A federal judge in New York City has rejected a deal between Google Inc. and lawyers for authors and publishers to let the gigantic search engine make money presiding over the world’s largest digital library. U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin said the creation of a universal library would benefit many b
ut would “simply go too far.” He said the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that the company reached with U.S. authors and publishers would “grant Google significant rights to exploit entire books, without permission of the copyright owners.” Chin said the deal gives Google “a significant advantage over competitors.” He said it would be “rewarding it for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works without permission, while releasing claims well beyond those presented in the case.”
Business networker reaches 100 million
LinkedIn said it reached 100 million members on Tuesday, as the professional social-networking site grows to include nearly a million teachers, dozens of Elvis impersonators and one “martini whisperer.” The milestone comes as LinkedIn gears up for a much-anticipated initial public offering that is expected to open the floodgates for other social-networking sites. In a company blog post, Chief Executive Jeff Weiner wrote, “We’re now growing at roughly one million new LinkedIn members every week, the equivalent of a professional joining the site at faster than one member per second.” Mountain View, Calif.-based LinkedIn, which officially launched in May 2003, said more than half of its members, or 56 million, are based outside the United States.
BlackBerry tablet available in April
Research In Motion Ltd. on Tuesday said its tablet computer, the BlackBerry PlayBook, will start selling in the U.S. and Canada on April 19 for $499 to $699. RIM said that customers can start pre-ordering the gadget — its answer to Apple Inc.’s popular iPad devices — through Best Buy. The PlayBook has a 7-inch screen, smaller than the iPad. It runs BlackBerry software and can connect to a BlackBerry, acting as a bigger screen for it. RIM calls it the first “professional-grade tablet.”
Fed provides U.S. with record payoff
The Federal Reserve is paying a record $79.3 billion to the U.S. government after the central bank earned a record amount of money last year from programs aimed at boosting the economy. The Fed says its payment to the Treasury Department for 2010 is 67 percent higher than $47.4 billion it paid in 2009, the previous record. The central bank earned a record $81.7 billion last year from its massive holdings of securities, which were purchased to help stabilize the financial system and pull the economy out of the recession. A portion of those earnings go toward funding the Fed, which receives no appropriations from Congress. Any money left over is turned over to the Treasury Department.
From Herald news services
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