links for 2008-04-02

• BT advert trials were 'illegal'Trials of an online ad system carried out by BT involving more than 30,000 of its customers were potentially illegal, says a leading digital rights lawyer, because it did not tell users they were part of the Phorm trial. Source: BBC
• Why Apple will go atomicIntel's plans may offer the best Rosetta stone for decoding the secretive Apple chief executive's intentions. Source: Forbes
• Internet book piracy will drive authors to stop writingThe bleak forecast of the Society of Author believes that the havoc caused to the music business by illegal downloading is beginning to envelop the book trade. Source: Times Online
• Blinkx launches yet another online TV serviceThe web video search firm is branching farther out in to distribution by launching its own version - hybrid P2P player BBTV which uses its video search technology. Source: paidContent
• Washington DC's Newseum opens its doorsAn interactive museum of news and journalism throws the spotlight on the industry, its history and its continuing importance. Source: Guardian
• EMI hires Google's Douglas Merrill as digital chiefEMI has signalled a major step up in its digital strategy with the appointment of a senior Google executive to the new role of president of digital business. Source: Guardian
• Trinity Mirror buys sports web firm Rippleeffect Studio for £6mTrinity is paying £3.2m up front for Rippleffect Studio, a web design and development consultancy. Source: Guardian
• Social networking websites protect children, says Bebo's safety officerSites are taking their duty to protect younger users more seriously following a sea change in attitudes, according to Bebo's safety officer. Source: Guardian
• Adult social networking sites attract young usersMillions of children are using social networking websites intended for older users, according to a study by the media regulator, Ofcom. Source: Guardian
• YouTube under fire over 'rape' footageYouTube, the video-sharing website owned by Google, yesterday came under attack from MPs after admitting that an error in its review procedure meant it had failed to remove footage apparently showing a gang rape. Source: Guardian
• Apple sued over missing millions of colours it claims for new iMacApple's latest iMac desktop monitor boasts the broadest rainbow palette in the computer world with a capacity to display "millions of colours", according to its marketing material. Or does it? Source: Guardian
• Google to lay off 15 percent at DoubleClickSources say Google leadership did a 'totem pole' ranking of all DoubleClick employees to determine whom to cut; with every employee assigned a number representing his value and the lowest getting the axe. Source: Valleywag
• Twitter users unwittingly sending direct messagesA security hole in Twitter means at leats two people are complaining of direct messages being sent from their accounts but not by them. Source: Valleywag
• Blogonomics: Gawker writer rants over low payJordan Golson's boss Nick Denton wants fixed salaries to be as low as possible and hates it when a writer doesn't justify his salary with page views. Source: Wired
• Hulu: Coming to a cell phone near you?George Kliavkoff, NBC Universal's chief digital officer, hinted at the company's interest in developing a mobile version of the web video hub during a CTIA keynote yesterday. Source: Wired
• Facebook and MySpace users could be deluged with safety warningsUsers of social networking websites could be faced with a swathe of safety information, privacy alerts and warnings about their behaviour under Home Office guidelines drawn up to promote best practice in the online industry. Source: Guardian
• Just how valuable is the Huffington post?In an ever increasing run of posts in which the title poses seemingly innocuous questions about the liberal blog Huffington Post, today the topic of the actual value for the Huffington Post comes to question. Source: Mashable
• Internet has a trash problem, says researcherBetween 1 and 3% of all traffic on the internet is meaningless packets of information used in distributed denial of service attacks. Source: PCWorld
• Yahoo adds voice commands to web search on phonesMobile chief Marco Boerries said his company aims to make millions of web links more accessible on phones, by tapping deeper into the sites and by enabling consumers to use voice commands to search the web. Source: Reuters
• The BBC on those 'hidden costs' of watching TV onlineThe BBC's future media chief has proposed a 19-point broadband charter to protect against the costs of web TV. Source: BBC Internet blog