Net neutrality advocates suffered another setback this week as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was selected to hear a legal challenge to new FCC neutrality rules. The random lottery pick followed efforts by public interest groups to get the hearing moved elsewhere, because, as The Wall Street Journal puts it, the D.C. Court "has been skeptical of the FCC's authority to enforce such rules in the past." Specifically, "The D.C. Circuit torpedoed the (FCC's) last attempt to enforce Net neutrality regulations," writes The Journal. "They filed court challenges to the agency's rules in six different …

A Republican task force in the U.S. House of Representatives appears to be challenging the scope of a Democratic-backed cybersecurity bill. The bill -- the drafting of which is being overseen by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's office -- is aimed at combating breaches and theft from company and government computer networks. Headed by Rep. Mac Thornberry, the Republicans say Congress should give companies incentives to bolster their cyber defenses, but they advocate a "more piecemeal strategy to avoid unintended consequences," as Reuters reports. "We think that it is very important that you get the details right," Thornberry …

It's been two weeks since Facebook debuted its premium media distribution initiative, and paidContent is looking for results. "New media partners are finding triple the listeners and a small uplift in readers from their new "frictionless," it reports. Meanwhile, "Spotify ... isn't disclosing any actual effect on its user base, but it is thought to have grown," paidContent writes. Citing research from AppData, it notes that the monthly active user count for Spotify's Facebook app base "massively boosted" as a result of feeding listened song titles into Facebook users' timelines. Also , Slacker's new daily online listeners have …

What's more threatening to movie companies than piracy? Apple, says Miramax CEO Mike Lang. Apple's domination of the digital media marketplace, Lang argued at an event this week, is dangerous for the same reasons that any monopoly is bad for industry. "Piracy really is not the bigger issue for our company or for our library," Lang said, as reported by AppleInsider. "It's been a lack of exploitation, just not getting it out there." In other words, so long as Apple dominates media distribution through its iTunes online store, it's hindering movie companies from distributing their catalogs to a wider …

Having already won approval from the US Federal Trade Commission, the EU is reportedly ready to okay Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of online telephone service Skype. "The decision to clear the purchase without an in-depth, second-phase investigation will be a relief for Microsoft and will allow the deal to go through without delay," the Financial Times reports. Moreover, FT adds, Microsoft's victory highlights a turnaround in its long-strained relations with European competition authorities. Joaquín Almunia, the EU competition commissioner, is set to approve the deal without any remedies, "in spite of complaints from would-be rivals over Microsoft 'bundling' …

Leaving politics aside, Reuters reports on the skill with which Occupy Wall Street is marketing itself via social media. "Occupy Wall Street is a movement, but it is also a Twitter hashtag, a Facebook page and a Livestream event, which means the protest (for what it's not entirely clear) does not even need a physical home," Reuters writes. As a result, physical "Occupy" events have reportedly spread to 147 cities, "and much of that is the result of social media being used to recruit the young and the computer-literate." Blogger Jeff Jarvis calls Occupy Wall Street "a hashtag …

Think Rhapsody's purchase of Napster (from Best Buy) spelled a new beginning for the music streaming service? Think of it more like a "glorified funeral," GigaOm suggests on rumors of massive layoffs coming next month. Napster's two offices in Los Angeles and San Diego will close, leaving an estimated 120 employees out of a job, sources tell GigOm. "A few may get rehired by Rhapsody, but I wouldn't get my hopes up." A Rhapsody spokesperson apparently confirmed the impending layoffs, but offered few additional details. So, what did Rhapsody's get from Napster? At most, "a few hundred thousand new …

In the UK, online ad spending saw 13.5% year-on-year growth during the first half of 2011, paidContent reports, citing new Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers data. The sector's success "defied the slowdown affecting other media in the first half of 2011 ... as brands flocked to spend cash on online video ads," paidContent notes. Companies spent $3.48 billion on all forms of online advertising in the first six months of the year, according to the IAB, compared with a growth rate of about 1.4% across traditional media, such as TV, newspapers and radio. "The report shows that the …

Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co. are preparing to give potential Yahoo buyers a close look at the company's books, Reuters reports, citing sources. It's the clearest sign yet, Reuters writes, that "the troubled Internet giant is ready to put itself on the block." Just this week, reports surfaced that private-equity firm Silver Lake, China's Alibaba Group, and Russia's Digital Sky Technologies are considering a joint bid for the Web portal. According to sources Reuters writes: "Over the last few weeks, potential buyers, including large technology and media companies, private equity and international companies, have proposed many different …

Is Facebook once again employing a highly controversial tracking cookie? So says self-proclaimed hacker Nik Cubrilovic, after being tipped off by Twitter user Jonathan Mayer. "The datr cookie, which can be used for tracking users, is once again being set on third-party web sites with a Facebook social plugin -- whether you are logged in or logged out of the service," ZDNet writes, sourcing Cubrilovic. Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal caused a stir when it reported that some Facebook widgets had, for a time, obtained browsing data about users who had never visited Facebook.com, though Facebook …