FCC chief backs usage-based Internet pricing

Exclusive: Spy agency seeks cyber-ops curriculum

FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The National Security Agency is trying to expand U.S. cyber expertise needed for secret intelligence operations against adversaries on computer networks through a new cyber-ops program at selected universities. The cyber-ops curriculum is geared to providing the basic education for jobs in intelligence, military and law enforcement that are so secret they will only be revealed to some students and faculty, who need to pass security clearance requirements, during special summer seminars offered by NSA. ...

Facebook shares drop again as SEC, FINRA call for review

(Reuters) - Facebook's shares fell sharply again on Tuesday and two top U.S. financial regulators called for a review of the circumstances surrounding its troubled initial public offering last week. The separate calls for review, by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro and FINRA Chairman Rick Ketchum, added pressure on the company, its underwriters and the Nasdaq, all of which have taken blame for the stock's harried opening and subsequent sharp decline. After Friday's nearly flat close and Monday's 11 percent plunge, Facebook shares were down 5.9 percent at $32. ...

Dating websites get inventive with games, apps

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly two decades since the start of online dating, the match-making sites that launched millions of relationships are spicing things up with online games and going high tech and offline to produce more happy ever afters. Games, apps and offline events are beginning to replace the ritual exchange of online messages, the basic tenet of online dating, and to blur the distinction between on-and-offline dating. Match.com, which boasts more than 1. ...

Zynga launches prepaid debit card with American Express

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zynga Inc., the social games publisher, has reached a partnership agreement with American Express to issue a prepaid debit card that could be used to redeem virtual credits, the two companies said. The partnership will help increase use of American Express' digital payments platform Serve as the credit card issuer competes with online gateway Paypal, a unit of eBay Inc, which is pushing to process transactions by mobile phones. ...

Google names new Motorola Mobility CEO

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc completed its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc and named a new chief executive for the cellphone maker, who vowed to focus on "fewer, bigger bets." Google, which made the deal to gain access to Motorola's vast trove of technology patents, said on Tuesday that Motorola Chief Executive Sanjay Jha has stepped down and has been succeeded by Dennis Woodside, former president of Google's Americas region. Woodside oversaw planning for the Motorola integration, according to Google. Jha will be retained to help manage a transition period. ...

Sportingbet settles Spain tax bill, eyes license

After Yahoo deal, challenges abound for Alibaba

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group could command a Facebook-rivalling valuation of $100 billion when it comes to list its shares, possibly by 2015 - but its more immediate challenge is to hang on to top spot in the country's $36 billion e-commerce market. Founded and led by Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma, Alibaba faces increasingly tough competition in its e-commerce stronghold from well-funded rivals 360buy, which is backed by Digital Sky Technologies, Dangdang Inc and Amazon.com Inc. ...

Webby Award winners' five-word speeches

At the 16th Annual Webby Awards ceremony held in New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on May 21, the winners kept to the signature five-word acceptance speeches with some amusing, clever and memorable thanks.

Google+ trends: SpaceX launch livestream, Google Chrome world’s most used browser

Google+ users are counting down the minutes until SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) launches its Dragon spaceship into space.

The Best and Worst Ways to Handle a Bad Yelp Review

Yelp, like all Internet forums, draws some insidious awful voices, which can present particular problems for businesses trying to solicit customers. The way Yelp works, these businesses can't remove comments, even of the most trollish sort, because that would ruin Yelp's whole set-up. Yelp wants to act as an accurate portrayal of local businesses, after all. The review site does, however, have a filter, which gets rid of the top-shelf garbage. But not all bad reviews constitute spam. And sometimes, a bad burger deserves a rant. ...

Website address 'revolution' back in motion

The Internet domain name "revolution" was back in action on Tuesday with the agency in charge of website addresses once again taking applications for online neighborhoods breaking the ".com" mold.

The Big Reason for Facebook's Fizzled IPO: Advertising Pains

As Facebook's stock continues its slump, now trading even lower than yesterday's low, the Internet has reached a consensus on why the IPO of the year isn't performing: Advertising. It's how Facebook makes its dollars. And, it has made a lot of dollars this way. But it's not clear Facebook's very good at it, or will get good enough at it to justify a $38 per share price. Hence the investor worry.

ICANN resumes bids for new Internet suffixes

Google completes takeover of Motorola Mobility

Google Tuesday finalized its $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility, a key manufacturer of smartphones and other devices which puts the Internet giant in head-to-head competition with Apple.

Less than 2% ‘Like’ mobile carriers despite millions spent on Facebook campaigns

Less than 2% of mobile carriers’ subscribers “Like” them on Facebook despite the millions of dollars they collectively spend in an effort to promote their services on the world’s most popular social network. Facebook made its initial public offering on Friday and while the company’s stock price dipped below the IPO price of $38 on Monday and continued to slide on Tuesday, Facebook’s offering was the biggest Internet IPO of all time by nearly 10 times. There is no denying that Facebook and the 900 million people who use the social network are of tremendous value to businesses looking to promote their services, but mobile carriers have seemingly not found success thus far as they attempt to bolster Facebook fan counts. According

Google completes takeover of Motorola Mobility

Google Tuesday finalized its $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility, a key manufacturer of smartphones and other devices which puts the Internet giant in head-to-head competition with Apple.

A look at tech companies with recent IPOs

After Yahoo deal, challenges abound for Alibaba

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group could command a Facebook-rivalling valuation of $100 billion when it comes to list its shares, possibly by 2015 - but its more immediate challenge is to hang on to top spot in the country's $36 billion e-commerce market. Founded and led by Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma, Alibaba faces increasingly tough competition in its e-commerce stronghold from well-funded rivals 360buy, which is backed by Digital Sky Technologies, Dangdang Inc and Amazon.com Inc. ...

Insight: Morgan Stanley cut Facebook estimates just before IPO

(Reuters) - In the run-up to Facebook's $16 billion IPO, Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter on the deal, unexpectedly delivered some negative news to major clients: The bank's consumer Internet analyst, Scott Devitt, was reducing his revenue forecasts for the company. The sudden caution very close to the huge initial public offering, and while an investor roadshow was underway, was a big shock to some, said two investors who were advised of the revised forecast. ...

Alibaba repurchases half of Yahoo’s stake for $7.1 billion

As Yahoo’s struggles continue, the company is looking to cut costs and dig up cash wherever it can. Yahoo announced plans last month to lay off 2,000 workers, or nearly 15% of its staff, and before that it filed a “puzzling” patent lawsuit against long-time partner Facebook. Now, Yahoo will sell half of its 40% stake in China-based retail giant Alibaba. Led by Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma, Alibaba will repurchase part of Yahoo’s holdings in the e-commerce firm for $7.1 billion as it prepares to take the company public. The deal, which was announced in a joint statement on Monday, will see Yahoo sell half its stake in Alibaba for $6.3 billion in cash and as much as $800 million in new preferred

Chrome passes Internet Explorer to become world’s most popular browser

Google’s Chrome Web browser has continued to gain market share since its introduction in 2008. Despite surpassing Internet Explorer in select regions and on weekends, Google’s browser has never been able to dethrone Microsoft in global usage share. According to new numbers from StatCounter, however, Google’s browser has finally averaged higher traffic than Internet Explorer for the first time over a full seven-day stretch. From May 14th through May 20th, the Internet giant’s Web browser garnered a 32.76% share, ahead of Microsoft’s 31.94% and Mozilla Firefox’s 25.47% share. At the start of this week, however, Chrome’s share began to slide, falling to 31.88%, just ahead of Internet Explorer’s 31.47% share. Read

Lawrence Lessig: Internet Privacy Is an Oxymoron [VIDEO]

Subscriber data from Internet service providers

What earnings reports have revealed about ads