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9:30 AM ET, February 17, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
50% of Charges Against Pirate Bay Dropped  —  What has been shown in court today is that the prosecutor cannot prove that the .torrent files he is using as evidence actually used The Pirate Bay's tracker.  Many of the screenshots being used clearly state there is no connection to the tracker.
RELATED:
Kelly Fiveash / The Register:
Pirate Bay prosecutor tosses infringement charges overboard  —  Watered down to ‘assisting making available’  —  Free whitepaper - The Register Guide: Taking stock of the IT environment  —  Half of the charges made against the four men behind the notorious file-sharing website The Pirate Bay …
Discussion: The Local
Vodafone:
Vodafone and HTC unveil Android-powered HTC Magic  — Vodafone extends world-class range of Internet phones with latest Android™-powered smartphone from HTC  — HTC Magic smartphone exclusive to Vodafone customers initially in UK, Spain, Germany and France (SFR) and non-exclusively in Italy.
RELATED:
Jason Palmer / BBC:
Second ‘Google phone’ is unveiled  —  Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Barcelona  —  A second phone based on Google's operating system Android has been unveiled by Vodafone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.  —  The touchscreen HTC Magic will feature a 3.2 Megapixel camera …
Discussion: PSFK
Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook Blog:
On Facebook, People Own and Control Their Information  —  A couple of weeks ago, we updated our terms of use to clarify a few points for our users.  A number of people have raised questions about our changes, so I'd like to address those here.  I'll also take the opportunity to explain how we think about people's information.
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:   Zuckerberg On Who Owns User Data On Facebook: It's Complicated
Marguerite Reardon / Webware.com:
Skype strikes deal with Nokia  —  BARCELONA—Skype is racking up deals with mobile handset makers here at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009.  —  On Tuesday, the company, which is owned by eBay, announced a partnership with Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in the world, to put the Skype Internet calling software onto its phones.
RELATED:
Chaim / About Skype:
Skype and Nokia partner to integrate Skype into Nokia devices  —  BARCELONA, February 17, 2009 — Skype and Nokia today announced a partnership that will bring the world's leading Internet communications experience to the Nokia range of mobile computers.  Under the terms of the cooperation …
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / Hardware 2.0:
Worst.  Windows 7.  Piece.  EVER!  —  Over on Slashdot is perhaps the worst piece on Windows 7 that I've see so far (I find it hard to believe that this one will be beaten anytime soon ...). … OK, just a few points worth making:  — Someone messes about with Photoshop in order to crack it …
Discussion: p2pnet
RELATED:
Kdawson / Slashdot:
Draconian DRM Revealed In Windows 7
Discussion: TechnoLlama and Boing Boing
Richard Wray / Guardian:
At last ... a charger for all mobile phones  —  The mobile phone industry plans to introduce a universal charger as part of a drive to improve its previously patchy environmental record.  —  The plan from industry body the GSM Association (GSMA) is just one of a raft of “green” announcements at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Discussion: PC World and Agence France Presse
Jenna Wortham / Bits:
Offerpal Media Raises $15 Million to Peddle In-Game Ads  —  For most casual gamers on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, tricking out their avatars is almost more fun than playing the game.  —  One way to build an impressive inventory of virtual goods is by earning them through hours of game play.
Discussion: VentureBeat, GigaOM and Inside Facebook
Michael V. Copeland / Fortune:
Technology's bargain bin  —  A lot of tech stocks have taken a beating in this difficult market.  Here are three that will bounce back when the economy recovers.  —  (Fortune Magazine) — If you thought Nortel looked cheap in mid-December at 27 cents a share, you were right.
Discussion: All About Nortel
Sascha Segan / Gearlog:
AT&T CEO: Dell Will Build a Smartphone  —  At a panel at Mobile World Congress today, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega just said, “Dell announced they're entering the smart phone market.”  That's a quote.  —  This confirms many rumors that have been floating around …
Nathan Eddy / eWeek:
MWC: GSMA CEO Conway Says Telecom Industry Will Weather Economic Downturn  —  GSMA CEO Rob Conway said the mobile industry would weather the economic crisis, outlined the association's ambitious plans for the years ahead, and earned a round of applause after announcing plans …
Discussion: Associated Press
Pui-Wing Tam / Wall Street Journal:
Employment Falls in Silicon Valley  —  Silicon Valley posted a drop in employment and recorded a decline in per capita income in 2008 for the first time in several years, as the recession caught up with the technology-heavy region.  —  The findings come in a closely watched annual report …
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks:atul
Alertbox:
Mobile Web 2009 = Desktop Web 1998 … I recently sat through many sessions in which usability test participants attempted to use websites on their mobile phones.  What a cringeworthy experience — for both users and researchers.  In terms of the user experience quality we observed …
Discussion: the Econsultancy blog
Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Nortel to present new business plan in few weeks  —  BARCELONA (Reuters) - Nortel Networks Corp (NT.TO) aims to present its new business plan on how it will scale down its business operations within the next few weeks, a senior company official told Reuters on Tuesday.
Agence France Presse:
Bill Gates grant to extend mobile banking to poor  —  BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Microsoft founder Bill Gates has agreed to help fund a massive rollout of projects enabling poor mobile phone users to transfer money using their handsets, an industry body announced Tuesday.
Discussion: PR Newswire and Yankee Group Blog
 
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 More Items: 
John Markoff / New York Times:
The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives
Sarah Lacy / Business Week:
Local Advertising Isn't Jumping Online
Discussion: The Equity Kicker and Search Engine Land, Thanks:sadkids
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Filtrbox Raises $1.4 Million, Launches Revamped Market Intelligence Tool
Discussion: paidContent.org
Pavel Alpeyev / Bloomberg:
Toshiba Agrees to Buy Fujitsu's Hard-Disk Drive Unit to Boost Market Share
Discussion: Computerworld
Dan Goodin / The Register:
Satellite-hacking boffin sees the unseeable
 Earlier Items: 
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
Mobile World Congress: One Day, Sixteen New Phones
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:
TechStars Fills Void Left By Y Combinator With New Incubator In Boston
Discussion: Innovation Economy, Thanks:dreamsketcher
Ben Worthen / Wall Street Journal:
Oracle Goes on a Recession Buying Spree
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Justin.tv Is Redirecting Porn Queries Into Cash
Discussion: the Econsultancy blog
Charles Hudson / Charles Hudson's Weblog:
THE DATABASE OF INTENTIONS IS MORE VALUABLE THAN THE DATABASE …
Discussion: Beyond Search, Thanks:atul
Cade Metz / The Register:
Apple's Mac OS X update breaks Perl
Discussion: perl.org lists
Paul Carr:
Can you guess what my column's going to be about this week?
Discussion: The Register
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Windows Mobile 6.5 Hands On: The New Interface Rocks
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

Evan Drellich / New York Times:
The MLB is planning national packages for streaming companies to bid on in 2028, when its national TV deals with ESPN, Fox, and Turner expire

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery

 
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