Microsoft Corp. is set for another big acquisition; the software giant on Tuesday agreed to a $1.23 billion fee for search company Fast Search & Transfer ASA. The Norwegian software maker creates products that help companies mine, store and manage search data. The offer is 42 percent more than Fast Search's closing price on Friday, Jan. 4, according to Bloomberg News. Fast Search tailors search programs for clients, a service that will enhance Microsoft's corporate software program SharePoint, the company's fastest-growing piece of software by sales in its history. SharePoint generated nearly $1 billion in sales over the last …

MTV Networks struck deals with five new Web sites to expand the legal online distribution of its content. They are: online video sharing sites Dailymotion, GoFish and Veoh, music sharing site iMeem, and interactive TV guide MeeVee. As part of the deal, MTV will provide video clips, widgets, and other online content to these sites from its 10 cable and broadband networks. The deals involve ad-sharing; as such, the publishers will carry MTV-branded channels and internally promote MTV content. PaidContent.org estimates that MTV will keep 70 percent of ad revenues, an MTVN exec would not discuss or …

At a recent panel discussion at CES, representatives from NBC, Microsoft, AT&T and several content filtering companies said the time is right to start filtering copyrighted content at the ISP level. This means Web service providers like AT&T, Comcast, Earthlink, etc. could start checking data packets for copyrighted material. "What we are already doing to address piracy hasn't been working," said James Cicconi, SVP external & legal affairs for AT&T. Cicconi has been in talks with the MPAA and RIAA about implementing digital fingerprinting technology. However, on the consumer side, watchdog groups would say network …

Facebook has joined Google and Plaxo in becoming a member of the DataPortability Workgroup, a group devoted to best practices for open software platforms and data portability between those platforms. By joining the DataPortability Working Group, Facebook is embracing open standards and open access, and that is a huge fundamental change from its previous stance on being locked in to closed standards. Plaxo's Joseph Smarr, Google's Brad Fitzpatrick and Facebook's Benjamin Ling are all set to join the DataPortability Workgroup as representatives of their companies. It's especially encouraging to see Facebook, a company that has yet to …

As the economy slows in 2008, exhibitors at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas might find it difficult to persuade consumers to buy hi-tech cell phones and plasma screen televisions. The economy quickly center stage at CES as company executives were bombarded by questions about how the rising U.S. jobless rate, $100 oil and the worsening situation in the housing and credit markets will effect technology spending this year. History would tell you that consumers tend to spend less on superfluous items (like gadgets) during a recession. Even so, analysts predicted a robust holiday shopping season for …