Facebook to shut down Beacon tracking tool as part of class-action settlement

September 21st, 2009 Facebook to end Beacon tracking tool in settlementNEW YORK — Facebook is shutting down its much-maligned Beacon marketing program, launched nearly two years ago amid fanfare only to generate a storm of privacy complaints over the tracking of user activities at partner Web sites. Facebook agreed to end Beacon and create a foundation to promote online privacy, safety and security as part of a $9.5 million settlement in a lawsuit over the program.

August 17th, 2009 California users file civil suit against FacebookSANTA ANA, Calif. — Five Facebook users filed a civil lawsuit Monday alleging that the social networking site is violating California's privacy laws and misleading members about how their personal information is used.

July 24th, 2009 AP setting up tracking system for Web contentThe Associated Press is moving ahead with plans for a system to detect unlicensed use of its content and potentially create new ways for the 163-year-old news cooperative and other media to make more money on the Internet. As part of a strategy approved Thursday by the AP's board, the cooperative will start by bundling its text stories in an "informational wrapper" that will include a built-in beacon to monitor where stories go on the Internet.

July 1st, 2009 Facebook plans to simplify privacy settingsNEW YORK — Facebook is overhauling its privacy controls over the next several weeks in an attempt to simplify its users' ability to control who sees the information they share on the site. Privacy has been a central, often thorny issue for Facebook because so many people use it to share personal information with their friends and family and beyond.

September 3rd, 2009 MELBOURNE - As part of a controversial scheme to expose users to online marketing, an Aussie company called uSocial is offering to sell off Facebook friends by the thousands. The Brisbane-based company is best known for buying votes on social news service Digg, selling followers on Twitter, and running large marketing campaigns on social media.

August 21st, 2009 Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon to fight Google book dealSAN FRANCISCO — The fight against a legal settlement that would give Google Inc. the digital rights to millions of copyrighted books is starting to resemble a heavyweight brawl in the library.

July 13th, 2009 Offer puts value of at least $6.5B on FacebookNEW YORK — How much is Facebook worth? A Russian investment firm appears to put it at $6.5 billion to $10 billion. The investment group, Digital Sky Technologies, said Monday it will buy up to $100 million worth of Facebook shares from current and former employees.

September 11th, 2009 LONDON - Bosses in Britian have decided to impose a new rule in the workplace which will allow employees a 'Facebook break' of 10 minutes a day. The decision has been taken after a research suggested that Britain's economy is suffering thanks to workers surfing social networking sites, reports The Telegraph.iles Ridgeway, a leading consultant at Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS) says Facebook is a "curse." "They feel some staff are failing to do the job they're paid for because they're spending too much time on such websites," he said.

March 24th, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO - More than 1.7 million Facebook users have joined a protest against another redesign of the popular social networking site, in one of the biggest consumer revolts seen in the online world. As of midday Monday, the Facebook group called Petition Against the New Facebook had 1,727,394 disgruntled members, while a Facebook-sponsored poll on the redesign had received more than 1.2 million votes, with just 75,000 approving the new look.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Facebook is facing a big image problem after it was revealed that third party advertisers were creating advertisements with users' profile photos without permission. And thus users are feverishly forwarding instructions to prevent their images from being used for advertising.

August 20th, 2009 DivX says it has settled lawsuit with YahooSAN DIEGO — Video technology company DivX Inc. said Wednesday it has settled a lawsuit over a license and distribution deal with Yahoo, and raised its financial outlook for the third quarter.

September 2nd, 2009 Amazon.com makes its case against Google book dealSAN FRANCISCO — Online bookseller Amazon.com Inc. is warning a federal judge that Internet search leader Google Inc.

July 22nd, 2009 UK journalist: James Murdoch approved settlementLONDON — A journalist has told a British parliamentary committee that News Corp. executive James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, approved an out-of-court payment to settle a controversial phone hacking case.

April 27th, 2009 Qualcomm to pay $891M to settle suit with BroadcomSAN DIEGO — Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. said late Sunday it will pay Broadcom Corp.

September 16th, 2009 Google to reincarnate digital books as paperbacksMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google Inc.