WebProNews

Google Solicits National Broadband Plan Ideas

It's probably not much of a stretch to suggest that the average WebProNews reader spends more than half of his waking hours in front of a computer.  The National Broadband Plan is liable to affect you, then, and if you'd like to shape it, Google's giving you a chance. Here's a quick refresher before we get to the new development: the National Broadband Plan is something the FCC is supposed to submit to Congress by February of next year.  The goal of the Plan is to make high-speed Internet access more common in the U.S.

French Lawmakers Take Up Revised Internet Piracy Bill

The French Senate is considering a revised version of an Internet piracy law that was ruled unconstitutional last month, despite backing by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Hawaii Governor Vetoes Amazon Tax Law

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has vetoed a bill that would have required online retailers such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com to collect and pay sales tax on their affiliate programs within the state. Earlier this week both Amazon and Overstock had notified affiliates in the state that they would be ending their programs there due to the new tax requirements.

Amazon Ends Affiliate Program In Hawaii

Amazon.com is continuing with its policy to abandon its affiliates program in any state that even considers legislation that would force the online retailer to collect and pay sales tax.

Amazon Kills Affiliate Program In Rhode Island

Amazon.com has killed another affiliates program due to proposed legislation that would force the company to collect and pay sales tax in Rhode Island. The move comes less than a week after Amazon notified its affiliates in North Carolina it would be ending its program there due to similar proposed legislation.

Oxford University Press Endorses Google Book Settlement

The world's largest university press has sided with Google in the ongoing Google Book Settlement debate.  Yesterday, Tim Barton, the president of Oxford University Press, spent about 2,700 words explaining that he believes even a flawed settlement is better than nothing.

China Accuses Google Of Spreading Vulgar Content

China on Thursday expressed anger at Google for providing links on its English language search site that lead to vulgar content that violated the country's law. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang dodged a question about whether the government had played a role in recent disruptions to Google sites within China. He did make it clear that the government was angry with Google.

Gordon Brown: Twitter Might Prevent Genocide

Twitter's gotten a lot of positive mentions lately due to the role it's played in Iran; protesters have used the service to spread information that might have otherwise been days or weeks in coming.  However, Gordon Brown, the UK's prime minister, took things much further today, apparently crediting Twitter with the power to prevent genocide.

Yahoo Takes Turn In Front Of House Subcommittee

Yahoo wants you to know that it values your privacy as much as - or possibly more than - Google.  Yesterday, the Mountain View-based giant got a bit of a head start in terms of describing a hearing titled "Behavioral Advertising: Industry Practices and Consumer Expectations," but Sunnyvale has now published its take. 

Google Aims For Idiot Box Opposite With Citizentube

Over the years, YouTube's been used for increasingly serious purposes.  Now, we've apparently reached the point at which those purposes are important and numerous enough to get their own blog, as Google's set something called Citizentube (with zero capital "t"s, yes) aside to cover them.