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The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Tuesday that it is considering requests from Google, Facebook, and Microsoft that would let them clear their names after allegations they opened their networks to government spies, although U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has not yet issued a decision on the matter.

In response to queries from CNET, the Justice Department said late this afternoon: "The department has received the letter from the chief legal officer at Google. We are in the process of reviewing their request."

David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, sent an open letter to Holder … Read more

Facebook's stockholder meeting showed off two kinds of Facebook investor: the type with sour grapes and the kind who's totally bewildered by the site. The latter proved more vocal, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent much of his time during the one-hour, question-and-answer session responding to rants from older stock owners stumped by how the social network works.

Tuesday, the 9-year-old company convened its shareholders at the Westin San Francisco Airport hotel for its first annual meeting with the mission to approve four business proposals. The proposals, including one to reelect the company's eight nominated board members, all … Read more

The Vine is pretty clever. It shows, in six rapid seconds, how to quickly and easily put up a simple bookshelf.

Done in the stop-motion technique that has been the hallmark of most of the best Vines to surface so far, the video is an ad for Lowe's home improvement stores, and is part of a series called, appropriately, #lowesfixinsix.

Published more than three weeks ago, the video got a fresh life today when Twitter featured it as the inaugural poster child for its new #CreativeFavorites program, an initiative that aims to celebrate the best work being done on … Read more

Facebook Home may have fallen flat among users initially, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg assured shareholders on Tuesday that he has big plans for the software suite.

He said the company will eventually distribute Home -- which blankets your mobile device with your News Feed -- through its Android app, once it's perfected.

"We haven't really made our big push yet ... biggest thing that we're going to do once we feel that we're ready is to encourage people who have the Facebook app to go turn this on from within the app," Zuckerberg said at … Read more

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg reiterated Tuesday that the social network does not work directly with the National Security Agency or any other government agency to provide direct access to its servers.

"We don't work directly with the NSA or any other program in order to proactively give any user information to anyone," Zuckerberg told shareholders at the company's annual stockholder meeting. "No one has ever approached us to do anything like that, like what was reported...No agency has any direct access to our servers."

Zuckerberg was responding to recent reports about the … Read more

Google has agreed to acquire Waze, the Israel-based company behind the mapping app Facebook was also reportedly vying for, according to blog posts from both Google and Waze.

The deal, for which terms weren't disclosed, follows months of speculation about who would land the startup. Reports later in the day pegged the price at a little more than $1 billion. In recent days, Google was said to be close to a $1.3 billion deal and that Facebook talks had fallen apart.

The acquisition could help Google improve its own mapping services and put a bigger moat around them … Read more

Showing some repeat favoritism, Apple has once again picked Twitter to power the coolest social experiences for its 600 million iOS device owners.

During a keynote address at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference, the Cupertino company lifted the veil on iOS 7, its next-generation mobile operating system that reflects a new way of thinking around design. Aside from its altered appearance, the redone OS -- coming to consumers' iPhones and iPads this fall -- features a new Control Center, improved multitasking, iTunes Radio, better Camera and Photos apps, and an updated Safari browser.

Twitter is also ever-present in the release, … Read more

I hear wailing.

I think it's coming from all those who believed, in some sweet corner of their minds, that they were changing the world. You know, for the better.

The generation that believed technology was heralding a new togetherness, a new openness, a new freedom, a new transparency is suddenly confronted by the idea that its idols might be something terrible -- yes, pragmatic.

Suddenly, they hear that Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and all the other immature brand names might have been offering information to the government when the government asked nicely -- which hardly seems something new, given … Read more

After months of speculation on who would snap up Waze, Google is reportedly close to acquiring the mobile mapping and navigation company.

The search giant will soon close a $1.3 billion deal for the Israeli startup, according to a report Sunday by the Globes business newspaper in Waze's home country. The acquisition could help the Web giant improve its own mapping services, as well as help prevent encroachment by Facebook, which was reportedly courting Waze last month.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the report. CNET has also contacted Waze for comment and will update this report … Read more