Apple Computer Inc.'s success in the online music market seems to have settled an industry debate, showing that more consumers prefer to own music outright rather than rent access to a smorgasbord of songs for a monthly fee. But a new technology from an old Apple nemesis -- Microsoft Corp. -- may give a big boost to the rental approach in coming months.

Seven of the top 20 news Web sites or groups in the U.S. during June were affiliated with newspapers, according to audience statistics from Nielsen//NetRatings.

Google has quietly introduced a new feature to its popular browser toolbar that lead you to never type in a full URL again.

Debra Gibb has had a high-speed Internet connection in her home longer than anyone she knows. In late 1996, when Time Warner Cable began trials here for its cable modem service, Ms. Gibb leapt at the chance to become one of the first residential broadband users in the nation. She was beta tester No. 6 in San Diego, she said.

When videogame executives talk about online gaming, Kathy Schnirch isn't the kind of player most have in mind. But Ms. Schnirch, a 47-year-old mother in Lenexa, Ky., is where the real action is today.

A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday denied motions to dismiss lawsuits claiming past Napster investors like Bertelsmann AG and venture capital firm Hummer Winblad kept the song-swap site going, costing the music industry $17 billion in lost sales.

America Online Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are teaming up to link their separate instant messaging services for use in the workplace, the first major step by the industry leaders to enable computer users to communicate with one another no matter which of the three systems they use.

A new digital-rights-management scheme for next-generation content has won the backing of two major studios as well as some of the biggest names in technology.

Yahoo Inc. girded itself for Google Inc.'s e-mail invasion by acquiring Oddpost Inc., a startup that has gained a reputation for making it easier and more enticing to communicate on the Web.

iTunes Europe customers may finally be able to download tracks from The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand as their music labels inch toward a deal this week with Apple Computer Inc., a source said on Tuesday.