Court blocks access to YouTube in Turkey
The Web site was blocked because of a video deemed insulting to the founder of modern Turkey.

The End User: Unlocking the mysteries of Webspeak
It's easy to feel like a foreigner in a conversation about the Internet if you are over the age of 20.

Briefing: Internet advertising surges 34% in U.S.
Companies are moving more spending on marketing and promotion into new media, a report concluded.

Microsoft shows off new tools in search contest
Despite a lack of visible progress in catching up with Google, the leader in Internet search engines, Microsoft says it still believes that it will eventually turn the tables.
- Microsoft attacks Google over book scanning
- Threat of even more European fines for Microsoft

Ruling could open EU gambling market
Italy was barred from using criminal law to try to stop three people who operated local gambling shops where customers could place bets through a British company.

FCC chief questions U.S. satellite radio merger
Kevin Martin, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, has privately questioned congressional testimony given last week by the man behind a proposed merger by the two U.S.

Wikipedia ire turns against ex-editor
In the past few days, contributors to Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia, have turned against one of their own who was found to have created an elaborate false identity.

Internet advertising surges 34% in U.S.

Internet advertising in the United States surged 34 percent last year, reaching a record level, as companies moved more spending on marketing and promotion into new media, data released Wednesday showed.

The report by Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers was based on a survey of leading companies that sell advertising space online.

Preliminary results showed that ad revenue for 2006 rose to $16.8 billion from $12.5 billion in 2005. $@

Ericsson wins backing for its Tandberg offer

STOCKHOLM:Ericsson, the largest maker of wireless network equipment, won backing for its $1.4 billion offer for Tandberg Television from the Tandberg board.

The support derailed a rival bid by Arris Group, which had offered $1.2 billion.

The acquisition would allow Ericsson to make a push into the market for Internet broadcasting.

A spokesman from Arris, based in Atlanta, said that the company would evaluate its options. $@(Bloomberg)

Italian official wants phone control retained

ROME:Telecom Italia's phone network should stay under Italian control, the communications minister, Paolo Gentiloni, said, calling the biggest telephone company in Italy an "important national asset."

"It is important that our national companies have a determining role," Gentiloni said.

Telefónica of Spain said last week that talks to buy a stake in the largest shareholder of Telecom Italia were on hold. $@(Bloomberg)

Time Warner to settle final merger lawsuit

WASHINGTON:Time Warner will pay $144 million to settle a securities-fraud lawsuit brought by the state of Ohio and five state pension funds, resolving one of the last claims over the company's 2001 merger with America Online.

The state said it had lost almost $400 million after it was disclosed that America Online had inflated its stock price before the merger.

Time Warner paid $2.4 billion to settle shareholders' lawsuits to help close its merger. $@(Bloomberg)

ITV, the privately owned television station in Thailand, will be allowed to continue broadcasting until the government completes a takeover of its operations, a senior official said. The cabinet revoked iTV's broadcasting concession after the station failed to pay about $3 billion in fees and fines. $@(AP)

Samsung Electronics will invest almost €400 million, or $525 million, in building a liquid-crystal display factory in Slovakia, two government officials involved in the negotiations said. Samsung chose Slovakia over Hungary for the manufacturing contract, the two people said. $@(Bloomberg)