Reuters - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and faces a tough second half with a sluggish memory chip market and lower margins in flat screens and mobile phones.

AFP - China's online population, already the world's largest, has swelled to 253 million, an official report said, driven by news events such as natural disasters and the Beijing Olympics.

AP - Microsoft's CEO defended the software maker's decision to invest heavily in its unprofitable online business, but shed minimal light Thursday on specific steps it will take to challenge Google in the wake of the failed bid to buy Yahoo.

AP - A Japanese appeals court upheld the conviction of flamboyant former Internet mogul Takafumi Horie on Friday in an ongoing case that has come to symbolize this nation's effort to deal with white collar crime at emerging dot-coms.

AP - T-R-O-U-B-L-E could loom for a Scrabble knockoff that has become one of the most popular activities on Facebook.

AP - China's booming Internet population has surpassed the United States to become the world's biggest, with 253 million people online despite government controls on Web use, according to government data reported Friday.

Reuters - (Corrects NYCLU position to it considering a legal challenge to the law instead of planning a legal challenge)

AFP - Google has launched its own version of communally constructed online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which consistently ranks among the most visited websites in the world.