Big or small, how can companies charge for content and services online when a free alternative is often just a click away? Whatever Rupert Murdoch thinks, there's no easy answer. A new study by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell of Harvard Business School and Feng Zhu of USC's Marshall School of Business takes a look at the problem by examining the business models of over twenty companies divided into four categories: pure fee-based models like iTunes; pure ad-sponsored models like Facebook; mixed models like WSJ.com; and tiered content models such as Match.com. Of particular note, …

So, about the outages that Gmail and Google Contacts users were experiencing last week? Citing an incident report from the Google Apps team, eWeek is reporting that they were caused by a "high load" to Google Contacts. The problem, according to the report, was caused by a confluence of human and machine actions, including a network issue in a data center, which caused additional load on the Contacts service; a very high utilization of the Contacts service; and an update to Gmail that inadvertently increased the load on the Contacts service. To fix the Gmail issue, Google's engineering team temporarily …

The late '90s are long gone, and tech startups filing for IPOs is big news these days. The latest to take the plunge is NewEgg, a consumer-facing online retailer that sells computer components and other electronics, including software, digital cameras, cell phones and laptops. The site lists new product releases and savings opportunities -- including a directory of refurbished products and the 36 best offers of the day. Reporting $2.2 billion in revenue over the last year, the company is hoping to raise $175 million. Insight Venture Partners, which sunk $20 million into the company in 2005, stands …

Cab computing -- which hundreds of thousands of long-haul truckers rely on for directions and communication -- is now under threat by advocates for tougher distracted-driving laws. The trucking industry argues that computers pose less of a distraction than BlackBerrys and iPhones, while safety advocates and researchers say computers present the same, if not a greater, risk. What's more dangerous: An online trucker, or a lost one? We can't decide, but the Transportation Department will give it a go this week when it considers a federal bill that would force states to ban texting while driving if they …

Techgeist blogger Michael Klurfeld argues that Google's open source efforts with regard to Android are less than open, and is therefore destined to alienate the developer community. He doesn't think the search giant is being evil, just stupid and shortsighted. "Android was supposed to be a fully functional alternative to the eternally closed platform that is the iPhone," he wrties. "It's almost as if Google had turned us around just long enough to stick a knife in our backs." Hyperbole, perhaps, but any company that lures "communities" with the promise of decision-making power is sure to face some …

As a result of some questionable tweets, The Washington Post has instated a new social media policy aimed at staffers' use of "individual accounts on online social networks, when used for reporting and for personal use." PaidContent has obtained a copy of the guidelines, which for some reason the paper chose not to release publicly as other organizations such as the Wall Street Journal have done. Responses from inside and outside the organization are raising some critical issues from reporters' true capacity for objectivity to their use of border-free, real-time commenting platforms like Twitter.

There's no question that the app-happy mobile Web is finally taking hold of U.S. consumers, and that Apple is largely responsible. Indeed, its iTunes store just served up its 2 billionth app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Therefore, the big question is ... Well, there seem to be quite a few of them."The rate of change is pretty astounding for a consumer product," marvels Venture Beat, which, it adds, "raises the question as to whether anyone can catch up with Apple in smart phone apps." BusinessWeek's Byte of the Apple blog …

Nationwide, online local news operations are popping up left and right to fill the void left by the drastic downsizing of regional newspapers. What makes these new operations more viable than ones they're replacing? Fewer legacy issues; lower overhead; and an operational structure supported by modern technological efficiencies. Consider the case of one nonprofit local news Web site in the San Francisco area, which is being supported by a $5 million initial grant from F. Warren Hellman, the expertise and labor of public radio station KQED-FM, and the 120 students of the University of California, Berkeley's graduate school …

Microsoft is warning Internet Explorer users about installing Google Chrome Frame -- an open-source plugin launched this week, which injects Chrome's renderer and JavaScript engine into Microsoft's browser. Explaining that it makes IE less secure, a Microsoft rep tells Ars Technica: "Given the security issues with plugins in general and Google Chrome in particular, Google Chrome Frame running as a plugin has doubled the attach area for malware and malicious scripts ... This is not a risk we would recommend our friends and families take." Does the software giant really have its users' best interests at heart, or …

A month ago, Gawker published a tape showing "Grey's Anatomy" actor Eric Dane and his wife Rebecca Gayheart in various compromising positions with former beauty queen Kari Ann Peniche. For that, Hollywood lawyer Marty Singer is suing Gawker and its publisher Nick Denton for $1 million on Dane's behalf. Notably, Denton says he paid the tape's "contributor" "quite handsomely" for the tape. He also says: "To quote the great Marty Singer -- Eric Dane's lawyer -- if you don't want a sex tape on the Internet, 'don't make one!'"