networking

CBS amended its lawsuit against Dish Network today, claiming the satellite TV provider misled the network about planned ad-skipping technology during contract negotiations in 2011.

The lawsuit is part of a legal battle between Dish and the major television networks that erupted last year over "AutoHop," which allows customers to skip commercials at the touch of a button. The networks, including CBS, which is the parent company of CNET News, contend that the technology threatens to undermine an industry that depends on advertising revenue to help cover the cost of their shows.

In its amended lawsuit, CBS accused … Read more

Famatech's Advanced IP Scanner is a free tool that scans your LAN or Wi-Fi network and provides information about the computers connected to it. Advanced IP Scanner is designed to work closely with the developer's Radmin remote administration software, which adds capabilities. But this simple utility is capable enough to use as a standalone network scanner and robust enough for net admins and other advanced users. It does more than scan and identify the Windows PCs on your network. For example, it can shut down networked computers remotely, and also wake them, if their network cards support the … Read more

More Clearwire shareholders are adding their voice to the ever growing number of investors asking Sprint to raise its bid for the company, following Dish Network's higher -- albeit unsolicited -- offer.

Glenview Capital Management plans to reject Sprint's current bid of $2.97 per share, which was capped by Softbank, an investment company that's seeking to take a majority stake in the carrier. Another Clearwire investor, Taran Asset Management, will file a complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), arguing that the mobile broadband company is worth more than Sprint's offer, according to Bloomberg, … Read more

A collection of Twitter service providers will sleep tighter tonight. The information network announced that it has added nine new third-party application makers to its Certified Products Program, a safe list that protects companies from Twitter retribution.

Twitter launched its Certified Products Program in August with the expressed intention of connecting business users with Twitter-approved companies offering engagement, analytics, and data products. The secondary purpose of the program is to provide these third-party companies and their clients with the assurance that Twitter will not attempt to shut them down.

Last year, the information network came under fire for tightening the leash … Read more

Dish Network has asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to pause its review of Softbank's proposed $20.1 billion acquisition of Sprint.

When Japanese carrier Softbank acquired a 70 percent stake in Sprint in October, it provided Sprint with the cash to acquire the Clearwire shares it didn't already own. Sprint has been floundering in the cellular market for some time, and made the Clearwire bid to acquire greater spectrum and more customers.

Sprint offered to buy remaining Clearwire shares for $2.90 apiece. Softbank then capped the bid at $2.97 per share and wouldn't … Read more

Almost one in three teen girls ages 14 to 17 say they've taken a relationship they started online into the real world, according to new research out of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

The survey of 251 teen girls finds that 30 percent of them went ahead and met offline with people they'd initially met online -- and without first confirming those people were who they claimed to be.

Not all meetings end up being dangerous, of course, but Jennie Noll, lead author of the study, has discovered a disturbing trend among the girls she's surveyed. Those with a history of neglect or abuse (roughly half of the girls surveyed) were more likely to display their online personas in sexually provocative ways.… Read more

The new MySpace has launched to the public, and Justin Timberlake, the site's co-owner, is helping build some interest in it.

When folks head over to MySpace today, they'll find that they can now register to join the site. Upon doing so, users will be able to freely stream Justin Timberlake's new single featuring Jay Z, "Suit & Tie."

Until now, the new MySpace had been available only to those invited to try it out.

MySpace has gone through a series of reinventions over the years as it watched its star rise in the social-networking … Read more

Twitter has been pushing into the international market by making its service available on feature phones, according to Bloomberg.

The move comes as users in the U.S. are topping off and the microblogging service has to expand its boundaries in search of new members.

One of the ways Twitter is gaining new users is by partnering with wireless carriers in different countries that let people tweet on feature phones for free or for the cost of a text message. For example, the social network is now working with Turkish carrier Turkcell, according to Bloomberg. The partnership lets users tweet … Read more

Two days ago, I griped that the new photo zoom feature in Google+ didn't work with high-resolution images. But today, it does.

"The blurriness issue you mention has already been fixed," said Dave Cohen, a photographer and Google+ team leader, in response to my experiments posting images ranging from 22 to 80 megapixels.

If you want to take advantage of the full-immersion view that's now available, I uploaded a batch of high-resolution photos from a trip to New Mexico and some even higher-resolution 60- and 80-megapixel shots taken with medium-format Phase One cameras of San Francisco … Read more