Internet & Media

For years, Pandora and other Web radio stations fought to reduce the royalty rates they were required to pay artists and record labels.

Last July, the music industry and Webcasters reached an agreement and it now appears both sides are reaping the benefits. On Friday, SoundExchange, the group appointed by Congress to collect royalties on behalf of artists and copyright owners, said it has begun distributing $51.7 million, the largest quarter the nonprofit group has ever recorded.

The amount represents a 135 percent increase over the same period last year and is nearly $10 million larger than the previous … Read more

They sat up in bed on their wedding night and followed the progress of the hashtag they had created on Twitter. But before we focus on the romantic part of Greg and Stephanie Rewis' wedding, let us pause for a moment to consider how they got to the altar.

"Once it got going, it felt like the most natural thing in the world," Stephanie Rewis told CBS News.com.

Yes, yes. But wait a minute. Let's focus on how Twitter got involved in their mutual involvement. Two years ago, Greg Rewis and then Stephanie Sullivan, both deeply … Read more

Adobe might be putting a brave face on for its battle against Apple, but the company quietly admitted in its latest quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that if Apple continues to block Flash from both the iPhone and iPad, it could be facing some trouble.

"To the extent new releases of operating systems or other third-party products, platforms or devices, such as the Apple iPhone or iPad, make it more difficult for our products to perform, and our customers are persuaded to use alternative technologies, our business could be harmed," the company wrote in its … Read more

TalkTalk will fight in court any attempt to have it disconnect one of its subscribers for unlawful file-sharing, the ISP said on Thursday, as the Digital Economy Act 2010 became law.

The bundle of legislation, previously known as the Digital Economy Bill, saw a final round of debate in the House of Lords on Thursday and then gained royal assent. The Lords briefly examined and approved only the amendments that were added in the House of Commons after the initial period of debate by peers.

In a blog post, TalkTalk regulatory chief Andrew Heaney pledged that the UK's biggest … Read more

A year ago, Microsoft's Silverlight video technology was under fire.

Two high-profile situations--a decision by Major League Baseball to dump Silverlight in favor of archrival Adobe Flash, as well as a series of glitches at Netflix that were blamed on Silverlight--had generated negative publicity.

Since then, however, the complaints seem to have died down. And now, Silverlight is apparently on a roll.

The streaming-video technology is coming off a mostly glitch-free NCAA Men's college basketball tournament. This week, CNET parent company CBS said that CBSSports.com streamed more than 11 million hours of live audio and video during … Read more

Most people see Google's image search as a quick way to find a picture. Ken Solomon sees art. Literally.

Solomon is a Brooklyn-based artist who has spent the past couple of years working on stuff with a digital bent. One recent strain: recreating the contents of a Web browser, such as Google results pages and Facebook profiles, using watercolor on paper.

This sounds odd but looks cool, at least to my eye. And I definitely enjoy the practical joke at work here: Solomon creates an image by appropriating Google's appropriation of other people's images.

Is that art? Well, Solomon has a show called opening at a Chelsea gallery Thursday night, so some people think so. You can see more examples of his work here, but they may make a bit more sense when you hear him explain what he's up to in the video after the jump: … Read more

According to numerous sources, Yahoo has been seriously courting former Microsoft exec Blake Irving to take over as one of its key execs, running its product organization and essentially becoming the Internet "visionary" many think the company lacks.

While it is unclear if Irving has agreed to take the job, sources said Yahoo management was keen on him working there.

A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment when BoomTown asked about its discussions with Irving about the job.

I also reached out to Irving, but he has not responded.

It's unclear what the move means for current CTO and Chief Product Officer Ari Balogh. But sources said Balogh has been involved in the search, and was planning on taking some time off from Yahoo soon for personal reasons. (CNET editors' note: Later on Thursday, Balogh confirmed that he is leaving Yahoo because of "personal priorities.")

Irving, who was well liked at Microsoft, could certainly fill Balogh's shoes, having run major businesses there for many years in a variety of executive jobs.

He left Microsoft in 2007, as its corporate VP for the Windows Live Platform Group, after being there for 15 years to spend some time with his family in California. Irving had always commuted to Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters. … Read more

Update: 12:43 p.m. To include quote from NBC Universal general counsel.

The U.K.'s House of Commons overwhelmingly voted in favor of creating a law that would enable copyright owners to seek the suspension of Internet service of those accused multiple times of illegal file sharing.

The House of Commons voted 189 to 47 to pass the Digital Economy Bill, which also seeks to give the country's government the authority to block access to Web sites suspected of engaging in pirated material, according to British publication The Telegraph.

The bill still needs to go back to … Read more

Recent stories in the press about teenage cyberbullying and real-world bullying are sickening. It's hard to know how much cyberbullying contributed to her decision to kill herself, but the case of Phoebe Prince brings tears to my eyes. The South Hadley, Mass., 15-year-old was reportedly the brunt of repeated cruelty at the hands of classmates (six of whom are now facing criminal charges) until she put an end to her life.

There is also the recent cyberbullying case of Alexis Pilkington, a 17-year-old girl from Long Island, N.Y., who committed suicide last month after being taunted with cruel … Read more