A new Web site tries to better arm employees for salary negotiations
New Internet technologies are providing information that has never been available to the average person and could transform the way they lobby for a raise.

EU antitrust regulators intensify Sony BMG inquiry
The European Commission will review for the next four months the merger of the music units of Sony and Bertelsmann to determine whether it has raised the price of recorded music.

Vivendi ratchets up its fight with Deutsche Telekom
French media company says it has documents that help prove its ownership of Polish mobile phone company.

Deutsche Telekom posts loss
The largest European phone company said it had lost customers at home to stiffer competition and would begin to look at growth opportunities abroad.

Threat of even more European fines for Microsoft
The European Commission is unhappy with the prices the software company wants to charge for royalties in its antitrust case.

The unfunny side of Internet video sites
Adolescent violence linked to video-upload sites on the Web is inspiring governments around the world to crack down on cyber-bullying and assaults with arrests, fines and jail sentences.

Google starting small on video
Frustrated in its efforts to reach deals with major studios, Google is quietly forming partnerships with hundreds of smaller media companies.

For some aging actors, self-mockery sells
The ads offer celebrities another day in the limelight, while giving older consumers a chance to revisit stars from their childhood.

Oracle to buy Hyperion Solutions for $3.3 billion
The deal is the latest trophy in a lengthy string of acquisitions by the database software giant.

EU investigating Taiwan over licensing for CDs
The European Commission on Thursday began investigating whether Taiwan was breaking global trade rules by the way its government granted licenses for making recordable compact discs.

EU investigating Taiwan over licensing for CDs

The European Commission on Thursday began investigating whether Taiwan was breaking global trade rules by the way its government granted licenses for making recordable compact discs.

"This follows a complaint lodged by Philips, the electronics manufacturer which holds patents in the technology for CDRs," it said.

The commission is investigating whether licenses issued by Taiwan's government allow domestic producers to use patents without having to negotiate a licensing agreement with the patent owner.

Taiwan produces about 80 percent of recordable CDs sold worldwide, the commission said. $@

Food ads must warn on snacks in France

PARIS: France ordered that food advertisements warn against snacking, advising consumers to eat fruits and vegetables and remain active.

The move affects advertisements on television, radio and billboards and the Internet for processed, sweetened or salted food and drinks.

The Health Ministry said it will help children "guide themselves" in making eating decisions.

Advertisers that refuse to run the messages will be fined 1.5 percent of the cost of the ad, to be paid to the National Institute for Health Education. $@ (AP)

Verizon wins access to local carriers' lines

WASHINGTON: Rural telephone companies must let carriers like Verizon Communications use local lines to connect Internet-based calls, U.S. regulators said Thursday.

The ruling by the Federal Communications Commission that granted a petition by Time Warner Cable, will "enhance consumers' choice for phone service," the FCC chairman, Kevin Martin, said. AT&T and Verizon, the two biggest U.S. phone companies, supported a petition by Time Warner Cable.

The FCC order overrides rulings by state regulators in South Carolina and Nebraska that barred certain carriers from connecting calls using voice-over-Internet protocol, or VoIP, to traditional local phone lines.

$@ (Bloomberg)

Virgin Media, the biggest cable operator in Britain, stopped carrying British Sky Broadcasting basic channels after the two companies failed to extend a pay-television distribution agreement. $@(Bloomberg)

Nortel Networks said it would restate results for at least the fourth time in as many years to correct accounting errors. Results will be restated for 2004, 2005 and the first nine months of 2006, said the company, which is based in Toronto. $@(Bloomberg)

Lenovo Group said it planned to recall 205,000 Thinktop laptop batteries worldwide. The Lithium- ion extended-life batteries are used in ThinkPad systems, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said. $@(Bloomberg)