Comcast is on a roll this week. On Tuesday it began its public pilot of a bandwidth monitoring system for its customers to figure out exactly how much they're downloading each month. This comes a little more than a year after the company announced it would be capping users at 250GB per month.
More importantly, reports say that General Electric and Vivendi have reached a tentative agreement that helps pave the way for Comcast to buy NBC Universal. If, or rather when, that deal is sealed, Comcast would expand its media reach outside of its service roots into being a content provider of its own.
Today's episode runs 7:38.
Listen now: Download today's podcastToday's stories:
Report: GE, Vivendi reach deal to clear NBC sale
Comcast beta launches bandwidth meter
Psystar said to have deal with Apple
Prime time for YouTube? Google wants to stream TV, for a fee
Michael Jackson tops Google, Yahoo search in 2009
DARPA's latest challenge: Locate these 10 balloons
This year, you can stalk Santa from your car
CNET News's Tom Krazit stops by to handicap Apple's big iPhone operating system announcement.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Ad projections cut for social networks
Comcast passwords leaked onto the Web
Do you download more than 250GB of data per month? If you're a Comcast customer, you'll likely want to get out of the habit--quickly. Beginning October 1, the Internet provider said customers that use more than 250GB per month, per account will get their account disabled. It's got a lot of people in an uproar. Make sure to check out Webware.com's coverage of the news.
Also on Friday's podcast: Apple and AT&T could be looking at a plan to allow tethering of the iPhone, Nintendo Wii sales continue to propel the company forward, and is Napster for sale?
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Today's stories:
Nintendo shares soar on bumped-up forecast
Microsoft to drop $486 million for European shopping site
Google to buy GeoEye satellite imagery
IBM tests 4-terabyte solid-state drive tech
Federal regulators voted 3-2 on Friday to declare that Comcast's throttling of BitTorrent traffic last year was illegal. It's the first time any U.S. broadband provider has ever been found to violate Net neutrality rules. But it's not an open-and-shut case. Though Comcast has since stopped the practice, it's unclear whether the FCC actually has the authority to rule on this kind of issue. CNET News' Declan McCullagh stops by to explain the implications.
Also on Friday's podcast: Yahoo shareholders finally get their say; a California judge says early-termination fees for wireless plans are illegal; and the Department of Homeland Security says it can confiscate any laptops taken across U.S. borders.
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Today's stories:
FCC: Comcast illegally squeezed BitTorrent
Yahoo face-to-face with shareholders
Homeland security: We can seize laptops for an indefinite period
Why Facebook left Scrabulous alone
YouTuber charged over threats to poison baby food
California judge rules Sprint's early termination fees illegal
CNET News' Greg Sandoval analyzes Yahoo's attempts at damage control to mollify customers upset over its digital music policy. Apple has begun issuing regular status reports for its recently introduced e-mail and cloud-computing service. The good news: The situation is improving. But the company still isn't out of the woods. And Webware's Rafe Needleman assesses the odds for a technology start-up with an impressive pedigree to carve out a place in the increasingly hardscrabble market for Internet search.
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Today's stories:
MSN to follow Yahoo in issuing music refunds?
New search engine takes aim at Google
Ozzie puts his own spin on 'ThinkWeek'
Report: FCC expected to rule against Comcast
Starbucks once had visions of turning its outlets into entertainment centers where customers sipped coffee and listened to the latest tunes. But that hasn't exactly worked out according to expectations. CNET News.com's Greg Sandoval explains.
Webware's Rafe Needleman spoke with the senior executive at Comcast charged with a new attempt to integrate television, the computer, and the phone.
And as one of the first software executives to battle Bill Gates, Lotus founder Mitch Kapor has seen many sides of Microsoft's co-founder. Take a listen to some of his recollections on the eve of Gates' final days as full-time employee at Microsoft.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Today's stories:
Dell hits server efficiency targets a year early
Adobe says Acrobat 9 is good to go
Social network Multiply goes premium
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn says it's time for Jerry Yang to go--and that some Yahoo board members need to walk out the door as well. Meanwhile, the No. 2 exec at the company says that negotiations with Microsoft about a possible sale continue. Podcast host Charles Cooper talks with CNET News.com's Dawn Kawamoto about the latest twist in the seemingly never-ending saga of "Microhoo."
Comcast is taking heat from some consumer advocates for a controversial new test. But the company says that if successful, the plan could provide a solution to the problem of so-called bandwidth hogs. Reporter Marguerite Reardon explains.
It seems there's no shortage of people talking about social media on the blogosphere these days. But talk is cheap. When it comes to actually paying for space on those sites, many advertising executives remain unimpressed. Reporter Stefanie Olsen found out why.
Today's stories:
Yahoo opens address book interface
Social media's uphill advertising climb
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Rafe Needleman is editor of CNET's Webware. He's been covering technology since 1988, and has interviewed thousands of tech execs. He blogs at 
Leslie Katz is senior editor of CNET News' Crave blog, which focuses on gadgets, games, and all other digital distractions.
Erica Ogg keeps up on the latest consumer electronics and PC goings-on as chief correspondent for CNET News' Crave blog.
Jennifer Guevin is assistant managing editor for CNET News and focuses on science and green tech.
Josh Lowensohn writes for Webware.com, CNET's blog about Web applications and
services. 
