AFP - Skype, the online text messaging and voice service, said Thursday it was "extremely concerned" by monitoring of Internet chat by its Chinese partner reported by Canadian researchers.

Reuters - Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, launched its free music package on Thursday, issuing a challenge to Apple Inc's dominance of the digital music market.

Reuters - For men, bliss is often just a mouse-click away while quality time with family is guaranteed to put a smile on women's faces, according to an Australian study of what makes people happy.

Reuters - Superman's home planet Krypton was destroyed, but his house on Earth will live on thanks to loyal fans and an online auction that raised $100,000 to restore the rotting home where the Man of Steel was created.

NewsFactor - On Thursday, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to vote on a request by the National Music Publishers Association to increase the royalties paid to its members for online music sales. Artists are currently paid a royalty of nine cents and want the CRB to increase it to 15 cents.

AFP - Free computer game play that is all the rage in South Korean is taking hold in a US market dominated by videogames sold on packaged disks or by online subscriptions.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp is stepping up efforts to improve online search, where it considerably lags market leader Google, by establishing a three-center research facility in Europe, it said on Thursday.

AP - British band Oasis is joining the music rush to the Internet.

Reuters - For men, bliss is often just a mouse-click away while quality time with family is guaranteed to put a smile on women's faces, according to an Australian study of what makes people happy.

Reuters - DVD rental company Netflix Inc said on Tuesday it has reached a deal to provide about 2,500 titles from Starz Entertainment LLC's broadband subscription service to the Netflix's Web streaming service.

Reuters - A Norway consumer agency said it aims to take computer group Apple to court over what it calls unfair barriers to playing music from the iTunes music store on devices other than Apple's iPod.