7 February – Five Stories You Need to Read

According to MSNBC, “News Corp.’s Web network MySpace has been in talks for several months with online auction company eBay Inc. about a partnership” which would allow “MySpace users [to] buy and sell items from each other using eBay’s online-commerce technology and its PayPal payment system.”

In a different story, MSNBC reports that “Norway’s Consumer Council applauded signs of willingness from Apple Inc. to open its iTunes music store to players other than its iPod, but said Wednesday the company was skirting key issues and passing responsibility to record companies.”

CNetNews.com has an interesting article on Google’s opposition to regulating the Internet.  According to CNet, “Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s nightmare scenario for a future Internet looks like this: As billions more people go online, those in power are so ‘freaked out’ about the misuse of personal information that they suffocate the Web with stifling regulations.”

According to BBC News, “[h]ackers have attempted to topple key parts of the internet’s backbone, in one of the most significant attacks of recent years” but there is “no evidence so far of damage, which experts are saying is testament to the robust nature of the internet”.

BBC News also reports that “Europe has begun rolling out its new research and development initiative – the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).”