friendly games, a wireless controller, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connection to enable
high-definition output if desired and 256 MB of memory useful for storing games and entertainment content. At $279.99, the Xbox 360 Arcade console will include five best-selling games: "PAC-MAN Championship Edition","Uno", "Luxor 2", "Boom Boom Rocket" and "Feeding Frenzy".

Companies 'not ready for disasters'

Many companies are not ready should the worst happen, the security software company Symantec has reported.

Though 91 percent of IT companies do carry out tests of their disaster-recovery abilities, more than half of those tests fail, a recent in-depth study found. Many IT professionals fear that a disaster could hurt their company's reputation, affect the loyalty of customers and result in company information being compromised, the research discovered.

Sean Derrington, director, storage management product marketing at Symantec, said: "IT executives are taking a fresh, hard look at their disaster recovery and business continuity strategies. "To protect against downtime, organizations must implement high availability and disaster recovery across their enterprise environments."

Companies also need to have procedures in place that allow for them to test their recovery abilities, Mr Derrington added. Meanwhile, Microsoft has found that phishing scams are successful approximately 0.4 percent of the time. For more information visit www.broadbandnational.com

ATT Accuses Vonage of Violating VoIP Patents

America’s leading telephone operator, ATT Inc., filed an intellectual property lawsuit against the troubled VoIP provider, Vonage Holdings Corp yesterday, seeking damages for alleged patent infringement.

AT&T’s lawsuit, filed at a U.S. District Court in Wisconsin, alleges that Vonage willfully violated an ATT patent concerning telephone systems that allow customers to make VoIP calls using standard telephone equipment.

AT&T claims that it tried to reach a licensing agreement with Vonage, but was unsuccessful, forcing it to file suit against its smaller competitor.

This latest legal woe comes just days after Vonage settled a similar dispute with wireless carrier, Sprint Nextel, for $80 million. Vonage is also fighting a losing battle against New York-based telephone giant, Verizon Communications, to which it lost another massive patent infringement suit earlier this year.

Phishing email warning issued

Computer users, including those with broadband services, should know not to respond to phishing emails, it has been suggested.

It is also advisable not to open mysterious emails before deleting them, according to UK credit reporting group Equifax. Neil Munroe, external affairs director for the company, said that opening emails - such as those which claim to be from a bank or financial services company - could open people up to a "further bombardment of phishing type activity". Warning of current trends, which could be of interest to those with high speed internet, he added: "It's an interesting fact that something like three percent of people do respond to these emails and I'm sure small businesses are involved in that as well.

"Three percent, when you're sending out a large number like these phishing organizations do, is quite a nice return." In related security news, ClickZ.com recently indicated that 37 percent of online banking customers use their password at other less-secure websites.

Online copyright regulations announced

Several of the world's foremost media companies have collaborated to develop a set of regulations for the use of copyrighted material online.

Wide-ranging filtering technology will be in use across the board by the end of the year, the alliance concluded. Among the companies making up the alliance are NBC, Viacom, Disney, Microsoft, Fox and MySpace. However, the internet search giant Google declined to participate.

Jeff Zucker, president and chief executive of NBC Universal, commented: "[This] announcement marks a significant step in transforming the internet from a Wild West to a popular medium that respects the rule of law. "By recognizingthe mutual benefits of a technology-based framework to control piracy, technology and content companies have laid the foundation for the lawful growth of video on the internet." The guidelines are an attempt by the media sector to stop copyrighted content being shown on video clip sites like the popular YouTube site.

Phishing 'dangerous to all sizes of business'

Phishing scams do not only target large businesses but are a danger for small to medium-sized enterprises as well, according to Equifax.

The credit reporting agency said that the cyber criminals behind phishing scams will target, individuals, big businesses and small businesses in the same way. External affairs director for Equifax Neil Munro said: "There's no doubt that corporates whether they be small businesses or large businesses are suffering from attempted stealing of identity the same way that individuals are. "Phishing can apply top those corporates the same way that it can apply to individuals."

Those running a small business may have more time constraints and therefore might not have as much time to practice safe internet practices, Mr Munro added. Also, figures from ClickZ.com show that many internet users are still not using the proper precautions when online. A full 44 per cent of those who bank online use the same password for all their online activities, ClickZ.com found.

Mobile search service unveiled by Microsoft

The software giant Microsoft has created a new mobile search service that allows users to use their voice when searching.

Dubbed Live Search Mobile, the service lets one access phone listings and maps, among other services. Users must download the search function to their Windows-based cell phone. Spurring the creation of the service is Microsoft's determination to capture a piece of the burgeoning mobile ad market.

Satya Nadella, corporate vice president of the search & advertising platform group at Microsoft, said: "Microsoft is building on several years of innovation in imagery and 3-D visualization, adding some of the most significant innovations to driving directions technology in the last several years." Now the company's 185 million customers can access "a wider variety of clients, platforms and devices", added Ms Nadella.

The maps and directions function of the service is the area that has been the most improved, according to the company.

Chinese internet censorship revealed

The extent of China's censorship of the internet has been revealed by Reporters Without Borders.

In a damning report, the organization has exposed how thousands of Chinese cyber-police spend hours monitoring the online activities of Chinese citizens. Journalists in the country are especially targeted and often receive text messages from censors telling them to abstain from writing about a certain subject. And sometimes they are told to only use certain sources, the report stated.

The Reporters Without Borders description reads: "The bureau members announce the subjects to be covered in the coming week, the articles to be written under their supervision, and the articles to be eliminated." In particular, the government censored a story last year about the working conditions in an iPod factory owned by the Taiwanese company Foxconn. Allegations that women working in the factory are forced to pull 15-hour days were covered up.

Internet census taken

Researchers based in the US have taken a wide-ranging census of the internet's 2.8 billion addresses.

"Pings" were sent to each address by researchers at the Southern California Information Sciences Institute (ISI). The effort, which took 62 days, was the first of its kind to be carried out in the last two decades. John Heidemann, an ISI project leader, said: "An internet census is just that: every single assigned address in the entire internet was sent a probe."

"Internet census data is useful for several reasons. As the internet use becomes widespread, we are running out of internet addresses." By 2010 all internet addresses may already be taken up, Mr Heidemann added.

The Internet Engineering Task Force has seen the problem coming and has developed a protocol, dubbed IPv6, to solve it, however "deployment has been slow", Mr Heidemann continued. An internet census highlights the need to speed up the process, he said.

Clinton Calls For National Broadband System

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton called today for a national broadband system, calling the Internet necessary for economic growth.

"The nation that invented the Internet is now ranked about 25th in access to it," the New York senator said in a speech in Merrimack, New Hampshire. "In the 19th Century, we invested in railroads. In the 20th Century, we built the interstate highway system. In the 21st Century information economy we need to invest in our information infrastructure," she said.

Her program, dubbed "Connect America," would provide industry incentives to get Internet access to under served areas and to low-income Americans, as well as change the Federal Communication Commission's rules to more accurately measure Web access.

"I see this problem in New York. A lot of the utilities don't want to connect up our isolated, rural areas. And they also don't want particularly to go into our under served, poor, urban areas because there's so much money that can be made in Manhattan and our suburban areas," Clinton said.

Clinton also said she would seek to make permanent the research and experimentation tax credits that more than 15,000 companies have used since they began in 1981.

"We cannot rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class if we don't have a new source of new jobs," Clinton said. "Our country is a country of innovators. We're not acting like it right now, but we have all the potential to get into gear quickly."

Wal-Mart to sell satellite broadband

Retail giant Wal-Mart has announced that it is to start selling satellite broadband to consumers.

Customers will be able to subscribe to , the largest provider of satellite broadband in the US. Subscriptions to HughesNet will be available in 2,800 Wal-Mart stores across America. The HughesNet service is available in many of the more rural, remote locations in the US where traditional broadband is not yet available.

Mike Cook, senior vice president, North America Division at Hughes, said: "Wal-Mart is perhaps the only retail store in the country that reaches as many people as HughesNet.
"This relationship is a powerful way to make broadband a reality for the millions of Americans and small business owners who cannot get high-speed internet access from cable or DSL providers."

HughesNet currently has over 350,000 subscribers and has shipped systems to consumers in more than 100 countries. Wal-Mart is currently the largest private employer in the world.

Asia domain launched

The .asia domain name has been officially made available today and is expected to be in high demand, it has been reported.

Both governments and large companies are expected to scramble to devise their own .asia names. And in February 2008 the domain name will be opened to the general public. During this period, if there is more than one application for the same domain name an auction will be held.

Lesley Cowley, chief executive of .uk registry Nominet, told the BBC: "There is going to be an ever-increasing number of suffixes. "Companies need to decide whether they are going to protect their registered marks in each and every one." Currently the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is looking into devising domain names in non-Latin characters.

Based in Marina Del Rey, California, ICANN is the body in charge of regulating domain names and IP addresses.

iPod Lights Man's Pants On Fire

Danny Williams's taste in music is so wretched, his own iPod tried to kill him. Very recently, the Douglasville, Georgia native looked down to find his pants pocket engulfed in flames. The culprit: his year-old iPod Nano.

Williams walked away from the incident uninjured thanks to a piece of glossy paper in his pocket, which he believes spared him from being badly burned. But, as if having your iPod try to immolate you isn't frightening enough, consider where this episode took place: Williams works at a kiosk at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As Williams said himself:

"If TSA had come by and seen me smoking, they could have honestly thought I was a terrorist."

This fire is just the latest in a series of recent lithium-ion battery flame-ups. After smoke and flames were reported by consumers last August, Sony has since been forced to recall more than seven million laptop batteries it made for its own computers as well as for Dell, Apple, Gateway, Toshiba and several others. This summer, a Chinese man was killed when his cell phone battery exploded in his chest pocket, sending a broken rib tearing into his heart.

Click here for the rest of the story.

Vonage and Sprint Settle Patent Dispute

Vonage today announced that it has settled its pending patent dispute with Sprint Communications LP and entered into a licensing arrangement under Sprint's Voice over Packet ("VOP") patent portfolio. The parties have entered into an agreement to resolve this patent dispute as well as entered into a business relationship. In addition, Sprint has agreed to license Vonage its VOP portfolio.

The agreement is valued at $80 million, including $35 million for past use of license, $40 million for a fully paid future license, and $5 million in prepayment for services. On September 25, 2007, a Kansas jury handed down a verdict finding that Vonage had infringed six Sprint patents.

"We are pleased to resolve our dispute with Sprint and enter into a productive future relationship," said Sharon O'Leary, General Counsel for Vonage. "We believe this deal is good news for Vonage, our customers and our shareholders. It allows us to put this litigation behind us and continue to focus on our core business by removing the uncertainty of legal reviews and long term court action."

Move with the Changing Times by Switching To VoIP

VoIP has become a rage world over due to the numerous advantages it has over the traditional public switch telephony network. With the rising popularity the demand for VoIP service has increased tremendously in the past few years and continues to rise at a high rate.

VoIP termination can help the industry and residentials alike in following ways-

1. Cheaper rates - Now it is possible to make local calls at a cheaper rate. No need to pay around $30 just for dial tone anymore!
2. Cheaper long distance and ISD calls - VoIP offers long distance and international calls at a much reduced rate. There are some resellers who offer free unlimited calling to USA and maybe other destinations like Canada.
3. Ease of operations - It is very convenient to use VoIP termination service. One can make VoIP calls through their laptops, IP phone http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifor even their old fixed line phone.
4. Mobility - You can take your VoIP phone with you on a holiday or a business trip without having to worry about missing important calls while you are away.
5. Reduced operating cost - VoIP Telephony service needs lesser equipments to route the call thereby reducing the cost of operations. It uses minimum equipments as opposed to other modes of communication.
6. Flexibility - VoIP termination business plan assists mobile workers or contact center employees to work from their home or while on the move at much cheaper rates and in some cases free of cost too.

Click here for the rest of this story.

Record labels triumph in music-sharing case

A Minnesota woman has been ordered to pay $222,000 in damages after courts ruled in the favor of the recording industry in a copyright infringement case.

Jammie Thomas, 30, shared 24 songs that she downloaded using the online service Kazaa. Though the single mother of two claimed she had not used her Kazaa account to share music, the court was showed overwhelming evidence that she had offered 1,700 songs to other users. The case is being seen as a landmark victory for the record industry in their ongoing fight against people sharing songs online.

A statement from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said: "We welcome the jury's decision. "The law here is clear, as are the consequences for breaking it." This case marks the first time a lawsuit by the RIAA has gone to trial, as in the past defendants have chosen to settle out of court. Brian Toder, Ms Thomas' attorney, told the Associated Press: "She was in tears. She's devastated.

"This is a girl that lives from paycheck to paycheck and now all of a sudden she could get a quarter of her paycheck garnished for the rest of her life."

Time Warner Cable Launches Road Runner Music Service from MusicNet

Time Warner Cable today launched two new enhanced music products, Time Warner Cable's Road Runner Music, a subscription and download store, and Time Warner Cable's Road Runner Music Portable, a service that gives Time Warner Cable Road Runner customers
access to music while on the go.

Through its partnership with Synacor, MusicNet -- the music unit of the leading digital entertainment services provider MediaNet Digital -- is providing the underlying technology platform and content for Time Warner Cable's Road Runner subscription and portable music services. Synacor and MusicNet also enable digital music services for more than a dozen Internet broadband providers nationwide.

"I have spent the better part of my career in the cable business, and to see the advances made in providing consumers with such broad access to music is very satisfying," commented Alan McGlade, president and CEO of MediaNet Digital. "Time Warner Cable's Road Runner music service offers an ideal solution for its customers who are yearning for a single hub for their entertainment offerings. MusicNet's platform allows for integrated PC-based and portable options to offer a seamless digital entertainment experience. Together with Synacor we have created a great product."http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

www.medianetdigital.com
www.synacor.com

Synacor, a provider of Internet tools, portals and content for cable, Internet and telecommunications service providers, is providing the billing and authentication unification, coordination of branding elements, training and marketing support and quality assurance for the services.

"We are pleased to partner with MusicNet to provide this superior digital music product," said Ron Frankel, Synacor president and CEO. "We have the ability to unify a variety of services into a single delivery platform that enables our clients to provide a variety of music, videos and music services to their customers."

Target website lawsuit made class action

A lawsuit being filed against Target for not ensuring that its website is usable by the blind has been made into a class-action by a federal judge in San Francisco.

This means that all the blind people in America who have tried to use the Target website can automatically become plaintiffs in the case. The lawsuit is alleging that by not using the technology available to help make websites more user-friendly for the blind, Target is violating the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Dr Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, told the Associated Press: "This is a tremendous step forward for blind people throughout the country who for too long have been denied equal access to the internet economy. "All e-commerce businesses should take note of this decision and immediately take steps to open their doors to the blind." Target has outlets in every state in America excepting Vermont, Hawaii Alaska.

MediaScrape Integrates Google Maps, More Broadcasters and Completes YouTube Deal

CBC News; ATN-Bangladesh; SCTV-Indonesia; Realitatea-Romania and other leading broadcast news partners join MediaScrape-Google Maps platform

MediaScrape, the Internet TV News Network announces revenue-sharing deals with YouTube;
SCTV-Indonesia; ATN-Bangladesh; Realitatea-Romania; CBC (Canada); TV Brussels; Yerkir Media (Armenia); Asia News International (India) and Rustavi (Georgia).

MediaScrape also releases today its Google Maps integration that enables its users to find breaking news videos through Google Maps. "Our revenue-sharing deals with YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/mediascrape and new broadcasters will build on our current platform of over 36,000 breaking news videos," says Tyler Cavell, Publisher of MediaScrape.

"We will be adding Facebook applications and live translation in multiple languages in the coming weeks to grow our syndication audience-base even further," says Cavell. MediaScrape currently broadcasts over 100 breaking news videos, 24/7, from its editorial and translation bureaus in over 11 countries.

eBay Rethinks Skype Purchase

The Internet auction giant eBay has acknowledged that it paid too much for the Internet phone service Skype, which it acquired in 2005 for $2.6 billion.

Now Skype is to take a charge of $1.43 billion, as projected earnings have not matched up to reality. Though the popular calling service is expanding its membership, it is not doing nearly as good a job of actually making money.

Niklas Zennstrom, the co-founder and chief executive of Skype, has now resigned, though he will remain as a non-executive chairman of the board. He told InternetNews.com: "My plan was to leave the company when I thought it was ready for the change and when the earn-out had been paid.

"The company now has a solid plan and I'm pleased with the earn-out settlement." Mr Zennstrom and the co-founder of Skype, Janus Friis, are also the duo behind the new internet TV service Joost.

Qwest Boosts Security

Qwest, has released a program to help its customers protect themselves from viruses and malware on the internet.

Dubbed the Customer Internet Protection Program (CIPP), it also aids customers whose computers have already been infected with damaging malware. When a virus or malware is detected by CIPP, it notifies the user and tells them how to combat the infection as well as giving advice on how to avoid falling victim to new hazards.

Melodi Gates, Qwest director of risk management and chief information security officer, said: "Internet security is a top priority for internet users and for Qwest. "Most people don't even know when their computers become infected, so Qwest's goal is not only to help customers get rid of the infections, but also to make sure customers are armed with information to maintain strong levels of internet security going forward."

All PC owners should make sure that their machine runs a supported operating system, Qwest advised. For information on other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com