Internet & Media

A clarification was made to this story.

Steve Jang has resigned as chief marketing officer at Imeem, the financially troubled social network.

Jang's departure had been planned for some time and was amicable, said Matt Graves, an Imeem spokesman. He added that Jang, who also led the company's business development unit, will remain associated with Imeem as a strategic adviser. Graves said Jang was leaving "to do something new" but would not disclose what that was.

In addition, the company's vice president of Western advertising sales has resigned. She, too, had planned to leave, Graves … Read more

Some broadband users are considering going back to dial-up as the tough economic climate forces them to cut their household budgets, according to a story published Friday in the Chicago Tribune.

While it's unlikely Americans will ditch broadband for dial-up en masse, there are likely to be some people who find the $20 to $50 monthly fees for DSL or cable modem broadband service to be too high, when dial-up providers such as NetZero are offering new $9.95 service plans.

One Florida man, Arnold Zimmerman, 66, said that after his work hours got reduced and his stock portfolio … Read more

The Walt Disney Company is discussing a deal to take an equity stake in Hulu in exchange for providing the video portal with ABC programming, according to a published report.

Citing unnamed sources, news blog PaidContent says that it's not clear how much of ABC's content would be involved, but a final deal could include ESPN, the sports cable behemoth that has been a goldmine for Disney.

Representatives from Disney and Hulu were not immediately available.

The talks between the two companies reportedly are "serious," but a final deal has not been reached, according to two … Read more

E-commerce giant Amazon.com plans to close three facilities, as the company rejiggers its distribution network, according to an Associated Press report Thursday.

Distribution facilities in Munster, Ind., Red Rock, Nev., and Chambersburg, Pa., will be shuttered, with the 210 affected employees offered a chance to either transfer to nearby facilities, or terminate their Amazon employment and receive eight weeks of severance, according to the report.

Representatives from Amazon.com were not immediately available for comment.

Amazon opened the Munster facility in late 2007, but with its closure, it will have two distribution centers in Indiana. The closure of the … Read more

Google is seeking to turn its TV advertising program into a one-stop shop.

The Internet search giant is currently testing Google TV Ads Online, an interface designed to enable advertisers to purchase ads through its nearly one-year-old Google TV Ads program, its YouTube site, and, eventually, Internet sites running video, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

A limited group of advertisers is currently testing the service, which could debut in the months to come, the Journal noted.

Google's move to develop a one-stop system for TV and video advertising comes at a time when consumers are … Read more

Google is eliminating about 200 sales and marketing jobs, the company said in a blog post Thursday, blaming the move on overlapping areas and overhiring during a more optimistic time.

"Today we have informed Googlers that we plan to reduce the number of roles within our sales and marketing organizations by just under 200 globally," said Omid Kordestani, senior vice president of global sales and business development, in the blog post. "We did look at a number of different options but ultimately concluded that we had to restructure our organizations in order to improve our effectiveness and … Read more

People are constantly registering new Internet domains, and Google is trying to ensure a good chance its online services show up on the pristine Web real estate.

The company on Wednesday announced a collection called Google Services for Websites that people can put on their brand-new Internet domains even if they don't have lots of technical expertise.

The services let Web site operators add Google ads and two Google search tools, Site Search and Custom Search, using a control panel that Web-hosting companies can offer. The ads come through AdSense, which scans text on the Web site and presents … Read more

The federal government and four states are suing satellite television provider Dish Network for violating laws regarding the national Do Not Call registry.

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday said Dish Network has been calling consumers on the Do Not Call list, either directly or through marketing dealers working on its behalf, to promote its services since 2003.

The agency also said the company's "robocalls," or automated messages, are in violation of the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule. The agency's complaint was filed jointly with attorneys general from California, Illinois, Ohio, and North Carolina.

"Because a … Read more

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