• SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Last Update on March 15, 2010 03:09 EDT

IN THE NEWS: INTERNET FRAUD ON THE RISE

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Guess it makes sense, in a way. The FBI is reporting how much Internet fraud is costing us. And, the agency says, the most common type of fraud -- is scams from people falsely claiming to be from the FBI. The agency says last year, the cost of online fraud was $560 million dollars. That's double what it was for the previous report. Individual complaints of Internet scams grew more than 20 percent last year. And it isn't just people with deep pockets being taken for a ride. Officials say the amounts taken by individual fraud cases range from less than $30 to more than $100,000.

On the Net:

Internet Crime Report: http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2009IC3Report.pdf

IN THE NEWS: PAY FOR NEWS? NO WAY, EXPERTS SAY

NEW YORK (AP) -- People know that if you want a newspaper, you have to drop a coin or two into the sidewalk boxes, slap some money on the counter at the newsstand -- or subscribe for home delivery. But when it comes to getting that very same news online, people don't want to pay. So much so, a new consumer survey suggests that trying to get people to pay for online news at this point is "like trying to force butterflies back into their cocoons." The report comes from the Project for Excellence in Journalism. It's considered a serious blow to those news organizations holding out hope that those who want to get news online will be willing to shell out even a little for the chance to do so.

On the Net:

Journalism group site: http://www.journalism.org

ON THE WEB: NETFLIX CANCELS SEQUEL TO MOVIE-RECOMMENDATION CONTEST

CYBERSPACE (AP) -- This time, there WON'T be a sequel. Netflix has pulled the curtain on an effort to do another movie-recommendation contest. The company won't try it again -- after questions were raised about whether Netflix was protecting the privacy of its subscribers. The Federal Trade Commission also had raised questions about the company's ability to protect customers' privacy.

On the 'Net:

Netflix site: http://www.netflix.com