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Following on the heels of expected approval in the EU, the United States Department of Justice is also expected to approve of the Yahoo/Microsoft search deal, sometime within the next 30 days.

As with the European Commission, the DOJ is expected to give unconditional approval.

The deal was originally announced in July, and will last 10 years when approved.

You can read more about the deal here: Yahoo and Microsoft to start ad partnership

According to a new report from The Nielsen Group, most people aren't willing to pay for the online content they get for free now.

At first glance the report looks favorable for proponents of locking content behind paywalls. More than 40% of the 27,000 survey respondents in 52 countries said they either have paid for or would consider paying for newspaper content online. About 35% indicated said the same about online (music) radio.

But The Devil is in the details. When it comes to paying for content the most important detail seems to be quality.

More than 70% of people surveyed indicated they would only pay for content if it's better than what they currently get for free. More than 60% would expect the freedom to copy, share or otherwise use paid content in whatever way they choose.

This would seem to be at odds with what's actually being proposed in the entertainment and news industries.

News providers who favor paywalls routinely bully people for daring to copy short passages from their articles. Even when it's clearly fair use.

TV executives who favor charging for online video don't even want viewers watching their officially approved streams (including ads) using a program like Boxee or a game console like the PS3.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) will investigate a complaint made by Eastman Kodak Co. related to smartphones made by Apple and Research In Motion, the body announced on Wednesday. "The products at issue in this investigation are smartphones with built-in cameras," the agency said in a statement. The Kodak complaint was filed with the ITC on January 14th this year, while Kodak filed two lawsuits against Apple for patent infringement on the same day.

The patents in question relate to the image preview and image size functions of digital cameras and other things. Kodak is seeking compensation for the use of its technology, and is open to talks with Apple and RIM on licensing. For now however, it is requesting the ITC block Apple and RIM from importing devices that infringe its patents.

Hit badly by the recession, Kodak is looking at its patent portfolio as a long-term source of revenue. The company projects licensing revenue averaging at least $250 - $350 million each year for the coming several years.

The SOCOM: US Navy SEALS Fireteam Bravo 3 title for Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld platform is the first to require online activation in order to unlock certain features. When it was released on Tuesday in the U.S., it came with a voucher code that had to be redeemed online to unlock online play features. Sony claims that the measure is aimed at curbing piracy of PSP games.

"Today's consumers are more tech savvy and better connected to the internet than ever before. Piracy continues to be an issue of concern for the PSP platform. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 is a trial run for a new initiative we are exploring for the platform," said SCEA director of hardware marketing John Koller.

South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. is enjoying growth spurred by sharp rises in sales of its flat-panel televisions. In 2006, Samsung overtook Sony as the biggest seller of television sets in the world. Since that time, the company has watched its TV business almost double in size. It has an advantage in that it constructed its own manufacturing base instead of outsourcing like some of its rivals.

This gives Samsung complete control over costs and quality. "We may have to invest in some capacity this year," said Samsung's Kim Yang-gyu. The company will spend $136 million to expand a factory based in Slovakia. Samsung's share of the market stands at around 17.2 percent, ahead of LG at 14.8 percent. It shipped 38 million televisions last year.

LCD sets accounted for 27.5 million of the total, and 3.5 million were Plasma. The remainder of shipments were CRT televisions. This year, the company hopes to ship 45 million televisions, with LCD and Plasma accounting for 39 million.

Dutch developers have set out to prove a point about the safety of certain social networking practices in a very public way. A new website they have constructed - Please Rob Me - lists information about empty homes gathered from Twitter. The site scrutinizes users of Foursquare, which is based on a person's current location in the real world.

"It started with me and a friend looking at our Twitter feeds and seeing more and more Foursquare posts," said Boy Van Amstel, one of PleaseRobMe's developers. "People were checking in at their house, or their girlfriend's or friend's house, and sharing the address - I don't think they were aware of how much they were sharing."

PleaseRobMe.com re-posts tweets from users who have chosen to alert the world of their whereabouts automatically on Twitter, which in turn reveals when they leave their homes. Of course the site does have a brief disclaimer explaining that it is not intended to be used as a tool to aid burglars.

"The website is not a tool for burglary," said Mr Van Amstel. "The point we're getting at is that not long ago it was questionable to share your full name on the internet. We've gone past that point by 1000 miles." He said that the site is basically just a Twitter search tool and nothing new, adding that anyone who can write HTML and a little javascript could create it.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is planning to deliver sports and news content via iPhone applications from April this year. The apps for Apple devices will be followed by versions for RIM's BlackBerry handsets and Google's Android software. Sky and the Daily Telegraph already offer free apps for the same purpose, whereas the Guardian charges £2.39 for its applications.

The BBC said that the move is being made because more and more people are using "sophisticated handheld devices" to view content. The move will raise tensions with publishers of paid-for content or content supported by other means. "Whilst the BBC's impulse to enter an already crowded news and sport apps market place is understandable, the move belies the fundamentally competitive nature of the Corporation's approach to new services," Emily Bell, director of digital content at the Guardian, told BBC News.

Ventura Content filed a $6.75 million complaint against the owners of Brazzers on Tuesday, which operates adult entertainment "tube" sites. Ventura is the copyright-holding company for Pink Visual studios. Tube sites are YouTube-like video portals that host and stream thousands of adult videos for free to Internet users. Such websites are (unsurprisingly) among the most viewed websites on earth. The adult entertainment industry has been at odds with such sites for some time now.

In the lawsuit filed by Ventura against Mansef Productions and Interhub (owners of Brazzers), there are 45 examples of copyright infringing content on keezmovies.com, pornhub.com, extremetube.com and tube8.com. "These Tube Sites maintain the fiction that they offer a forum for consumers to upload and share their own original 'user-generated' adult video content; however in reality, they function as repositories for an extensive collection of infringing adult videos," Ventura states in the suit.

It goes on to compare the sites to file-sharing services such as Napster and Grokster, adding that piracy is a threat to the entire adult entertainment industry. "I think that the general consensus is that tube sites have really put a dent in the adult entertainment industry," says industry analyst Rhett Pardon of XBIZ Research. The online area of the industry is estimated to be a $6 - $12 billion business.

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ) has announced that the Torne DVR for the PS3 will be released in the nation next month, and will support Japan's terrestrial digital broadcasts.

The Torne connects via a USB port, and will allow users to record TV to the PS3 HDD or to external hard drives. Eight external drives can be registered to use the recorder.

The DVR will retail for the equivalent of $110, and Sony will bundle a 250GB PS3 with Torne for $470.

Google has donated $2 million USD this week to the Wikimedia Foundation, the parent company behind Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wiktionary and Wikibooks.

Although the company was not in desperate need of money, the $2 million donation should be a welcome relief, regardless. Wikimedia raised $8 million for the year, after 230,000 people donated, on average, $33 USD.

Wikimedia communications chief Jay Walsh added: "Many have speculated as to the relationship between our organizations before, but with this news we're pleased to clarify their great role as a philanthropic supporter for the Foundation."

Apple's iBook store will sell e-books protected with DRM, says the LA Times, with sources saying it will likely be FairPlay copy protection.

E-book market share leader Amazon has been criticized for using DRM for e-books they sell for the Kindle device, and it appears that Apple will employ the same tactics.

FairPlay will restrict the amount of devices that are authorized to read the e-book, with the number likely being between 3-5.

The iPad iBook store will sell the books in the open ePub standard. Five publishers have already signed deals to sell via the iBook store and have accepted FairPlay; Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette.

Sony has announced the addition of Netflix streaming to its Dash personal Internet viewer, making all 17,000 "Watch Instantly" TV episodes and movies available through the device.

"We're continuing to develop innovative products that bring online music, news, video and more into our customers' homes in real time," says Brennan Mullin, senior vice president of Sony Electronics' personal imaging and audio business. "By adding content from Netflix and Demand Media to our dash product, Sony is giving consumers a new, convenient way to enjoy some of the highest quality entertainment and most useful information available on the Internet today."

The Dash has a 7-inch touchscreen and will be available starting April for $199.

Pic via Engadget:

After months of delays, Google's proposed $134 million merger with video software compression company On2 has finally been accepted by On2 shareholders and the company says the deal should close on Friday.

From the press release:

Under the terms of the merger agreement, as amended, each outstanding share of On2 Common Stock (other than shares owned by (a) Google, Oxide Inc., Oxide LLC or On2 and (b) any On2 stockholders who are entitled to and who properly exercise appraisal rights under Delaware law) will be cancelled and extinguished and will be automatically converted into the right to receive (1) $0.15 in cash; (2) 0.0010 of a share of Google Class A Common Stock; and (3) cash in lieu of any fractional share of Google Class A Common Stock (after aggregating all fractional shares of Google Class A Common Stock issuable to such On2 stockholders), without interest.

Google raised their offer by 20 percent last month.

According to new Compete figures, Facebook has become the second most popular site in the United States, just barely surpassing Yahoo which has held the spot for some time.

The last time the top spots switched was in early 2008, when Google surpassed Yahoo.

Overall, 148 million US users visited Google in January, with Facebook seeing 133.6 million. Yahoo fell to third, at 132 million.

Following in Netflix's footsteps, rental giant Redbox has agreed to wait 28 days before making new Warner releases available via their kiosks.

The delay will give Warner's "retail partners a period of exclusivity," which the studio hopes will help offset continued declines in DVD sales as well as give VOD a better chance at succeeding.

"The 28-day window for Redbox balances the economics of our relationship while continuing to offer great value to their customers," adds Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders. "This accord establishes a mutually beneficial relationship that will foster an ongoing and productive partnership."

With the agreement, Warner and Redbox have dropped any pending lawsuits against each other, as well.