Facebook backs off on Beacon

[MTV] The company announced late Thursday that it was amending its policy and would no longer send messages about users' activities without getting explicit approval each time, the Times reports. The move by the site, which has more than 50 million active members, brought praise from a spokesperson for MoveOn.org, the political action group that started "Petition: Facebook, stop invading my privacy" 10 days ago.

NZ teen may be cybercrime mastermind

[AP] Working with the FBI and the police in the Netherlands, the New Zealand police raided the home of the 18-year-old in the North Island city of Hamilton and took him into custody along with several computers.

Verizon switch to LTE the real news

[NYT] They (sic) key fact isn’t anything technical here. LTE is the format that has been endorsed by the GSM Association, which coordinates the wireless standard used in most countries. And it has been endorsed by AT&T. What it means is that in a few years, you will be able to buy phones and switch them between the two largest wireless networks in the United States—Verizon and AT&T—as well as carriers in most of the world.

Facebook wants site to remove legal docs

[WSJ] Facebook Inc. filed two legal motions aiming to force an independent magazine to take down from its Web site documents related to a suit over the social-networking site's origins. Early yesterday, Facebook's lawyers notified 02138, an independent magazine geared at Harvard alumni, of two separate emergency motions seeking the removal of the documents from its online edition.

Chinese, Russians leading cyberwarfare

[ZDNet] Cyberwarfare - long rumored - became a reality in 2007, as Russia (it is generally agreed) let loose prolonged cyber attacks on little Estonia, China attacked military and government computers in the US, India and Germany, and, in all, 120 countries are using the net for espionage.

iPhone launches in France, unlocked for 649 euros

[Newsfactor] Those distant clicking sounds are Apple's iPhones being unlocked in Europe. On Wednesday, mobile provider Orange began selling unlocked iPhones, without a long-term contract, for the translated price of $1,106. T-Mobile is already offering unlocked iPhones in Germany.

GOOG really is going to bid on spectrum

[NYT] Google said it would file its application on Monday to bid on the valuable 700-megahertz spectrum, which is being vacated by television networks as they convert their signals to digital. The formal bidding process is scheduled to begin on Jan. 24.