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"Do American students have First Amendment rights beyond the schoolyard gates? The answer is yes and no, according to two conflicting federal appellate decisions Thursday testing student speech in the online world. "Ultimately, the Supreme Court is going to have to decide if there ever is a time students have full-fledged First Amendment rights," said Frank LoMonte, executive director of Virginia-Based Student Press Law Center. He's one of the attorneys in the cases the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided."

Discusses framing of Net Neutrality as contested First Amendment terrain, with comments by Kyle McSlarrow, President of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

"Gawker Media, the eight-year-old online publishing heavyweight founded by Nick Denton, announced its first acquisition on Monday: the New York boldface name guide CityFile."

"For the first time ever, Microsoft will bring together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone, exclusively on Windows Phone 7 Series. Partners have already started building phones; customers will be able to purchase the first phones in stores by holiday 201"

As part of her Let's Move campaign to end childhood obesity, First Lady Michelle Obama is on the hunt for games that encourage kids to be more physically active and to make better choices about what they eat.

California-based web site that focuses on First Amendment issues. 

"Chrysler's live mobile TV will also be at the show, available in the Chrysler Town & Country, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Commander, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Nitro, Ram 1500 and Ram 2500/3500. The service offers live sports, news, kids programs and primetime network shows all from the convenience of the back seat. It's a $629 plus installation cost option, but it makes Chrysler the first carmaker in the U.S. to offer live TV on-the-go."

"Chrysler's live mobile TV will also be at the show, available in the Chrysler Town & Country, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Commander, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Nitro, Ram 1500 and Ram 2500/3500. The service offers live sports, news, kids programs and primetime network shows all from the convenience of the back seat. It's a $629 plus installation cost option, but it makes Chrysler the first carmaker in the U.S. to offer live TV on-the-go."

"Are newspapers dead, dead, dead? If you can believe everything you read in them, apparently so. Hal Fuson, a veteran of 44-years in the news business, didn't think those obituary writers had their stories straight. In fact, they were reporting myths about the dire state of the industry as though they were facts. When Fuson, who is a member of First Amendment Coalition's board, recently retired from Copley Press, decided to set the record straight. 'I had a few things to get off my chest,' Fuson writes, 'So I agreed to be interviewed by a journalist I trust: myself.'"

"News Corp. agreed to pay $70 million for a stake in the media company owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, one of its largest shareholders. The New York media conglomerate will take a 9.1% stake in Rotana Group, with an option to double its holdings in 18 months. Corp. will have two seats on Rotana's six-person board. The investment gives News Corp its first significant foothold in the Middle East, where it expects economies to grow quickly."

Might this be an alternative for investigative reporting for web 2.0? Or at least a first step.

When Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) announced its Nook e-reader in October, the ability to pursue a dual in-store and online sales strategy appeared to be one of the clear advantages it might have over Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN). But, as we first reported then, the chain didn't plan to sell Nooks to go in all its stores for the 2009 holidays-and, as it turned out, the combination of demand and distribution issues kept the device from store shelves. Instead, most people who bought Nooks at B&N stores were placing online orders for delivery weeks or months into the future-not buying them for same-day use.

Epicenter The Business of Tech Google Poaches Social Search Service Aardvark * By Ryan Singel Email Author * February 11, 2010 | * 3:49 pm | * Categories: Search * aardvark-answer1The coolest search engine you've never used got snapped up by Google Thursday for a reported $50 million. Aardvark, a company that lets you use IM, Twitter and e-mail to ask full-text questions and then get answers from people in or close to your social network, confirmed it signed a deal with Google. TechCrunch, which first reported the news, put the figure at $50 million, but Wired.com could not confirm the purchase price.

"The scheduling change is among the first examples of an informal new agreement U.S. theater owners are discussing with the six major Hollywood studios: The exhibitors would let the studios experiment more with DVD release dates. As a result, studios could each release one or two movies a year on DVD a month or so sooner than they usually do, according to people familiar with the matter. The seemingly minor move could portend a big shift in the movie business down the road. The nascent arrangement, which has been under discussion for several months, highlights the growing pressure on the longstanding backbone of Hollywood's business model, an elaborate system known as "release windows." By separating a movie's release in theaters from the time window of when it is released on DVD or cable TV, studios were able to maximize revenue. DVD sales, for example, didn't eat into a movie's take at the box office."

Media Decoder of the New York Times explores why the 2010 Winter Olympics may be the first loss on Olympics broadcast in NBC's history.

ROME - Three Google executives were convicted of violating Italian privacy laws on Wednesday, the first case to hold the company's executives criminally responsible for the content posted on its system. Enlarge This Image Paolo Bona/Reuters Bill Echikson, a spokesman for Google, called a judge's ruling against executives "astonishing." Related New Complaints Filed Against Google in Europe (February 25, 2010) Times Topics: Google Inc. The verdict, though subject to appeal, could have sweeping implications worldwide for Internet freedom: It suggests that Google is not simply a tool for its users, as it contends, but is effectively no different from any other media company, like newspapers or television, that provides content and could be regulated.

As I write this, I have just finished my first playthrough of Heavy Rain. I have, by turns, felt my heart pounding and my muscles aching; questioned my decision-making and morality; laughed where the game's creators intended, and in other places they didn't; I felt genuine surprise, alarm, sadness and joy. It's been a long time since a videogame made me feel any one of these emotions.

Mark Cuban weighs in on the internet's potential to replace cable. It may not happen as fast as one would think...