WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has squandered $170 million on a failed computer system agents can use to instantly share information, and seems to know neither how long it will take nor how much it will cost to build one, a Justice Department audit showed on Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Taiwanese citizen living in California took computer chip design information from a San Francisco-area firm and e-mailed it to a potential rival in Taiwan, U.S. authorities charged on Monday.

AP - A year after unveiling a free e-mail service with a full gigabyte of storage, Google Inc. is doubling the capacity of each account and plans to keep bumping up the limit in the future.

AP - Keith Maydak's jail cells are roomier than most. Must be all that cyberspace. State and federal prisons don't let inmates use Internet computers behind bars — and the Allegheny County Jail doesn't either. Yet Maydak has answered a reporter's e-mails from the Pittsburgh jail, and later an Ohio lockup, while he awaits sentencing for violating probation on a 900-number phone scam that cost AT&T $550,000 dollars.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Vonage Holdings Corp. will easily cross the 1 million subscriber mark before year-end, the head of the fast-growing Internet phone company said on Tuesday.

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 - Backed by a new owner known for shaking up the status quo, Ask Jeeves Inc. is launching an upstart advertising network powered by its own search engine — a move likely to rankle its longtime business partner, Google Inc.

AP - In its first significant expansion beyond the Internet, Google has bought advertising in a handful of technology-industry magazines and resold chunks of the space to merchants already participating in its booming Internet marketing network.

TechWeb - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) files another 757 lawsuits against people accused of illegally copying digital music.

Reuters - Computer hackers are exploiting fears over bird flu by releasing a computer virus attached to an email passing itself off as containing avian flu information, warned Spainish computer firm Panda Software.

PC World - The Internet telephone innovator announces Skype 2 software with video calling and other improvements.

Reuters - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), the world's largest maker of flat screens, said on Sunday it was set to start up its newest mass production line for liquid crystal display TV panels, three months ahead of schedule.

AFP - Livedoor, the once high-flying Internet firm engulfed in scandal, allegedly hid billions of yen (millions of dollars) in off-the-book gains from stock sales in Swiss bank accounts, a report said.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The five pictures competing for the live-action short film Oscar on Sunday are available to buy on Apple's iTunes Music Store.

AFP - Japan has begun to watch digital television broadcasts on mobile telephones, in a highly anticipated service that could lead to a new genre of TV programs.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc. unveiled a shopping site for gadgets laced with plain-English advice by experts and user-contributed reviews, entering a market long dominated by tech-focused media firm CNet Networks Inc..

Reuters - South Korean mobile phone maker Pantech Group said on Thursday it has agreed to supply GSM phones to Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. mobile operator, beginning this month.

TechWeb - Apple Computer Inc. this week updated its iTunes music store software to fix a critical security flaw that could let attackers grab control of a PC or Mac.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cingular Wireless, a venture of AT&T Inc. T.N and BellSouth Corp. BLS.N, said on Monday it would start charging customers with older phones an extra $4.99 monthly fee as early as September unless they upgrade their phones as it moves toward using a single network technology.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ.N and Sun Microsystems Inc. SUNW.O were among the fastest-growing data storage providers in the second quarter, while EMC Corp. EMC.N and Dell Inc. DELL.O lagged overall market growth, researcher IDC said on Thursday.

AFP - The governing Labour Party is at it, as are the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Political blogging, podcasting and online video is taking off in Britain as politicians look to widen the net for new -- and importantly younger -- voters.

TechWeb - Verizon Wireless is offering cellular phones that can synchronize their contact lists with popular email applications.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp.'s MySpace.com is in talks to bring the social-networking site to China with Boston technology trade publisher International Data Group's Chinese venture arm and former China Netcom Group Corp. Chief Executive Edward Tian, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Friday.

AFP - YouTube and Warner Music Group rang in the new year online despite a seemingly broken promise by the superstar video-sharing website to have an anti-piracy system in place by 2007.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Japanese video game giant Nintendo Co. Ltd. was the top winner at the 2006 People's Choice 1UP Awards hosted by the Ziff Davis Game Group in San Francisco on Wednesday.

TechWeb - The chipmaker's long-term roadmap includes a new micro-architecture for desktops, servers, workstations and mobile devices, code-named Nehalem

AFP - It was spring 2002 when Isaac Mao, a Shanghai-based software engineer for US chipmaker Intel, first came across Internet blogs.

TechWeb - Animal rights groups chide the European event held for one of Sony's most popular video games for the PlayStation 2.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it would offer improved capacity to search copyrighted books on the Internet as the company battles Google Inc. for advertising dollars from Web-based services.

AP - A political battle is raging in Russian cyberspace. Opposition parties and independent media say murky forces have committed vast resources to hacking and crippling their Web sites in attacks similar to those that hit tech-savvy Estonia as the Baltic nation sparred with Russia over a Soviet war memorial.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Remember those unwelcome dinnertime phone calls from strangers promising the latest in attic insulation or a holiday for two for the price of one?

TechWeb - Despite the apparent focus on Apple's iPod at an event on Sept. 5, European telecom companiess are among those anxious for a chance to catch iPhone fire.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc released new software for its popular Flash Player on Sunday that promises to bring the quality of live video on cellular phones closer to that of video on computers.

Reuters - Australia's election has become a war of bytes, with Labor challenger Kevin Rudd swooping on the Internet's high ground to build an army of young supporters and a Facebook fanclub on a promise of 'fresh thinking.'

TechWeb - The desktop platform was AMD's attempt to hold gamers who might be tempted to move to Intel's quad-core processors.

TechWeb - The maker, LG.Philips, will also show an 84-inch LCD screen at the Consumer Electronics Show next week.

TechWeb - The highly miniaturized version of the Core 2 Duo made by Intel specifically for the MacBook Air could end up spurring a raft of Windows-based competitors.

TechWeb - Our handy guide to the best and latest low-cost notebook computers from Acer, Compaq, Dell, Everex, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, and Toshiba.

TechWeb - Numonyx will absorb the tech companies' money-losing businesses for memory devices found in portable media players, smartphones, and other handheld computers.

AP - A startup is betting that people are tired enough of their cable and satellite bills to take a look at an alternative pay TV system that combines a number of different technologies to deliver programming.

NewsFactor - Nearly half of all Americans have used the Internet, e-mail or cell-phone text messaging to get news about the 2008 presidential campaign, share their views, and mobilize others, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

TechWeb - Intelligent Enterprise - A smartphone's OS drives its productivity-enhancing powers. Here's a guide to choosing among Windows Mobile, Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia S60, and Google Android.

TechWeb - InformationWeek - Among the disadvantages of blade servers are proprietary technology and a lack of interoperability standards that tend to lock users to a vendor.

CNET - The owner of an opposition Internet news site in Russia's volatile Ingushetia region was shot and killed Sunday after being detained by police.

AP - From 'Spider-Man 3' to 'No Country for Old Men,' Netflix Inc. is making another 2,500 movies, TV shows and concerts available for instant viewing through a deal with Starz Entertainment LLC.

CNET - If you've been copying DVDs using some made-in-China DVD player, think about taking good care of the device, as you might not be able to buy a replacement.

Reuters - Mobile phone calls distract drivers far more than even the chattiest passenger, causing drivers to follow too closely and miss exits, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.