Web sites for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and two dozen other brands that fall under the MTV Networks umbrella are being prepared for a first-quarter launch, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "The Daily Show" site, for example, which actually launches in the fourth quarter, will contain the entire video history of each show, including headlines, interviews and the "Back in Black" feature. Episodes will be available in their entirety an hour or two after broadcast. Other shows receiving their own sites include Comedy Central's "The Sarah Silverman Program," MTV's "Engaged and Underage" and Nickelodeon's "iCarly." No mention was …

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday backed the big telecommunications companies in the States, warning the Federal Communications Commission not to impose so-called "net neutrality" rules on Internet service providers. Should the FCC decide not to, ISPs would be allowed to prioritize how they distribute network bandwidth. The DoJ said that preventing broadband companies from charging content providers for using more bandwidth "could shift the entire burden of implementing costly network expansions and improvements on to consumers." These comments do not represent a ruling; they are just a suggestion to the FCC. Nevertheless, the comments are a significant blow …

Few in the technology biz would dispute that the patent system is in need of fixing, especially when it comes to software. But a patent is a powerful thing, and the number of applications--particularly technology-based patents--has risen markedly over the past several years. The result for applicants is painfully long delays. The result for many unsuspecting innovators is a lawsuit (see Economist article for chart). Together, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Britain's Intellectual Property Office and the European Trade Office are evaluating a way to change the broken system. The idea is called "Peer-to-Patent," and it involves adding peer …

Apple, Inc. made a flurry of new announcements on Wednesday, including a new-look for its line of iPods, Wi-Fi compatibility, an iTunes partnership with Starbucks Corp. and a $200 price cut for the most powerful versions of its iPhone. The $400 8G iPhone was the met with mixed reviews by analysts and investors, who worried that the cut indicated lower than expected demand for the AT&T-only phone. Apple shares fell 5% on the news. The positive iPod news tempered what could have been a worse day of trading for Apple. Wi-Fi capability effectively turns the iPod into the iPhone, …

In opening up its pages to the public, Facebook may have taken one step too many, that is, invading privacy. Last night, Facebook launched a "public listing search," allowing non-members to search for anyone on the network. The company assures that they only get to see a minimal listing of that person's profile. The problem is that Facebook is choosing what information to make publicly available. They may make it customizable, but what about those members who missed the memo that their info was going public? These public profiles will also be available to the search crawlers of …

Is the gPhone a phone, an operating system, or a series of apps? Unnamed sources said that gPhone is really an operating system, developed by the personnel Google acquired when it bought Android in 2005. But its platform and services are cheap enough to enable smartphones to sell at lower prices -- like $100, according to the report. Handset makers (unnamed of course) are hard at work on prototypes of lower-cost phones based on the gPhone platform, which features Web browsing, services like mobile search, Google Maps, Google Earth and other multimedia applications. Of course, the trade-off for the …

If you thought that 50% of your ad budget wasn't wasted if you were spending on the Internet, you'd be wrong. Thank goodness most of it is cheap, though. If you're in the biz, you know that low CTRs (click-through rates) are the norm, especially for display, but a new startup called Fetchbook has "a slightly creepy solution to the problem." It suggests sticking like glue to consumers and bothering them until they click on your ad. The tactic, called retargeting, works like this: a consumer comes to your site, checks it out and leaves. Fetchbook remembers that he …

Yahoo has agreed to buy the online advertising network BlueLithium for approximately $300 million. The closely held company buys display inventory and then resells it to advertisers in a variety of targeted packages, including behavioral targeting. The big news: Yahoo plans to integrate BlueLithium's behavioral targeting technology with its own, deploying it across Yahoo's sites in addition to the ad network's 1,000 partner sites. One criticism of behavioral targeting has been its limited scope; the combined network will allow advertisers to buy large, targeted segments of users who have demonstrated interests or certain behaviors while surfing the network. …

Facebook has started notifying members that its pages will soon be open to Google, Yahoo and other search engines whose crawlers index billions of pages across the Web. The move, clearly aimed at growing the number of page views on the social network, could spark a privacy backlash among users, although the company is marketing the move as an "opportunity" to let the rest of the world find them. Facebook users, have revolted against the site's policy changes in the past. Of course, users will have a choice whether to keep their listings private or make their name …

The makers of the YouTube drama "LonelyGirl15" may have hit the advertising equivalent of pay dirt through their latest venture "KateModern," the online video/interactive media series that partners with the social network, Bebo. "Kate," with 3 million views in just over three weeks, is both a commercial and crossover success, neatly integrating brands into the lives of its characters, who have interactive profiles on Bebo, in addition to the story's plotline. "Kate," whose launch advertisers included Microsoft Corp., Disney's Buena Vista International, France Telecom's Orange and P&G's Gillette, Pantene and Tampax brands, is the ad antithesis to …