Twitter CEO says new policy is for transparency: report (Reuters)

(Reuters) – Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo said the company’s recently announced online content policy was meant to be a transparent way to handle government requests for the removal of certain content and did not mean it is actively monitoring Tweets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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(Reuters) – Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo said the company’s recently announced online content policy was meant to be a transparent way to handle government requests for the removal of certain content and did not mean it is actively monitoring Tweets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Twitter had said last week it would begin restricting Tweets in specific countries, renewing questions about how the social media platform will handle issues of free speech as it rapidly expands its global user base.

“There’s been no change in our stance … in respect to content on Twitter,” Costolo said at the “Dive Into Media” conference hosted by the website All Things D, which is owned by News Corp, the Journal reported.

Costolo said Twitter would only block Tweets locally at a government’s request and would leave the Tweet up for the rest of the world. In place of the pulled Tweet would be a message that the content was removed at the request of the local government, the Journal said.

Costolo said the policy is not meant as a means for the company to get into countries where it currently does not operate, such as China or Iran.

“I don’t think the current environment in China is one in which we can operate,” he added.

No-one at Twitter could immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad; Editing by David Holmes)

Gaming firms 888, Caesars extend licensing deal to U.S. (Reuters)

(Reuters) – 888 Holdings Plc said a unit of private equity-owned Caesars Entertainment Corp extended its UK software licensing agreement with the British online gaming company to the United States. 888 said the agreement would see its arm, Dragonfish, power a selection of private poker brands of Caesars, one of the largest casino operators in the United States and owner of the famed Caesars Palace, once online gaming is permitted under the new regulatory regime.

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(Reuters) – 888 Holdings Plc said a unit of private equity-owned Caesars Entertainment Corp extended its UK software licensing agreement with the British online gaming company to the United States.

888 said the agreement would see its arm, Dragonfish, power a selection of private poker brands of Caesars, one of the largest casino operators in the United States and owner of the famed Caesars Palace, once online gaming is permitted under the new regulatory regime.

“Utilising 888′s state of the art poker platform, the agreement will allow the launch of a real money offering immediately as either Federal or state based regulation is finalized and upon licensing by gaming authorities,” 888 said in a statement on Tuesday.

As U.S. states scramble for tax revenue, the potential for legalizing online poker has led casino and gaming companies MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming to unveil a plan to partner with online poker company Bwin.party Digital Entertainment.

Last month, 888 had said it expected core profit for 2011 to be significantly above market expectations, aided by strength in its casino and poker businesses.

888 shares, which have risen 41 percent in the last three months, closed at 47 pence on Monday on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at about 165 million pounds.

(Reporting by Tresa Sherin Morera in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)

Twitter Is Not a Media Company, CEO Says (Mashable)

“Twitter is not a media company,” Twitter CEO Dick Costolo declared on stage at AllThingsD ‘s media conference in Laguna Nigel, CA, Monday evening.

Excerpt from:

“Twitter is not a media company,” Twitter CEO Dick Costolo declared on stage at AllThingsD‘s media conference in Laguna Nigel, CA, Monday evening. The statement was surprising given Twitter’s well-publicized role as a platform for breaking news, entertainment and other communications. “You [even] sell advertising,” AllThingsD‘s Peter Kafka pointed out.

[More from Mashable: Twitter CEO: We Are Not Censoring the Web]

“We’re in the media business, but we’re not necessarily a media company,” Costolo elaborated. “We don’t create our own content; we’re a distributor of content and traffic. We’re one of the largest drivers of traffic to other media properties, [namely] to other online web properties, even to films.”

Costolo pointed to a Super8 campaign Paramount Pictures ran on Twitter last June. The studio promoted the hashtag #Super8Secret, through which it offered advanced screening tickets to the film. The film performed “50% better” during opening weekend than Paramount expected, Costolo said.

[More from Mashable: Behind the Scenes of Twitter’s No-Cost Viral Recruiting Video]

Kafka and Costolo went on to discuss the origins of Twitter’s advertising business. “When you came [to Twitter] in 2009, Twitter’s business model wasn’t clear,” Kafka recalled. “Now it’s solidly an ad business. Did you push the company in that direction?” he asked.

“I was certainly involved in it,” said Costolo. “The honest answer is that i was a key participant in it, certainly advocated for it. By no means was it my idea to create and launch the products we have now.”

Kafka asked Costolo if the company explored any other business models at the time, but Costolo evaded the question. “The notion that there were other ideas we considered and that I disposed of makes it sound too palace intrigue-y,” he complained. “It makes it sound a little too Hamlet. The reality of life is that it’s a lot more Tom Stoppard than Shakespeare,” he said.

Costolo likewise skirted questions about whether Twitter would have its first profitable year in 2012 — “We don’t discuss financials,” he said — but did stress the health of Twitter’s advertising business. In particular, he noted that engagement in several recent Promoted campaigns was above 50%, and that the cost per customer acquisition rate — by which we assume he means the cost per follower acquisition rate — is “fantastic.”

At the moment, Twitter is less interested in developing new products or revenue streams than growing the ones it’s already developed, Costolo suggested. “It’s all about scaling that now, launching these products globally,” he said.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

NJ woman accused of streaming kid sex abuse cries (AP)

TRENTON, N.J. – A New Jersey waitress cried in court Monday as she heard a prosecutor accuse her of “extreme sexual assault” on a 5-year-old girl she was baby-sitting and of streaming video of the abuse online.

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TRENTON, N.J. – A New Jersey waitress cried in court Monday as she heard a prosecutor accuse her of “extreme sexual assault” on a 5-year-old girl she was baby-sitting and of streaming video of the abuse online.

Authorities say Jennifer Mahoney, 32, of Manalapan, laughed while she sexually assaulted the child, and again as she streamed the video to at least two other people. They say she confessed twice to different sets of investigators.

Mahoney has been charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. At a federal court hearing in Trenton, she had requested to wear a global positioning device, stay away from the victim and post her parents’ home as collateral for bail. The judge denied bail on the federal charges; Mahoney is being held on $500,000 bail on state charges stemming from the same assault.

“Law enforcement has recovered a video capture of extreme sexual assault,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Clabby said. “There is danger to the public, and the risk of flight.”

During the hearing in U.S. District Court, Mahoney wiped away tears, buried her face in her hands and cried softly as her attorney, Herbert Ellis, rubbed her back. Later, she rocked quickly back and forth in her chair, not speaking except to reply, “Yes, your honor,” when asked whether she understood her rights.

Ellis, her lawyer, said he needs to speak to Mahoney in detail before deciding how to proceed. He said he wants to see her videotaped confession to authorities to determine how it was given and under what circumstances.

Mahoney has been in custody since Dec. 14, the day after three pornographic videos showing assaults on the girl were found on the computer of a 32-year-old Texas man to whom she had streamed them, prosecutors said.

That man, Robert Ramos Jr. of Austin, was charged with possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of minors. Prosecutors in Texas say he set up seven fake Facebook accounts to solicit teenage girls to send him nude photos and videos of themselves engaged in sexual acts.

When the FBI questioned her, she acknowledged performing a sex act on the child while she was baby-sitting her, court documents say.

She also told investigators she streamed live video of one of the sexual assaults to two men using a chat service and acknowledged filming another assault with her cellphone and sending video of it to two other people, court documents say. No other mention of a second recipient is included in court documents.

Later on the day of her arrest, she gave a separate videotaped confession to New Jersey authorities, Clabby said.

Two of the videos appeared to have been made in Mahoney’s bedroom, the third in the bathtub of her home, the affidavit says.

The affidavit describes the sexual assaults in graphic terms. On one, the FBI agent notes, there is no audio. But, the agent notes, “it appears that the adult female is talking and laughing during the video, and it appears that the adult female is talking to another person over the Internet via a webcam.”

Ramos remains in custody in Texas. Court documents include a transcript of a handwritten statement Ramos gave to the FBI in which he acknowledges soliciting underage girls to send him nude photos but insists he never had sexual contact with a minor.

“What I have done was stupid and not worth anything,” he wrote. “I am very sorry and have made some terrible mistakes.”

His lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.

___

Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC.

Summary Box: Markets rattled by lack of Greek deal (AP)

NO DEAL: The wait for an expected deal between Greece and its creditors rattled financial markets around the world Monday. Yields for ultra-safe U.S. government debt hit their lowest this year, and the euro and European stocks fell

Continue reading here:

NO DEAL: The wait for an expected deal between Greece and its creditors rattled financial markets around the world Monday. Yields for ultra-safe U.S. government debt hit their lowest this year, and the euro and European stocks fell.

GREECE TALKS: Greece and its creditors were said to be close to an agreement over the weekend. It’s aimed at cutting Greece’s debt by roughly euro100 billion ($132 billion).

TO PORTUGAL: Borrowing costs for European countries with the heaviest debt burdens shot higher. The two-year interest rate for Portugal’s government debt jumped to 21 percent after trading around 14 percent last week.

D. Boerse regulator says has concerns over NYSE deal (Reuters)

WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) – Deutsche Boerse’s (DB1Gne.DE) home regulator, the Hessian Minister of Economics, said the German exchange operator has failed to address concerns about the proposed takeover of NYSE Euronext (NYX.N), throwing up another hurdle to the deal. “We made it clear in discussions in November that we have legal reservations about the deal,” Dieter Posch told reporters on Monday. The ministry said concessions offered by Deutsche Boerse had not addressed its concerns

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WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) – Deutsche Boerse’s (DB1Gne.DE) home regulator, the Hessian Minister of Economics, said the German exchange operator has failed to address concerns about the proposed takeover of NYSE Euronext (NYX.N), throwing up another hurdle to the deal.

“We made it clear in discussions in November that we have legal reservations about the deal,” Dieter Posch told reporters on Monday.

The ministry said concessions offered by Deutsche Boerse had not addressed its concerns. The ministry, based in Wiesbaden, Germany, has the power to revoke Deutsche Boerse’s operating license, a key prerequisite to a successful deal.

The Hessian ministry will give its final verdict on the takeover after antitrust authorities in Brussels have ruled on the deal. A ruling from the European Commission was expected this week. The deal has met intense scrutiny from the European Union.

(Reporting By Andreas Kroner; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Dan Lalor)

The Wall Street Transcript Exclusive Interview: Smartphone Growth Trend Continues Despite Macro Weakness – Kulbinder …

67 WALL STREET, New York – January 30, 2012 – The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Wireless Communications & Telecom Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers.

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67 WALL STREET, New York – January 30, 2012 – The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Wireless Communications & Telecom Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: 4G LTE and 3G Infrastructure Upgrades – Wireless Carriers Compete for Spectrum – Smartphone Operating Systems – Emerging Markets Growth Shifts to Data ARPU

Companies include: TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT); U.S. Cellular (USM); AT&Ts (T); America Movil (AMX); Apple (AAPL); and many more.

In the following brief excerpt from the Wireless Communications Report,, expert analysts discuss the outlook for the sector and for investors.

Kulbinder Garcha is a Managing Director at Credit Suisse, with responsibility for global telecom equipment and IT hardware equity research. Mr. Kulbinder joined Credit Suisse in 2002, and prior to this he covered European technology stocks for two years at Goldman Sachs, and prior to that at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Kulbinder was part of the top three ranked teams in the Institutional Investor customized survey for the telecom equipment sector research from 1999 to 2009, achieving the number one position in Europe in the past five years and top two position in the U.S. last year. Mr. Kulbinder received an M.A. in mathematics and economics from St John’s College Cambridge in 1998.

TWST: What are the major investment themes you are watching in the wireless space right now?

Mr. Garcha: I think there are two to three themes that are very important in the wireless space right now. I think the first one is the continued growth of the smartphone industry. Smartphone volumes last year were 450 million units; they grew 55%, but we don’t think they have maxed out yet. We think that industry will continue to grow from these levels over the next two to three years and that it will will more or less double by 2015, reaching 1 billion units. So I think there’s going to be very strong continued smartphone growth. The second thing is the question of within that smartphone growth, how the various ecosystems will play out.

You obviously have a very strong competitor with Apple (AAPL), with how the iPhone is progressing, and the iPhone will continue to increase its market share going forward. But you also have Android, which is going to continue to grow as well. Android has about half of the market, literally about 50% of the market, today. I also think, and we published some research on this very recently, we now have a potential recovery in the Windows platform, and Nokia (NOK) is trying to drive that. The question then is who suffers in that environment.

We think certain Android vendors are on the weaker side. We think HTC (2498.TW), Motorola Mobility (MMI) and Sony Ericsson (ERIC) are maybe on the weaker side, and we also think that Research In Motion (RIMM) has some real difficulties in terms of turning around their business. So I think the first couple of points will be, number one, smartphone growth and the continued volatile and changing competitive dynamics within it.I think that the second thing, which kind of impacts wireless mobility, has to do with how the computing market is changing. You have consistently had very strong tablet or iPad growth in the last couple of years, and our secular view is that last year, I think 60 million tablets were sold.

We think that number will be 100 million in 2012 and 300 million by 2015, and this will account for 40% we think of all computing products going forward. The additional thing here is that you’ve got the issue with respect to how the tablet market is going to impact not only mobile computing, but telephony as well. That is certainly another issue.I think the third thing, at least in the wireless sector, is in terms of spending levels along the networks running into constrains. You also have this balanced issue whereby the overall wireless carrier market – and by that, I mean the AT And Ts (T) and Verizons (VZ) of this world collectively – the question of their revenue issues for the infrastructure providers. We also look how that industry actually grows in revenue terms going forward.

TWST: Is wireless a good place to invest?

Mr. Garcha: I think the wireless equipment industry is one place that is a bit difficult. Within this, Qualcomm (QCOM) we think will benefit. The problem with the mobile phone market is largely share shifting from one vendor to another. You look at Research In Motion, you look at Nokia, you look at how MMI was before it was taken out, you’ve got an issue whereby there aren’t that many attractive investment ideas. I think Qualcomm is one that works.With Qualcomm, it’s much more about the quality of their business. Qualcomm gets paid, of course, by end licensing and through their chipset business. On the licensing side, they collect royalty for every 3G and smartphone basically sold in the world and every tablet that’s sold.

So the growth in the end market drives their licensing business. What that basically means, we think, is that no matter who is gaining share, whether it’s an Apple or whether it’s a RIM, whether it’s an Android vendor or someone else, Qualcomm will collect their royalty because they own the core I.P. along with two or three other companies in the world around which is designed as to how wireless standards operate. Secondly on Qualcomm, their chipset business, they have a 40% 3G WCDMA chipset share, but they are about to now ramp up or they started ramping up production with Apple, they will start with Nokia, and they continue to be very heavily aligned with Android.

The Wall Street Transcript is a unique service for investors and industry researchers – providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewees nor does it make stock recommendations.

For Information on subscribing to The Wall Street Transcript, please call 800/246-7673

Weaker banks, commodities drag Britain’s FTSE lower (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Weakness in banks and commodity stocks dragged Britain’s leading share index lower on Monday as the protracted search for a Greek bond deal and concerns about economic growth kept investors nervous. The FTSE 100 (.FTSE) index closed down 62.36 points, or 1.1 percent, at 5,671.09, extending Friday’s falls and retreating further from Thursday’s six-month closing high.

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LONDON (Reuters) – Weakness in banks and commodity stocks dragged Britain’s leading share index lower on Monday as the protracted search for a Greek bond deal and concerns about economic growth kept investors nervous.

The FTSE 100 (.FTSE) index closed down 62.36 points, or 1.1 percent, at 5,671.09, extending Friday’s falls and retreating further from Thursday’s six-month closing high.

The FTSE volatility index (.VFTSE) was also active, up over 10 percent, its biggest daily percentage rise in a month and signaling an increase in risk aversion.

Banks (.FTNMX8350) were the biggest blue-chip casualties, hit by concerns that extra liquidity injections from central banks had not addressed the sector’s fundamental problems.

Credit Suisse reduced its recommendation on the European Banking sector to “underweight” as it said the direct earnings impact of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) late-December splurge of cheap, long-term cash for the banks appeared to be over-estimated.

Barclays (BARC.L) was the UK sector’s biggest faller, down 4.2 percent, while Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) shed 4.1 percent, and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) fell 3.5 percent.

EU leaders met in Brussels on Monday, the first summit of 2012, to sign off a permanent rescue fund for the euro zone — Britain’s biggest trading partner — though the meeting was overshadowed by the unresolved Greek debt problems.

To avoid a chaotic default, which could have grave ramifications for sentiment and financial systems across the globe, Greece must secure a deal with its private bond holders and persuade international lenders it is serious about reforms in order to secure much-needed cash.

Fresh tensions between Greece and the euro zone’s biggest economy Germany over the weekend regarding the debt bail-out terms also knocked sentiment.

“This isn’t the first time Greece has shown resistance to accepting certain EU bailout terms and conditions, and given their weak position they may need to concede again, otherwise risk defaulting on the debt repayments due in March,” said Jordan Lambert, Trader at Spreadex.

U.S. blue chips (.DJI) were down 0.6 percent by London’s close, also suffering on concerns over the Greek debt situation, and after further dull U.S. economic data.

U.S. consumer spending was flat in December as households took advantage of the largest rise in income in nine months to boost their savings, setting the tone for a slowdown in demand early in 2012.

COMMODITIES DIP

Weakness in commodity issues also weighed on blue chips in London, with a retreat in crude knocking the integrated oils (.FTNMX0530) as an expected Iranian vote to suspend crude exports to Europe was postponed, easing supply concerns.

Miners (.FTNMX1770) also moved lower in tandem with weaker metal prices, as softer-than-expected U.S. economic data fuelled concerns about demand levels.

Defensive stocks dominated on the short list of blue chip gainers, led by drugmakers, with AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) up 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent.

AstraZeneca will post fourth-quarter results on Thursday.

Utilities were in demand, with energy generator International Power (IPR.L) up 0.6 percent, and power distributor National Grid (NG.L) ahead 0.5 percent. Both firms are due to issue trading updates later this week.

And chip designer ARM Holdings (ARM.L) gained 0.3 percent, with its fourth-quarter results due tomorrow.

(Reporting by Jon Hopkins; Editing by Will Waterman)

Mid Day Update for Monday – Volume Alert

VPER, is currently trading very high volume this morning after the company announced they have been rewarded exclusivity in India and Saudi Arabia for all LED-O products. Monitor this one closely. Also keep an eye on PPJE, PPJ Enterprise is another sub penny that announced a company update last Friday, the Street may have not

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Mid Day Update for Monday – Volume Alert

InvestorCentral.us Alert – Huge BVSN Bounce Beginning!

BroadVision Inc (BVSN) is beginning to bounce very strongly and is currently up $1.03 today to $22.25. BVSN is currently way oversold and an absolute steal, in my opinion. BVSN signed 117 new Clearvale Enterprise customers last year up 290% from the 30 new Clearvale Enterprise customers BVSN signed in 2010

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InvestorCentral.us Alert – Huge BVSN Bounce Beginning!

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