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‘Internet’ Stories

Yahoo eyes new CEO, PayPal’s Scott Thompson tipped for job

Shane McGlaun, Jan 4th 2012 Discuss [1]

AllThingsD reports that sources "close to the situation" are claiming that Yahoo is all set to grab a new CEO to attempt to turn things around or at least slow the train wreck that seems to never stop at Yahoo. The tip surfaced yesterday with the factoid that the announcement could come as early as this morning. The person reportedly being eyed for the job is Scott Thompson. Read The Full Story

Malaysia passes law requiring all restaurants in Kuala Lumpur to have WiFi

Shane McGlaun, Jan 3rd 2012 Discuss [11]

A new law has been passed in the largest city in Malaysia called Kuala Lumpur. The new law requires all restaurants to have WiFi when they apply for a license. The law makes WiFi access for customers a requirement for food operators when applying for a new license for a restaurant or renewing an existing license. Read The Full Story

Internet Explorer slips as Chrome grabs browser market share

Chris Davies, Jan 2nd 2012 Discuss [6]

The battle of the browsers continues, with Microsoft's Internet Explorer losing market share to Google's Chrome and others, while analysts predict a sub-50-percent dip for IE as early as March 2012. Counting all versions, Internet Explorer dropped to 51.9-percent market share in December according to Net Applications, ComputerWorld reports, with Chrome ending the year at 19.1-percent. However, Microsoft maintains that the most important number to consider is the growth in IE9 installs on Windows 7. Read The Full Story

GoDaddy interfered with domain name exodus accuses Namecheap

Shane McGlaun, Dec 27th 2011 Discuss [6]

Last week GoDaddy reportedly saw 70,000 domain names moved away from its services as a registrar. The mass exodus was the internet response to GoDaddy throwing its support behind the SOPA act that is seeking to become law right now. The swift removal of tens of thousands of domains names registered at GoDaddy was a good thing for competitors like Namecheap and others. Read The Full Story

Sony uses Wedding Invite site for CES 2012

Chris Burns, Dec 21st 2011 Discuss [4]

If you've ever been in the position we're in as publishers headed to the Consumer Electronics Show for our umpteenth time in a row at the start of 2012, you know there's one whole heck of a lot of invites headed our way - thats why if a group wants to stand out, they've got to be unique - that's just what Sony's done with no less than a wedding e-vite for that very purpose. What this wedding is supposed to be is a tie between Internet and TV (by Bravia), and the whole shebang is here, photos, "about us", and everything in between. Not that we weren't going to go see Sony at the show, but we're doubly excited to attend now! Read The Full Story

ICANN approves domain names of all varieties for 2012

Chris Burns, Dec 20th 2011 Discuss [0]

When the decision came down to approve the .XXX domain name this year for the web, there was madness and anarchy, clamoring to either get that perfect porn-related name for ones self or to block the enemy from doing so - this is now set to continue through 2012 and beyond as ICANN (the authorities on such things) have approved the expansion of generic top level domains, this allowing groups to create such gems as .coke, .derp, and .whatevertheywant. Companies will have to pay a healthy sum for such rights as these, dropping no less than $185,000 USD for the application process alone. Read The Full Story

Google FTC inquiry demanded by antitrust senators

Chris Davies, Dec 20th 2011 Discuss [5]

Google faces renewed attention from the US Federal Trade Commission this week, as the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee reiterates demands for the search giant to be investigated over potentially unfair practices. "A key question is whether Google is using its market power to steer users to its own web products or secondary services and discriminating against other websites with which it competes" chairman Senator Herb Kohl and panel member Senator Herb Kohl wrote to the FTC today, Bloomberg reports, with the company's behavior being seen to "warrant a thorough investigation by the FTC." Read The Full Story

SOPA vote rescheduled for this week, attempts silent passage

Chris Burns, Dec 19th 2011 Discuss [9]

Despite what you may have heard at the end of last week, the vote for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is not delayed until 2012 nor is it delayed "indefinitely" - instead members of Congress hoping to run the act through a vote without any more internet-based campaigns to stop it have secretly rescheduled for the middle of this week. This blacklist legislation is also known as the PROTECT IP act in the Senate, and what today's news means is that the Judiciary Committee that was said to have convened until the end of January to re-work the act so that it better fit with the wants and needs of the VAST majority of free internet users is now going to vote this week instead. Opponents of the act will not be pleased. Read The Full Story

Skype outs free airport WiFi offer for holiday travelers

Chris Davies, Dec 19th 2011 Discuss [1]

Skype is offering free airport WiFi access in more than 50 locations between December 21 and 27, promising an hour's worth of complementary browsing, VoIP calling or video chatting for holiday travelers. The offer uses Skype WiFi, the company's wireless connectivity system, to log into airport hotspots across the US. Read The Full Story

SOPA and PROTECT IP rallied against by top-tier internet founders

Chris Burns, Dec 16th 2011 Discuss [4]

When it comes to something so very important as the two proposed pieces of legislation PROTECT IP Act and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), you'd be surprised how little the vast majority of the people voting on whether or not they are passed into law know what their actions may do to the internet and the greater world at large - thats why when "An open letter to Washington" came across our desk, it came as no surprise. What this letter contains is a very brief and to the point set of paragraphs and bullet points rallying against the two acts in question, signed at the bottom by a set of internet-based business heads that would make Al Gore shake in his shoes. Everyone from founders of eBay to Google to the Internet Archive are listed here, and we'd suggest that the recipients of this letter lend an open ear. Read The Full Story

Nearly 25% of 16-74 year-olds in EU27 have never used the internet

Shane McGlaun, Dec 15th 2011 Discuss [0]

It seems today that with the prevalence of the internet that just about everyone in a developed country has used the web. A recent survey conducted by Eurostat (PDF) of the EU27 countries has found that a surprisingly high percentage of people aged 16 to 74 have never used the internet. According to the study in 2011, 24% of people of the age range have never used the web. Read The Full Story

XXX domain name blocking begins with schools

Chris Burns, Dec 13th 2011 Discuss [3]

It's not tough to imagine why schools across the country would be blocking out student access to the newly minted .XXX domain name environment, especially since such a set of three letters defines only one thing: sex -- imagine our surprise then when these same schools started purchasing domain names with the triple-X title attached to their own names and sports teams! It's not nefarious at all though, as it turns out, as groups like the University of Kansas have picked up kansas.xxx and rockchalkjayhawk.xxx and jayhawks.xxx in order to deflect porn-minded individuals from owning them themselves. This all started two months ago with ICM Registry offering trademark holders the opportunity to pay $200 per URL for a one-time block that would assure these owners that their names would not be used to promote pornography. Read The Full Story