access

Microsoft Advertising has teamed up with Brand Affinity Technologies to give advertisers access to athlete and celebrity endorsements. The companies claim this is a way for businesses of "all sizes and budgets" to increase brand performance with their online campaigns.

Sony has reached a deal with Google to offer access to more than a half-million public domain books from Google available on its current models of its Reader. The books will be available for free to users of the Reader via Sony's eBook Store, which now boasts more than 600,000 titles. The move is seen as a direct challenge to Amazon's Kindle eBook reader, which has access to over 245,000 titles along with newspapers, magazines and blogs.

The majority (91%) of Internet users expect their Internet service provider to avoid blocking or limiting their service, according to a new survey commissioned by Google, Yahoo and Skype. The news comes as the European Parliament and EU governments are considering a major telecoms reform package. Some elements of the package could affect users rights by allowing ISPs to limit access to Web sites or applications, or to prioritize some Internet traffic in favor of their own partner's traffic.

US Representative John Conyers (D-MI) is on the defensive regarding legislation that would prevent the public posting of taxpayer funded scientific research on the Internet. Opponents argue the bill is a step back for science and that the powers that be behind it are shilling for the paper publishing industry.

Netflix, the movie rental service that recently hit a milestone of 10 million subscribers is now making deals with movie sites to give users quick access to their Netflix queues from these places.

Online video producers may be happy to learn that Verizon is offering direct regional access to its network. A more direct content delivery network means producers can skip the sometimes cumbersome peering arrangements that slow down online video and pump content directly onto Verizon’s Internet backbone network. Verizon says its Partner Port Program results in a faster, more responsive connection to Verizon’s backbone network for less money.

Most Americans find Internet access essential to daily life, with some favoring it over TV and having sex, according to a survey by Harris Interactive done on behalf of Intel.The survey found that the majority of Americans (65%) feel they cannot live without Internet access.  In addition 71 percent said it is important or very important to have Internet-enabled devices, such as laptops, netbooks and mobile Internet devices that offer them updates on important issues including the economy.

The European Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said today that all people in the European Union should have broadband access."High-speed Internet is the passport to the Information Society and an essential condition for economic growth. This is why it is this Commission's policy to make broadband Internet for all Europeans happen by 2010", said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.