Technology & Media - International Herald Tribune
Technology news from The International Herald Tribune, the world's daily newspaper online.

• Sports groups clash with media over pictures
  As news organizations scramble to champion their rights to cover games and publish photographs, a coalition of 37 sports is seeking to protect its intellectual property rights in a fast- changing digital world.
• Google gets ready to rumble with Microsoft
  The growing confrontation promises to be an epic business battle.
• Ringtone market comes to the end of its crescendo
  Ringtone companies like Jamba and Musiwave are refocusing their businesses.
• Travel guidebooks expand online presence
  Outpaced by Web sites with user-generated content and recommendations, travel publications like Lonely Planet and Rough Guides are extending their brands to catch up.
• Portugal seeks new image as 'West Coast of Europe'
  For the Portuguese, being brushed off, overlooked or misunderstood by larger European countries is an all-too-common occurrence. Now they are trying to do something about it.
• Too few Wiis means lost sales for Nintendo
  The Kyoto-based company is giving up $1 billion or more by not meeting demand for its wildly popular video game console for the second consecutive holiday season.
• Microsoft faces antitrust complaint for bundling browser
  Opera, a tiny Norwegian company, claims Microsoft is abusing its monopoly power by bundling its Internet Explorer browser with Windows.
• Murdoch wins control of Dow Jones
  Shareholders accepted a $5.3 billion offer from News Corp. that paid them far better for their holdings than anyone would have predicted just months ago.
• Chinese company gains control of Iomega
  In a complex deal, the U.S. company will acquire a subsidiary of Great Wall, a Chinese computer maker, which will gain a majority stake in Iomega and control of its board.
• Paramount marks a first with premiere of 'Jackass' movie online
  Paramount Pictures will make "Jackass 2.5" available through the Movielink service of Blockbuster.
• Microsoft acquires MultiMap
  MultiMap has a Web site that allows consumers to find elusive addresses across Europe, the United States and much of the rest of the world.
• MTV restores some benefits for freelancers
  After announcing last week that it would substantially cut benefits for freelancers, MTV Networks has reversed some of its decisions.
• Top treats for gadget-lovers
  Giving the gift of a gadget this holiday season? It should be a fairly painless task, as the latest must-have toys succeed in both form and function.
• Congressman questions Google on data retention and privacy policies
  A House Republican on Wednesday sent a letter to Google Inc. , asking the Internet search company to provide more information about its search practices and targeted advertising.
• Regulator in Italy nearing Telecom Italia decision
  The company, which dominates the Italian retail and wholesale fixed-line markets, is being pushed to give other companies equal access to its network.
• Remaking The Wall Street Journal
  Rupert Murdoch won't officially buy Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, until Thursday. But his influence is already apparent.
• Yahoo Finance partners with CNBC to distribute business news
  Yahoo Finance, the most popular business news Web site, began distributing content from the business news channel CNBC on Wednesday.
• Penthouse Media Group acquires social networking sites
  Marc Bell, chief executive of Penthouse, said the company was investing $500 million in Various and its networking subsidiaries, which include adult-oriented sites.
• Sony bringing back the 'wow factor'
  The chief executive, Howard Stringer, said the company had recovered from its past financial problems after almost three years of restructuring.
• Food makers in Europe volunteer to cut ads directed at children
  The move is being made as obesity becomes a greater concern in the European Union and follows pressure on the food and beverage industry.
• Protests accompany Google's expansion of Street View
  The popular feature was introduced in eight new American cities Tuesday, but it has raised privacy concerns.
• Le Web 3.0: Silicon Valley comes to Europe
  Le Web 3.0 is a place where ideas sprout, companies coalesce, mergers are made and financing is secured. But whether that ecosystem can last beyond the conference is another matter.
• Ask.com places a bet on online privacy
  The search engine has rolled out a new service, AskEraser, that allows users to make their Internet queries more private. Some critics have said the feature will not be a big selling point, but privacy advocates are hoping other search engines follow suit.
• Bull riding as the new Nascar for advertisers
  The popularity of the sport in the United States as an 'extreme' form of entertainment has many media and marketing executives salivating, but could professional bull riding really be the next big thing in sponsorship?
• Freelancers walk out at MTV in New York
  Waving signs that read "Shame on Viacom," scores of permanent freelance workers, most of them in their 20s, demanded that MTV Networks reverse a plan to reduce health and dental benefits for freelancers beginning Jan. 1.
• Airborne Internet closer to reality
  Starting this week and over the next few months, several airlines in the United States and Europe are due to begin testing new digital services on some of their planes.
• Universal to expand its online reach
  Universal, owned by Vivendi, agreed Monday to provide songs from its artists in exchange for part of the ad revenue generated by the site.
• Screenwriters dig in their heels in battle for respect
  Five weeks into a strike that now promises to drag on well into the new year, it suddenly became clear that guild leaders were serious about their writers' revolution.
• A commercial 'phenomenon' in Italy: teenage fairies
  With a No.1 movie in Italy and an IPO in the offing, the Rainbow production company thinks it has the next big thing: Winx fairies.
• IHT and Reuters forge business news alliance
  The International Herald Tribune was to announce plans Monday to transform its daily business section online and in print next month, creating a report that publishes news from both organizations.
• Yahoo makes new foray into streaming-video finance
  TechTicker, a new program from Yahoo, will report exclusively on technology stocks, offering daily streaming-video segments and blog posts, as well as some live coverage of breaking news.
• Nokia says it was far ahead of Google on new cellphone technology
  For a decade, Nokia has had its own army of software developers, writing applicatio