Filed under: Internet

Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.

 

Comcast Internet blackout in Boston, DC

An internet service outage for some Comcast customers on the East Coast eased early Monday, the company said. Get the full story »

PR firm settles FTC suit over iTunes game reviews

The Federal Trade Commission said Friday that it has settled charges that a California public-relations firm posted fake video game reviews on Apple Inc.’s  iTunes Store.

According to an FTC complaint, employees of California-based Reverb Communications Inc. allegedly engaged in deceptive online advertising by having paid employees and company managers pose as consumers and write glowing video game reviews of clients’ games. Get the full story »

Early indications show strong Cyber Monday

As online sellers kick off the coming week with one of their biggest sales days of the year — Cyber Monday — its brick-and-mortar counterpart — Black Friday — offers some encouraging signs: Consumer are shopping more enthusiastically in stores and online before the big days. Get the full story »

Easy URL unleashed Disney earnings leak

The Walt Disney Co.’s early release of its earnings report this month came down to a Dumbo move: The company made the information accessible on an easy-to-guess Web address.

Disney didn’t plan on posting the link on its site until after the market closed. But a reporter at Bloomberg News found it with simple Internet sleuthing and reported results about a half-hour before the scheduled release, according to a person familiar with Bloomberg’s practices. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Get the full story »

WikiLeaks founder wants detention order vacated

WikiLeaks founder and chief editor Julian Assange plans to ask Sweden’s highest court to overturn a lower court decision ordering him detained for questioning, his lawyer said Wednesday. Get the full story »

Marketers behind health sites, privacy groups warn

Web sites offering a sense of community to people with diseases or ailments often are created by marketers who fail to disclose that they are sharing data about the users, a complaint filed with U.S. regulators charged on Tuesday.

Four pro-privacy groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, detailing a number of techniques marketers use to identify potential purchasers of particular medications. Get the full story »

Zynga, Playdom settle trade-secret suit

Social games leader Zynga Game Network Inc. said Tuesday that it had settled a suit it filed against Walt Disney Co.’s Playdom unit, ending a year-long battle over trade secrets with one of its closest rivals.

Zynga, known for games including “Farmville” and “Mafia Wars,” sued Playdom in September 2009, alleging that Playdom induced four former Zynga employees to steal trade secrets and use that information to help Playdom develop online social games to compete with Zynga’s games. Get the full story »

Robert Feder pulling blog from Vocalo

Robert Feder, the former Chicago Sun-Times columnist whose local media coverage and criticism gave Chicago Public Media’s Vocalo both an identity and much of its Web traffic, announced early Tuesday on his blog he is leaving the site he joined only last fall.

Twitter co-founder hopes to create news network

Biz Stone, the co-founder of popular microblogging site Twitter, is eager to harness the vast quantities of information that it helps its users share to create a news network, he told Reuters Monday.

A Twitter news network would not necessarily be run by Twitter itself but would be in partnership with several existing news organizations, and would be open, Stone said. Get the full story »

eMusic widens library, changes pricing

Digital music subscription club eMusic is launching a new pricing plan. It charges more for new music but adds tunes from major labels in an effort to broaden its appeal.

In the past, the site focused on indie labels and offered discounts on tracks for members committed to spending at least $6.49 a month. Get the full story »

Groupon recovers from Oprah, Nordstrom strain

Chicago-based daily deals company Groupon said its Web site is back to normal after the combination of an Oprah Winfrey mention and a popular deal with retailer Nordstrom Rack caused traffic problems.

The site had been experiencing intermittent slowness in the morning for users depending on their location, said Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler. Get the full story »

Groupon considering sale to Google

E-commerce coupon site Groupon Inc. is considering either selling itself to Google Inc. or going ahead with a round of fund-raising that may value it at more than $3 billion, Bloomberg reported Friday citing sources.

The two have held talks about a deal, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal’s All Things D blog  reported. Get the full story »

Sittercity.com acquires competitor

Chicago-based Sittercity.com, a Web site that matches customers with babysitters and other caregivers, has acquired one of its competitors.

Financial terms of the deal with Virginia-based Sitters.com were not disclosed. Get the full story »

Tribune Co. streamlining interactive division

Tower Ticker | The reorganization of Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.’s interactive division, recently rechristened Tribune Digital, is continuing to take shape under its new management and, according to a staff memo sent this morning, under new marching orders. Get the full story »

White House to push for tech policy action in 2011

The Obama administration on will push Congress next year to move ahead on critical technology policies, the White House’s technology chief said on Thursday. Get the full story »