Misc News tid bits by Reuters

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - High-speed Internet connections grew 23 percent in the second half of 2002, the U.S. government said Tuesday, as households and businesses signed up for broadband service at a slowing clip. The Federal Communications Commission said 3.7 million new subscribers signed up for broadband between June and December 2002, a rate of growth down from the 27 percent posted in the first half of the year. For the full year, the number of high-speed lines increased by 58 percent.

China Seen Tightening Control Over Internet Cafes

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday it had given licenses to 10 local firms to open Internet cafe chains, a move analysts said was designed to squeeze out smaller players and tighten control of sensitive political information. Most of the franchise licenses were given to state-owned companies such as China United Telecommunications Corp, parent of China Unicom Ltd, Great Wall Broadband Network Service Co Ltd or those affiliated with the Ministry of Culture.

Report: Tech, Media Cos. Explore Rivals to iTunes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL.O) popular online music service has media and technology companies such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O) looking into their own competing versions, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing unnamed sources and company officials. Other companies exploring music ventures that offer downloadable music are Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O), AOL Time Warner Inc's (AOL.N) America Online unit, and Viacom Inc.'s (VIAb.N) MTV, the newspaper reported.

Wal-Mart Cuts DVD Rental Price to Compete

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N) on Tuesday announced a new low-priced DVD rental plan that analysts said may pressure rivals, particularly market No. 1 Netflix Inc. (NFLX.O), whose popularity is winning it more customers. When Wal-Mart first outlined its foray into online DVD renting last October, analysts anticipated that it would just be a matter of time before the discounting behemoth tried to undercut its established rivals as it has done in other sectors.

Next Version of AOL to Offer Security, Spam Tools

NEW YORK (Reuters) - America Online said on Monday the next version of its Internet service, to be released this summer rather than in a typical fall launch, would include more security and safety tools for high-speed users. AOL 9.0 follows the launch earlier this year of AOL 8.0 Plus, the Internet arm of AOL Time Warner Inc.'s (AOL.N) first high-speed Internet offering of programming and tools geared primarily to those who already had faster Web connections.

ReplayTV Strips Ad Skipping in New DVR Models

NEW YORK (Reuters) - D&M Holdings Inc.(6735.T) on Tuesday said its new ReplayTV digital television recorder will not include controversial features such as automatically skipping commercials and sharing shows via the Internet. Due in August, the new ReplayTV 5500 series will remove the 'Commercial Advance' and 'Send Show' options present in models that are currently for sale. Digital video recorders (DVR) save hundreds of hours of TV programs to a hard drive and allow users to pause live TV and instantly replay selected scenes.

Netflix Expects Profit, Shares Rise

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Netflix Inc. (NFLX.O) said on Monday that it would post its first-ever profit in the June quarter after its subscription-based DVD rental service generated revenue at the high end of its previous expectations and marketing costs eased. Shares in the Los Gatos, California-based company shot higher by almost 10 percent in after-hours trade in response to the profit forecast, rising to $25.22 on the Island system from a Nasdaq close of $23.

AOL Picks Wieden & Kennedy for Corporate Branding

NEW YORK (Reuters) - America Online on Monday said it has selected advertising agency Wieden and Kennedy to handle its corporate branding as the embattled Internet division of AOL Time Warner Inc. (AOL.N) tries to turn itself around. The decision to select independently-owned Wieden and Kennedy, a Portland, Oregon-based firm known for Nike Inc.'s (NKE.N) 'Just Do It' ads, comes after a months-long review of AOL's advertising strategy.

Spam E-Mail Is Reaching Most Children, Study Says

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Four out of every five children receive inappropriate spam e-mail touting get-rich-quick schemes, loan programs and pornographic materials, according to a study released on Monday by Internet security provider Symantec Corp. (SYMC.O) A majority of 1,000 children ages 7 to 18 interviewed for the survey said they felt 'uncomfortable and offended when seeing improper e-mail content.'

New EU Law Bursts Dot-Com Tax Bubble

LONDON (Reuters) - They've survived the bursting of the tech bubble, a global economic downturn and the occasional virus, but now overseas Internet retailers may see their European profit push derailed by one of the oldest drags on business: tax. On July 1, a new EU directive goes into effect requiring all Internet firms to account for value added tax, or VAT, on 'digital sales.'