AP - The government announced Thursday an 11-nation crackdown on Internet piracy organizations responsible for stealing copies of the latest 'Star Wars' film and other movies, games and software programs worth at least $50 million.

AP - Belgians suffering under a morass of contradictory, complicated or just plain absurd regulations have for two years had a place to make their complaints known: a Web site called Kafka set up by their government.

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - More than 26.4 million people from around the world sent text messages on Saturday in support of the Live 8 campaign to cancel the debts of the poorest countries, setting a world record, organizers said.

AP - In Berlin, Green Day proclaimed its majesty with a cover of Queen's 'We Are the Champions' as R.E.M. performed 'Man on the Moon' in London. And R.E.M. hadn't left the stage before Tim McGraw began singing 'Live Like You Were Dying' in Rome. These were just a few thrilling musical moments from Live 8 that you couldn't see on live television. For the ultimate viewing experience, you needed America Online.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said late Sunday a U.S. court has granted its motion to have third parties preserve relevant evidence related to its antitrust lawsuit against bigger rival Intel Corp.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hackers have cracked piracy protections on Sony Corp.'s PlayStation Portable in the United States, the latest chapter in the company's battle to block unauthorized game use on its new hand-held device.

AP - Actor Morgan Freeman and chipmaking giant Intel Corp. are teaming up on a new venture to distribute premium movies to consumers over the Internet before the films become available on DVD.

PC World - Service promises users speeds ten times faster than dial-up access.

LONDON (Reuters) - Mobile phones transformed victims into journalists after the transport attacks in London as amateur photographs and video footage played a key role in newspaper, television and Internet coverage.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Siemens has joined forces with an Airbus joint venture to develop technology that will make ordinary mobile-phone calls possible for passengers in flight by 2006, the companies said on Monday.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. will offer a wireless keyboard designed for computers running the home entertainment version of the Windows operating system, the world's largest software maker said on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - The United Nations is working toward a world agreement on the scrapping of metal-intensive mobile phones that could impact the cost of making them.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Don't call it a comeback yet, but Sony Corp. has a new lineup of digital music players that are slicing into the popularity of Apple Computer's iPod device in Japan.

AP - Telephone and cable TV companies are slashing broadband prices and boosting connection speeds as the two monopoly-prone industries prepare to lock horns on multiple fronts.

PC World - Company introduces two new business blogging tools.

Reuters - Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. celebrated its 10th year with a concert on Saturday for its employees and customers that included a rare joint performance by Bob Dylan and Norah Jones.

Reuters - The first time fans will hear Gretchen Wilson's new single is when a mobile phone rings.

Reuters - Baidu.com Inc., China's biggest Internet search engine and which is pursuing a U.S. public listing, has agreed to remove links to thousands of Internet sites offering pirated music, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Mobile phone sales will exceed one billion handsets a year by 2009 as they become the most common consumer electronics device with 2.6 billion people using one by then, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A corruption affair at German chipmaker Infineon has begun to lift the lid on one of Germany's biggest corporate mysteries -- the sudden departure of Infineon Chief Executive Ulrich Schumacher in March 2004.

AP - With many video games, there's no 'game over' screen, no reason to ever get bored. In a long-standing practice called 'modding,' fans create their own new chapters, artwork and other twists to extend the lives of their favorite games. Many game makers freely encourage the practice and give away free software tools to help.

AP - A Democratic lawmaker is planning to propose a new 25 percent federal tax on Internet pornography and new requirements for adult Web sites to help prevent children from looking at them.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong will issue licenses next year to allow both fixed and mobile phone firms to offer broadband wireless services, newspapers said on Saturday, bringing 'anytime, anywhere' Internet access closer to reality.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Monday it would launch its new Xbox 360 game console in Japan and Europe in time for the year-end holiday shopping season.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flawed backup software has emerged as the latest target for hackers looking for corporate secrets, according to a survey released on Monday.

ROSEMONT, Illinois (Reuters) - Motorola Inc. is looking to sleek new devices, cost-cutting and sales in new markets to gain share and improve profit margins in the cut-throat mobile phone industry, executives said on Tuesday.

AP - In another milestone for Internet video, nearly 433,000 people simultaneously watched NASA's webcast of this week's space shuttle launch.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Washington state judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a former Microsoft Corp. vice-president from heading up rival Google Inc.'s new research center in China.

AP - Days after Microsoft Corp. launched a new anti-piracy program, hackers have found a way to get around it. The software company's new program, called Windows Genuine Advantage, requires computer users to go through a process validating that they're running a legitimate copy of the Windows operating system before downloading any software updates except for security patches.

AP - Baidu.com takes its name from a 900-year-old poem but its ambitions are ultramodern — to become the Chinese-language equivalent of Internet search giant Google Inc. Little known abroad, 5-year-old Baidu.com says it already is the world's sixth most-visited Internet site, thanks to a strong following from China's 100 million-plus Web surfers.