Internet connections

When asked how governments ought to deal with freeloaders who illegally copy music and movies on the Internet, James Murdoch, head of News Corp.'s European and Asian operations, does not mince his words: "Punish them."

"There is no difference with going into a store and stealing Pringles or a handbag and taking this stuff," he said last week at a media conference in Abu Dhabi. "We need enforcement mechanisms and we need governments to play ball."

More business travelers are getting what they say they want most from hotels: free Internet access in their rooms.

Corporate business travel managers are taking advantage of the downturn in travel to negotiate the prized service, says DeAnne Dale, a sales executive at online business travel management firm Travelocity Business.

They're also getting free service from big hotel groups such as Hilton, Marriott and Starwood. And they're getting it at the same time the chains say they're not changing their policies and will continue to charge guests from $9.95 to $14.95 a day for Wi-Fi.

Ten years ago, we would have been blown away by a cell phone with far more computing power and memory than the average PC had in 1999, along with a built-in camera and programs to manage every aspect of our lives. Ten years from now, the iPhone and its ilk will be antiques.

Over the next decade, the evolution of computing and the Internet will produce faster, increasingly intelligent devices. More of our possessions will contain sensors and computers that log our activities, building digital dossiers that augment our memories, help us make decisions and tame information overload.

Executives from Google, Twitter, Amazon.com and several other giant technology businesses have joined to support an open Internet. Twenty-four executives signed a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski.

France's lower house of parliament approved a pioneering bill Tuesday allowing authorities to cut off Internet access to people who download illegally, a measure that entertainment companies hope will be a powerful weapon against piracy.

Critics, meanwhile, complain the bill threatens civil liberties, and questions remain about exactly how it will be enforced. The bill has garnered attention beyond France, both from music and film industries struggling to keep up official revenue and from privacy advocates who worry about government intrusion.

More than seven years ago, the group that deals with wireless networking standards met for the first time to plot out the next generation of Wi-Fi. Sometime next month, their work finally will be completed.

That's when the version of Wi-Fi dubbed 802.11n will be ratified, ending a long process that will result in faster wireless connectivity over greater distances.

"But wait!" you say. "I've seen 802.11n wireless routers and adapters in my neighborhood electronics store. I've even bought one! What's the difference?"

The gap between watching movies on your TV and watching them on your computer continues to narrow with news that the Vudu online video service is releasing a second-generation platform "optimized for Internet-capable smart TVs."

Vudu CEO Alain Rossmann said his company will "embed the new Vudu service directly into the TV, eliminating the expense and hassle of purchasing, installing or connecting another device to the TV."

LG TVs Will Be First

Right now, everyone who is planning to build electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids pretty much agrees on the fact that the best way to charge them is to plug some kind of cord into the side of the car, the same way we do for cell phones, laptops and mp3 players.

Right now, everyone who is planning to build electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids pretty much agrees on the fact that the best way to charge them is to plug some kind of cord into the side of the car, the same way we do for cell phones, laptops and mp3 players.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's governing party rejoiced when it muscled one of his pet projects through the French parliament: an unprecedented law to cut the Internet connections of people who repeatedly download music and movies illegally.

Sarkozy's victory last week, however, has not won France leadership in Europe's fight against Internet piracy. The government controls needed to enforce the law have unnerved other European nations while legal challenges at home and opposition in the European Parliament could derail it.