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ContentAds the name of MSN contextual ad program with a 2006 launch date — You may have noticed I will be speaking at Mix06 next month (I list upcoming conferences I am speaking at on the right side of my blog), and I was taking some time to check out the speakers of the other sessions …

House Member Criticizes Internet Companies for Practices in China — WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 — In a crowded House hearing room, Representative Christopher H. Smith, Republican of New Jersey, unleashed a scathing condemnation of four American Internet and technology companies — Google, Yahoo …
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The Web and China: Not So Simple
Discussion:
Techdirt, Good Morning Silicon Valley, MediaShift | PBS, Associated Press and CNET News.com

The flattening of the press world — A dirty little secret about PR: they give certain press "exclusives" to try to get the story out better. This still goes on all the time. Why does Walt Mossberg or Steven Levy write about something before everyone else does?
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Microsoft Launches Beta Program for Microsoft Office Live Services — Internet-based services include free Web site, domain name and e-mail accounts. — REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 15, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the beta availability of Microsoft® Office Live (http …
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Oracle tried to buy open-source MySQL — SAN FRANCISCO—Oracle tried to acquire open-source database maker MySQL, an indication of the profound changes the software giant is willing to make as it adapts to the increasingly significant collaborative programming philosophy.

Campfire — Our friends at 37signals just launched Campfire, their latest product (following on Basecamp and Backpack). I've been testing this product with them and think it's a great one — a fantastic tool for distributed teams (which is perhaps not surprising since they used to be an international company).

Blockbuster Follows Netflix, Again — By Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMFBreakerRick) — Earlier this week, I looked at the throttling going on at Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX). Now that the popular DVD-by-mail company is handicapping hyperactive accounts with slower delivery times and poorer …
Discussion:
Geek News Central …

The Art of Creating a Community — I admit it: I'm a user-group junkie. I got my first taste of user groups when I worked for Apple—speaking at their meetings was one of my great pleasures. Their members were unpaid, raging, inexorable thunderlizard evangelists for Macintosh and Apple II.

Why we invested in Sipphone, developers of Gizmo Project — Dawntreader Ventures has just led a $6mm round of financing in Sipphone, its first outside round of capital. We look forward to working with Michael Robertson and Jason Droege to fuel continued growth in the Sipphone …

Bill Gates interview transcript — The FT's Richard Waters talks to Bill Gates at the RSA Security Conference 2006 in San Jose about Microsoft strategies on computer security, as well as the issue of censorship in China during the RSA Security Conference 2006 in San Jose.

United States Patent & Trademark Office Issues 7 Millionth Patent — Patent Assigned to DuPont for Novel Fibers — WASHINGTON, D.C.- The Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today issued patent No. 7 million to DuPont senior researcher John P. O'Brien for …

TextLinkAds Interview : Monetize Your Site or Blog — TextLinkAds Interview : Monetize Your Site or Blog — I had the chance to talk with Patrick Gavin yesterday of TextLinkAds. If you have not heard of TextLinkAds, you better get used to hearing about them as they have made a marketing push …
Discussion:
Make Money Online …

RIAA Says Ripping CDs to Your iPod is NOT Fair Use — It is no secret that the entertainment oligopolists are not happy about space-shifting and format-shifting. But surely ripping your own CDs to your own iPod passes muster, right? In fact, didn't they admit as much in front …

FACTBOX-Key points of proposed U.S. Internet freedom bill — WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations subcommittee on human rights said on Wednesday he would soon introduce legislation affecting U.S. technology firms operating in China and other restrictive countries.