WebProNews

SES Round-up

Jolina and Mike had a great time at the Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago. Not only is it the windy city, but a festive, cold and snowy one too by the sounds of it.

AP Is Dead ... Killed By Blogs & Aggregation

Old media is epitomized by no news source more than the Associated Press. Literally thousands of journalists are employed around the world to bring current event coverage to readers of thousands of newspapers and their online sites.

Did Barack Dodge the Net Neutrality Question?

Senator and Presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-IL) was expected to field a question about Network Neutrality today during a live video stream via MTV and MySpace from Coe College, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Doing so, according to supporters would bring the issue to the campaign table officially. If they were waiting for it, they were disappointed.

Facebook Islam Row Highlights Free Speech Issues

Historically, in the brick-and-mortar world, we've had courts to settle disputes. Online, there are terms of service agreements and invisible judges determining, usually at the behest of the loudest and largest mob, who is guilty of crossing the line between conscious protest and hate speech.

Is The FCC Blocking Wireless Competition?

With the nationwide expansion of fiber-optic wiring and digital delivery at the turn of the century, the federal government reclaimed and is still reclaiming large amounts of spectrum. Much of it, according to a former government official, has remained unused for seven years, and he blames the Federal Communications Commission for stifling competition in the wireless space.

Bloggers Resolve Dispute On CNN

Before their appearance on CNN this morning, bloggers Kathy Sierra and Chris Locke issued a joint statement responding to issues raised throughout the blogosphere following Sierra’s revelation of death threats against her, as well as the depiction of her image in misogynistic sexual photos.

Microsoft, AT&T In Supreme Patent Spat

AT&T has won a lower court decision against Microsoft and its use of AT&T patented technology in exported products, but Microsoft has a shot at getting that overturned with its appeal to the US Supreme Court.

The Influence of Unix on NT

For several years now I've been looking for something Bill Gates said. Unfortunately I had misremembered the actual words, and every time I found someone who thought they remembered it, they had the wrong words too and I'd come up dry yet again.

Google: Click Fraud Fixes Itself

Like John Lennon, Google CEO Eric Schmidt must have received a visit from Mother Mary, whispering words of wisdom about click fraud. Using an economic thought model reminiscent of "laissez faire" and "trickle down," Schmidt said the best way to deal with fraudulent clicks is to "let it happen."

Judge: Forum Comments Protected Speech

A recent federal court ruling accomplished two things: protection of online message board operators from liability for anonymous third party comments; and the funniest judicial opinion ever written.