Internet & Media

Updated at 5:05 p.m. PDT to include explanation of RIAA's graduated response, quotes from RIAA, as well as information about how some ISPs had already implemented their own type of graduated response.

Jim Cicconi, a senior executive vice president at AT&T, says much has been written about his company's relationship with the music industry and some of it is flatly untrue.

This much at least Cicconi wants customers to understand: "AT&T is not going to suspend or terminate anyone's policy without a court order."

On Tuesday, Cicconi told attendees … Read more

Wall Street executives feeling harassed by taxpayers outraged at their pay might take note of how Google's ruling triumvirate fared in 2008: $1 in salary each, no bonus, no stock grants, and no stock options.

Google has offered co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt "market-competitive" salaries every year since 2005, but once again in 2008, the three turned it down, according to a company regulatory filing Tuesday. "Due to their own preferences not to receive salary compensation, Eric, Larry, and Sergey each rejected these offers and continue to receive base salaries … Read more

Update: 11:37 a.m. PDT To include quotes from a Cox spokesman.

Update: 4:05 p.m. PDT To include Comcast's statement that the 2 million notices sent out was not part of any new policy.

The Internet service providers that have agreed to work with the recording industry to battle illegal file sharing are starting to come forward.

Joe Waz, a senior vice president at Comcast, the nation's second largest ISP, told a gathering of music industry executives that the company has issued 2 million notices on behalf of copyright owners, according to multiple people who … Read more

Buzzworthy social music service Project Playlist has signed another major-label deal: EMI Music has licensed its catalog to the company, which hired former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta as its CEO in November and says that over 52 million playlists have been created to date by its over 42 million registered users.

The first major-label deal for Project Playlist was with Sony BMG, an agreement announced in December. The company had previously been sued by a number of big players in the music industry, including EMI, because of the amount of unauthorized content uploaded to its servers. The Recording Industry … Read more

Updated Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. PDT to include quotes from AT&T and information about Comcast and Cox.

Updated Wednesday at 10:37 a.m. PDT to include a statement from an AT&T spokeswoman who wished to correct what she had previously said. She says now that the company asserts in the letters that it has the right to terminate a policy. She said, however, the company has no intention of doing so.

Updated Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. PDT: AT&T says that it won't ever terminate service of customers without … Read more

Blockbuster will become the latest Internet video-on-demand service to appear on TiVo DVRs.

The two companies announced late Tuesday that they are working to make Blockbuster's service available on all TiVo Series2 and Series3 DVRs (including the HD and HD XL models) in the second half of 2009.

The announcement marks the first non-PC device to support both Blockbuster OnDemand and its archrival, Netflix. TiVo DVRs also support Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Jaman, and some Disney movies via CinemaNow.

In addition to Blockbuster's online video service being available on TiVo, Blockbuster will sell TiVo hardware at its … Read more

Google is joining a $5.75 million investment round in Pixazza, a start-up that hopes to profit by overlaying photos on the Web with links that let people buy the products in the images.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is now launching the technology for general use by advertisers, Web publishers, and the network of self-appointed but screened specialists who identify the products in the photos, said Chief Executive Bob Lisbonne. The company is starting with the apparel industry but plans to expand to home design and furnishings, travel, electronics, and sports starting later this year, he said.

Lisbonne … Read more

Facebook users haven't exactly been reticent about their dislike for Facebook's recent redesign. And Facebook staff want you to know they're listening.

Facebook has been deluged with feedback on its new layout, much of it negative but constructive, according to a blog posted Tuesday by Product Director Christopher Cox. Hundreds of thousands of people gave the redesign a thumbs-down in a user poll. And groups like "MEMBERS WANT THE OLD FACEBOOK BACK!" have formed to voice their discontent.

While the social network isn't reverting back to the old page design, they are making a … Read more

Facebook has hired an American Civil Liberties Union attorney to serve in the new role of director of public policy for the social network, according to The New York Times.

As a senior attorney at the ACLU, Timothy Sparapani worked on issues like data mining and national ID cards. He also has close ties to privacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and the Center for Digital Democracy.

Representatives from those groups have complained about Facebook's advertising practices and its revised terms of service agreement. (The CDD complained this week that revised terms … Read more