Facebook challenged by ambitious upstarts
The controversy over Facebook's privacy policy is helping those developing alternatives to the social network. Funding and users are flowing to services that claim to put members in charge of their personal data. The rivals range from start-ups to more established firms working on the specifications for an ecosystem of open social networks. Experts say Facebook may have little to worry about, despite 11,000 people pledging to quit Facebook on 31 May.
BBC News

EU slaps Google over Wi-Fi data collection
European Union justice commissioner Viviane Reding has accused Google of flouting European privacy regulations by harvesting payload data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks. Reding responded after widespread concerns that Google may be bypassing privacy regulations when its Street View cars collected information from Wi-Fi networks across Europe. Google had been collecting data for its Maps service, using the MAC addresses to expand its geo-location API service and offer Google Map users limited triangulated location awareness for anyone without GPS.
V3

Google prepared to fight for AdMob deal
Google is prepared to "fight" if US regulators seek to block the firm's planned $750m acquisition of mobile phone advertising company AdMob, according to US reports. Google plans to use the acquisition to extend its internet advertising business to mobile devices. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is questioning Google's competitors and advertisers over monopoly concerns. But Eric Schmidt, chief executive at Google, said in a US television interview that the mobile advertising space is "hugely competitive" with up to seven companies vying for a share of the market.
Computer Weekly

Germany’s spectrum auction nets EUR4.38B
Germany’s high-profile mobile spectrum auction wrapped up yesterday after 224 rounds of bidding, netting the government EUR4.38 billion (US$5.42 billion). The country was selling spectrum in the ‘digital dividend’ 800MHz band, as well as 1.8GHz, 2GHz and 2.6GHz bands. Activity in the 800MHz band was the most eagerly watched, as this spectrum (previously used for analogue TV broadcasts) is ideal for providing coverage over a broad geographic area using relatively few base stations, (although it is less suitable for providing lots of capacity in a congested hotspot).
Mobile Business Briefing

Blu-ray disc sales double in a year
Blu-ray sales in Europe are looking better than ever, with new figures suggesting that the format has almost doubled in popularity in a year. In Q1 of 2010, Blu-ray sales managed to increase by 94 per cent year on year, with 8.4 million discs sold, according to new figures released by the Digital Entertainment Group Europe. This meant that consumers spent a cool 151.4 million Euros on the format. This is similar to what happened in 2009, where sales of Blu-ray increased by 109 per cent.
TechRadar

New legislation could 'reduce cost' of fibre rollout
The coalition government is considering new legislation to cut the cost of rolling out high-speed broadband across the UK, in order to get fibre access to more areas and to encourage new companies to become broadband providers. The government believes reducing the investment needed to lay fibre could spur more extensive fibre rollout than has been planned so far, a spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said on Thursday. The news came as the government laid out its broadband plans in its comprehensive policy announcement on Thursday. These plans include adopting the Conservative policy of using part of the BBC TV licence fee to "fund broadband in areas that the market alone will not reach", and trying to "introduce super-fast broadband in remote areas at the same time as in more populated areas".
ZDNet

The Great (Low-Tech) $100 Million Art Heist
Last night, a thief walked out of the Paris Museum of Modern Art with some $127 million in paintings by Picasso, Matisse, and Braque. There were no lasers and no temperature-sensitive security systems. Hell, there wasn't even an alarm. My whole understanding of what a major-museum art heist entails is informed by the Pierce Brosnan version of the Thomas Crown Affair, and I doubt that this is one of those cases in which Hollywood is exaggerating; if anything, I imagine that museum security is even more advanced than the stuff they show in the movies, with sophisticated motion sensors and trip wires and big heavy gates that smash down and trap thieves like rats in the middle of their undercooked operations. So what happened in Paris last night? Not much of anything, actually.
Gizmodo

iPads on Track to Outsell the Mac
Sales of the iPad are already outpacing those of the Mac in the United States, according to an analyst’s calculations. Apple is selling more than 200,000 iPads per week, says Mike Abramsky, an RBC Capital Markets analyst. That’s almost twice the rate of Mac computers, which average about 110,000 units sold each week. The iPad isn’t outselling the iPhone, though it’s coming close. Apple was selling about 246,000 units of the iPhone 3GS per week during its first quarter of launch. Checks indicate that U.S. iPad sales remain strong post-launch, driven by rising consumer visibility to iPad’s user experience, sustained PR/word-of-mouth marketing, 3G iPad launch, and broadening iPad apps/content,Abramsky said in a note to clients.
Wired

Extradition of computer hacker Gary McKinnon put on hold
The extradition of the computer hacker Gary McKinnon has been put on hold after the home secretary, Theresa May, agreed to an adjournment of a judicial review that was supposed to start within days. The move will allow May to begin formal consideration of the medical evidence to see whether McKinnon is fit to be extradited. If it is established that he cannot be allowed to go, it paves the way for a prosecution in the UK. A Home Office spokesperson said: "The home secretary has considered the proposal from Gary McKinnon's legal team and has agreed an adjournment should be sought. An application to the court is being made today."
The Guardian

Pakistan blocks YouTube in ‘sacrilege’ row
Pakistan blocked access to YouTube yesterday, condemning growing sacrilegious content on the video-sharing website in the latest twist of an intensifying international debate over Islam and freedom of speech online. The move came a day after the Pakistani Government responded to a court order by temporarily blocking Facebook over a page advertising a contest to draw cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The Everybody Draw Mohammed Day! page and several spin-offs invite users to send in caricatures of the Prophet infuriating many Muslims who regard any image of him as blasphemous. Access to Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, and Flickr, the photo sharing site, also appeared to be restricted, although Twitter was still accessible.
The Times