US-TECH Summary
Treasure Hunt gets digital update in WiFi Venice
MILAN - Treasure Hunting will go fully digital on Friday night when players chase a mysterious oriental wand with special powers along the narrow streets and bridges of Venice. Discovering hidden corners far from tourist crowds, hunters will get route indications and keywords through cellphones and laptops to celebrate venerable Venice's big jump into the future -- getting fully wired.
Broadband industry group say U.S. rules go too far
WASHINGTON - U.S. government guidelines to spend $4 billion to expand broadband access to underserved areas across the United States may go beyond current laws, a broadband industry group, said on Thursday. USTelecom, which represents the biggest U.S. telephone companies Verizon Communications Inc <VZ.N> and AT&T Inc <T.N>, said it was still analyzing requirements to provide loans and grants to applicants that can include state and local governments as well as non- and for-profit organizations.
Media players plot survival in Sun Valley
NEW YORK - The global recession, shrinking advertising sales and fears that the Internet could render big media empires obsolete provide an ominous backdrop for executives at this week's Sun Valley conference. Herb Allen's boutique investment bank Allen & Co has organized this retreat in the affluent mountain resort town in south-central Idaho every summer for 27 years, inviting guests such as Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone and Barry Diller.
Bluetooth "Big Brother" tracks festival-goers
BRUSSELS - Researchers are using Bluetooth technology to observe the meanderings of tens of thousands of festival-goers at a top European rock festival, hoping their findings will launch a new generation of tracking devices. The team from the University of Ghent in Belgium believes the research could yield new satellite navigation applications for the retail and security sectors.
NY thieves want iPhones, victims fight back
NEW YORK - Thieves are increasingly going after iPhones and other smartphones but victims now can fight back with technology. One device allows a user to remotely activate a loud siren designed to rattle the thief. Another application, designed for iPhones, can reveal the phone's location.
MySpace suicide conviction tentatively dismissed
LOS ANGELES - A federal judge on Thursday tentatively dismissed the conviction of a suburban mother accused of driving a love-lorn 13-year-old girl to suicide by tormenting her with a fake MySpace persona. U.S. District Judge George Wu said during a hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom that prosecutors' application of a federal anti-hacking statute against the Missouri woman, Lori Drew, was selective and the law was unconstitutionally vague.
China paper says Web filter only a matter of time
BEIJING - It is only a matter of time before a controversial scheme to install Internet filtering software on all computers begins in China, a state newspaper said on Thursday, after the plan was abruptly delayed this week. The surprise climbdown was reported late on Tuesday by Xinhua news agency, which said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology would "delay the mandatory installation of the controversial 'Green Dam-Youth Escort' filtering software on new computers."
Internet used to help young smokers quit
NEW YORK is leading a $2.9 million National Cancer Institute project to increase demand for evidence-based, Internet-based smoking cessation treatment for young adults aged 18 to 24 years. "Surprisingly, this age group has the highest rate of smoking compared to any other age group," psychology professor Robin Mermelstein, principal investigator of the 5-year study, noted in a UIC podcast. "In fact, smoking starts to escalate between the ages of 18 and 24, and even though many young adults think about quitting and actually want to stop, they have among the lowest rates of quitting and trying to quit."
Jay Leno wins cybersquatting case
GENEVA said Leno had common law trademark rights to his name after a 30-year career in entertainment, even though Guadalupe Zambrano registered the site in 2004.
Web advertisers propose self-regulation principles
WASHINGTON - Online advertisers are proposing a mix of consumer education, disclosures about what information is being collected and special protections for children and sensitive information in an effort to head off tough legislation. Four leading advertising trade associations -- the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Association of National Advertisers, the Direct Marketing Association, or DMA, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau -- drew up the "self-regulatory principles."