Business

Sony has changed the rules of engagement -- or rather, terms of service -- for users of its PlayStation Network. In the new agreement, users opt to give away their right to join a class action lawsuit against Sony. In addition, the agreement contains a binding individual arbitration clause. Users wh...

Research In Motion released its second quarter earnings Thursday, and numbers for the iPhone and Android competitor are looking dismal for the third consecutive quarter. The BlackBerry maker reported second quarter earnings of $319 million, less than half of the $797 million reported a year ago. Rev...

You've seen the ad a thousand times on the Internet: "1 Tip for a Tiny Belly" says the hand-lettered headline above the crudely drawn swelling-and-shrinking belly. "Cut down a bit of your belly everyday following this one weird tip," it goes on to say. If starvation caused by having funds continuous...

Google, until recently a piker in the patent-holding tech community, is rapidly beefing up its portfolio -- or arsenal, depending on how one views it -- of intellectual property. The company has acquired 1,023 patents from IBM. These patents are on top of the 1,030 Google acquired from IBM in July, ...

The world's largest social network is going to delay its plans to publicly sell stock, according to a recent report from the Financial Times that asserts Facebook will be delaying its highly anticipated initial public offering until late 2012. An April IPO was previously rumored, but the Times repor...

What risks do site owners run by having poorly written Terms of Service (ToS) or Click Agreements -- or none at all? If your company offers goods or services through its website (or for that matter, if downloads or advice are offered for a cost -- or even for free), when was the last time you looked...

California lawmakers have reached a compromise with Amazon over state sales tax, ending a back and forth battle that has raged all summer. State lawmakers approved a compromise bill that will give Amazon a one-year break from collecting state sales tax. Amazon's stock price rose nearly 5 percent on ...

After six years of debate over patent reform, the U.S. Senate last week overwhelmingly approved the America Invents Act, a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. patent system that intends to weed out unnecessary patents and put the country more on par with international patent procedures. The bill, authored...

First it gave Apple the preliminary injunction it was seeking against Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Then it suggested it might have been at least partly mistaken. Now the Dusseldorf court that has been hearing Apple's patent suit against Samsung's Galaxy 10.1 tablet, has confirmed that yes, Samsung's German...

Despite growing competition from Google, social network kingpin Facebook doubled its revenue in the first half of 2011, raking in $1.6 billion to bolster company growth before its rumored IPO, according to a Reuters report. Earnings from the privately held company aren't confirmed, but the world's l...

After the firing of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz this week, the board is reportedly exploring a possibility of a sale. In coming months, there may be a sale of Yahoo's Asian investments, a purchase of a social media or content company, or partnerships that could help Yahoo get more money from its Web prope...

Yahoo on Wednesday announced a leadership reorganization that moves Carol Bartz out as CEO and replaces her in the interim with Timothy Morse, the company's chief financial officer. The board has also formed a new executive leadership council populated by key senior executives to support Morse in da...

Online coupon retailer Groupon is reevaluating its plans to go forward with its IPO following a volatile summer market, according to a recent report. The daily discount company originally announced its plans to go public in June and was rumored to be counting on a valuation of around $20 billion, wi...

Sprint Nextel filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the proposed $39 billion merger of rival wireless carriers AT&T and T-Mobile. The move by Sprint appears to be a tactical one aimed at protecting the company's options should the deal be approved by the federal government. Sprint's lawsuit was filed...

Jaguar Financial, a shareholder of BlackBerry-maker RIM, called on the company's directors to carry out a formal process for maximization of shareholder value in a letter from Jaguar and supportive shareholders. The letter suggests that the company should consider selling itself or monetizing the RI...