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Wednesday, April 11, 2012
'Lockout' Has A 'Great Sense Of Humor,' Stars Say
Picture this: a maximum security prison gets overrun by the inmates, with correctional officers and other bystanders taken as hostages. One such hostage just so happens to be the President of the United States' daughter ? and the only man who can save her is a former special forces operative with an agenda of his [...]
Friday, April 6, 2012
Antibody clues to AIDS vaccine success
[ [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 4]], 'http://contributor.yahoo.com/join/yahoonews_virginiabeach', '[Did you witness the jet crash? Share your story with Yahoo! News]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Afghan security forces and police killed three', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/H9BcJE', '[Related: Bales\' wife on his alleged shooting: \'He would not do that\']', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['looking for fireworks between the opposing camps', 16]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSvEsj', '[RELATED:\?It?s going to be a circus\?: Activists begin protests outside Supreme Court]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 8]], 'http://yhoo.it/GE6jSh', '[RELATED: Obama\?s health care law passed 2 years ago, but where are we now\?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['This is as serious of a tornado', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tornadoes-touch-down-in-texas-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120403/trucksdallas.jpg', '630', ' ', 'Reuters', ], [ [['Oikos University', 8]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/deadly-oakland-university-shooting-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120402/shooting.jpg', '450', ' ', 'REUTERS/Reuters TV/KNTV/Handout', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GUovUP', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/61/261d2c36bccf0971c2734a4d4398aa5a.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP/David Goldman', ], [ [['popping up on social media sites', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['associated with such a small earthquake', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/GTco9z', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/0/b4/0b493c1a47b6e3f97f8f48a2b251d7d4.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger', ], [ [['Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparked outrage', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GKMVTk', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/7c/27c7367bc512d233ae1790b320a5e92c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['The charges signed against Bales include', 1]], 'http://yhoo.it/wZT5zV', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/a0/7a07c51b2aa0f39b1a23355046d13870.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP Photo/DVIDS\, Spc\. Ryan Hallock\, File', ], [ [['George Zimmerman, if I had a son', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-protest-fla-teen-death-1332387124-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/22/d761a49f3fcc99080a0f6a70670053cd-jpg_150905.jpg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
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Facebook focus guides Google CEO's 1st year on job
FILE - In this June 12, 2007 file photo, Google co-founder Larry Page smiles at a news conference held at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. When he replaced his mentor Eric Schmidt as Google's CEO last April, Page insisted that the company had to be more aggressive about countering the threat posed by Facebook's ever-growing popularity. Page responded with a social networking crusade that is still reshaping Google Inc. as he marks his one-year anniversary as chief executive on Wednesday, April 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)
FILE - In this June 12, 2007 file photo, Google co-founder Larry Page smiles at a news conference held at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. When he replaced his mentor Eric Schmidt as Google's CEO last April, Page insisted that the company had to be more aggressive about countering the threat posed by Facebook's ever-growing popularity. Page responded with a social networking crusade that is still reshaping Google Inc. as he marks his one-year anniversary as chief executive on Wednesday, April 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)
FILE - In this July 8, 2010 file photo, Google co-founder Larry Page arrives to a morning session at the annual Allen & Co. media summit in Sun Valley, Idaho. When he replaced his mentor Eric Schmidt as Google?s CEO, Larry Page knew he had to be more aggressive in countering the threat posed by Facebook. For years, Facebook has been stockpiling valuable information about people?s social circles and interests. Google has responded by creating a social network of its own, Google Plus. That social networking crusade dominated the first year of Page?s return as CEO and is still reshaping Google Inc. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Google co-founder Larry Page has a Facebook fixation.
When he replaced his mentor Eric Schmidt as Google's CEO last April, Page insisted that the company had to be more aggressive about countering the threat posed by Facebook's ever-growing popularity.
Page responded with a social networking crusade that is still reshaping Google Inc. as he marks his one-year anniversary as chief executive on Wednesday.
The Facebook obsession has already led to Google's creation of its own social network, Google Plus, and inspired changes in Google's privacy practices and Internet search results. Those changes have raised questions about whether the Internet's most powerful company has forsaken its "Don't Be Evil" motto in its zeal to protect its online advertising empire.
"Facebook awoke Google to its shortcomings in the social aspect of the Internet. It wasn't something that could be ignored," said Steven Levy, whose book "In The Plex" provided an inside look at Google's origins and evolution over 14 years.
Fretting about Facebook may seem like overkill, given Google's dominance of the Internet's lucrative search and advertising market. Last year, Google's sold $36.5 billion in advertising ? 10 times more than Facebook's $3.2 billion.
But Page realized Facebook has been carving out a competitive advantage that could be leveraged to topple Google.
Since its 2004 inception, Facebook has been stockpiling valuable information about people's social circles and interests. The volume of insightful data pouring into Facebook has mushroomed along with its service's popularity. That has provided Facebook with the means to target ads more precisely and deliver content tied to a user's hobbies and tastes.
Google couldn't use most of that data to refine its search engine and other products, which is why it developed its own social network.
Since its debut nine months ago, Google Plus has attracted more than 100 million users. Although it lags Facebook's 845 million, the number is far greater than Facebook's tally at that stage in its history.
But Google Plus hasn't proven it can hold users' attention. Visitors have been spending an average of just a few minutes per month on Google Plus compared with six to seven hours on Facebook, according to the research firm comScore Inc.
Nevertheless, Google Plus and other social networking features introduced since Page took over allow the company to learn more about its users' lives, just as Facebook has done for years on its online hangout. Now, Google can try to use some of that knowledge to sell more ads, the source of virtually all its revenue.
Facebook's threat figures to become even greater after the company emerges from an initial public offering of stock, likely to be completed next month. The IPO is expected to raise $5 billion and generate free publicity that could attract even more traffic to Facebook. The IPO will likely eclipse Google's 2004 stock market debut as the biggest for a U.S. Internet company.
Google said Page was too busy for interviews about his past year as CEO, a role he reclaimed after surrendering the helm to Schmidt in 2001. Page had been CEO during the company's first three years, but early investors demanded a more experienced leader.
Schmidt, now Google's executive chairman, last year described his failure to mount a more serious challenge to Facebook as one of his biggest blunders.
When he took over as CEO, Page quickly made his top priority clear by moving Google's executive offices into the same building as the team working on Google Plus.
Page also tied a portion of employee bonuses to the success of Google Plus and eliminated what he considered to be unnecessary distractions by closing more than 20 of the company's less popular services, including an initiative to digitize health records.
"Larry is driven by his paranoia about Facebook. Clearly, these are two companies at war with each other," said Ken Auletta, who got to know Page while writing his book about the company, "Googled: The End of the World As We Know It."
Page already has plenty of other challenges to confront as he enters the second year of his reign.
Google is also grappling with broad regulatory investigations in the U.S. and Europe into its business and privacy practices. Its Android operating system for smartphones and tablet computers is clashing with Apple Inc. in the increasingly important mobile computing market. And it is close to completing its biggest acquisition ever ? a $12.5 billion purchase of cellphone and tablet computer maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., pending approval from the Chinese government after winning clearances elsewhere.
Page also is trying to win over Wall Street.
Although Google is more prosperous than ever, its stock price hasn't kept pace with the rest of the technology sector. Some investors have been turned off by Google's rising expenses under Page. Others were alarmed by a drop in the prices paid for Google's search-driven ads late last year. The company's stock price has climbed by 9 percent since Page became CEO, but that trailed a 12 percent gain in the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index. The broader S&P 500 index, which includes Google, has increased by 6 percent over the same period.
Some of Google's tactics to fend off Facebook have been interpreted as signs that Google is turning into a ruthless company willing to go to any length to protect its core business.
That's something Page and co-founder Sergey Brin vowed would never happen when Google filed its plans to go public in 2004. In a letter to investors, Page expounded on the reasons Google adopted "Don't Be Evil" as one its guiding principles. "We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served ... by a company that does good things for the world even if we forego some short-term gains," Page wrote.
The sincerity of those commitments is being questioned as Google digs deeper for personal data.
A recent change to Google's privacy policy has triggered the loudest outcry. About a month ago, Google unified 60 different privacy policies so it could stitch together all the personal information it gathers while users are logged into most of its services. Google explained the change as a simpler approach that would benefit its users, but the company also acknowledged that it would let it draw a more meaningful profile for advertisers looking to connect with prospective customers.
Another privacy backlash grew out of research a Stanford graduate student published in February. It showed that the company had been bypassing the security settings in Apple's Safari browser for iPhones and iPads to track Web surfers' online activities. Google called the intrusion an inadvertent offshoot of an effort to enable Safari users to press Google Plus's version of Facebook's "Like" button. Google disabled the tracking after it was revealed.
Google also tweaked its search results in January to give users the option to highlight results from Google Plus. Among other things, the search engine began to include suggestions on people to follow on Google Plus while excluding recommendations for Facebook and Twitter's messaging service, both of which are used more widely than Google Plus. Google says its search engine can't pull enough information from Facebook and Twitter to provide the same recommendations as it does for Google Plus.
Critics, though, scoff at that explanation and point to the bias as another example of how Google is abusing its dominance of Internet search to steer more traffic toward its own services. Those complaints are a central part of the regulatory investigations under way in the U.S. and Europe.
Both Auletta and Levy view what's been happening at Google as part of the inevitable maturation of the company and Page, who turned 39 last week.
"That idealistic flame still burns in Google," Auletta said. "But what happens, as time goes on, and you are no longer a young company, you have to make the compromises of adulthood...Facebook eventually is going to have to face a lot of the same questions."
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Wong sunshine: eat the pill will . be ovarian cancer?
listen to friends, eat the pill may have ovarian cancer, is it? I am a newly married women soon, after the marriage has been distressed for the choice of contraceptive methods. Listen to friends, eat the pill may have ovarian cancer, is it? Safe period method reliable?
oral contraceptives is a safe, effective and welcomed by the women of contraceptive methods. This class of drugs currently used, content of active ingredient to its one-fourth, on the premise of guaranteed its contraceptive effect, side-effects and effects on the metabolism of the human body have decreased markedly. Around the relationship between birth control and tumorigenesis, the vast majority of studies show that, if it?s not high risk population of estrogen-dependent tumors (for example, a family history of breast cancer, had suffered from breast cancer, cervical cancer and other estrogen-related cancer patients), after the oral contraceptives, there is no increase in the incidence of these tumors. But some scholars study found that oral contraceptives on some malignant tumors, such as endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer also has a certain degree of inhibition, the reason for this may be the birth control pills contain powerful progesterone prevents Endometrial hyperplasia.
, and safe method of contraception during the so-called natural contraception method, it is sex to avoid menstrual cycle ovulation day, and after 5 days before ovulation day and 4-day (a total of 10 days) this period of easy to conceive of, people refer to this period as ovulation, also known as an unsafe period. During this time as a difficult pregnancy other than security. Usually, ovulation occurs 14 days before the next menstruation instance around. Newly married couples, comparative law if the female menstrual cycle . normally, you can try the rhythm method method. But because of the female menstrual cycle length varies, ovulation can be affected by the environment, effects of mood, State of health, and other factors, may occur early or delayed, so the rhythm method is not very reliable, using this method of contraception is still need to be cautious.
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Mr Green Casino Makes Microgaming Deal as All Slots Welcomes ...
It has been revealed that Mr Green Online Casino has entered into a new lucrative partnership with Microgaming. One of the world?s fastest growing casinos, Mr Green has signed an agreement with QuickFire, allowing many of the software company?s top titles to be accessible to casino visitors. Meanwhile, All Slots Online Casino has revealed that it is to offer a new eCheck deposit system which will be of particular benefit to Canadian players.
Mr Green?s Lucrative QuickFire Deal
The latest Mr Green news is undoubtedly one of Microgaming?s largest partnerships, with their independent QuickFire platform having signed a deal with the award winning casino. QuickFire offers a large variety of popular Flash based Microgaming titles and allows online venues to quickly roll out the new games to their players. With Mr Green being one of the quickest growing online casinos on the planet, the news will be of huge significance to Microgaming.
Mr Green?s List of Accolades
In addition to growing on a fast scale, Mr Green has also received many accolades and awards in the past few years, with Internetworld naming it the best online casino every year since 2008. The casino was also placed on EGR?s Power50 list of 2011, highlighting Mr Green as one of the most important and influential online gambling venues in the world.
Five Software Providers for Mr Green
The latest agreement with QuickFire means that Mr Green now offers games and titles from a combination of five providers. The other four software companies who offer their services are WagerWorks, Betsoft Gaming, Net Entertainment and Nyx Interactive. Microgaming currently has more than 600 unique games in their line-up, including a variety of top ranking and huge jackpot slots. Mega Moolah, one of Microgaming?s largest progressive jackpot slots, has already offered the largest single payout ever made in industry, with the sum that was won worth more than ?6m.
Mr Green?s Microgaming Titles
There are already several titles from Microgaming which are live at Mr Green?s, including Reel Gems, Thunderstruck and Mermaids Millions. However, it is the titles that are to come which are providing the real attraction for many, with The Dark Knight expected to offer huge appeal for gamblers. To be launched by Microgaming in summer 2012, it has been developed alongside DC Entertainment and will use state of the art technology to create an innovative gaming atmosphere similar to that of the Batman film with the same title that was released in 2008.
New Deposit Option for All Slots Online Casino
In addition to the news from Mr Green, it was announced by another top ranking online casino, All Slots, that they are to increase the number of ways in which gamers can make deposits. Whilst the casino has an international audience, a large proportion of its players are from Canada. And, with the latest eCheck option for gamblers from this country to utilize, Canadians will benefit from a new safe and secure payment system for better enjoyment.
eCheck with No Fees
click here to see most Popular PagesThe latest news from All Slots Online Casino is that players from Canada will be able to make secure deposits into their accounts with the benefit of having no fees. In addition, deposits will be made instantly, and the eCheck system will allow for personal data and details to be kept confidential. The casino added that they were constantly striving to offer players increased flexibility as to how they made payments, and by providing another system, they hoped that even more Canadians would be able to benefit from the swift transaction process.
eCheck Offers a Simple Solution
As revealed by All Slots, the new eCheck system for Canadian players is simple and easy to use. To initiate the deposit system, players need to first log into their accounts and access the deposit section of the cashier menu. Clicking the eCheck option will take first timers to a quick but required one-time registration page where they will need to fill out a number of details. After this registration phase, the deposit system is easy and seamless, with players only needing to input their bank account number and the sum of money that they wish to deposit. All Slots will send an electronic communication to the bank, which has to have funds available and be in the same name as the registered player, and money will be instantly transferred into the All Slots available balance for players to start gambling with.
Easy Withdrawals
As well as providing a quick deposit system, the eCheck transaction service also provides players with the ideal way to make quick withdrawals into their bank accounts. Whilst issuing a paper check can be time consuming and costly, using eCheck provides the possibility to transfer funds directly into a registered user?s bank account.
Avoiding Credit Card Casino Rejections
In addition to the quick and easy deposit and withdrawal system, All Slots revealed that there was also another benefit of the new service for Canadians; eCheck?s ability to avoid credit card rejections. Whilst credit cards are often used to make deposits into online casinos, recent years have seen an increase of credit card rejections at online venues. This can stop gamblers playing quickly as they have to find alternative ways to fund their bankroll which could include having to take out new credit cards or using an online banking system instead. However, eCheck circumnavigates this problem by allowing trusted players to easily make convenient, reliable and swift deposits into their accounts.
Positive Steps Provided by Gambling Industry
Whilst the gambling industry continues to face much criticism across the world, many casinos are taking steps to offer more flexibility, enjoyment and safety to consumers. Mr Green?s new agreement with QuickFire will allow players at the popular casino more choice than ever before, with additional chance access to some of the world?s greatest games. Meanwhile, with All Slots new payment solutions, those wanting to avoid running up credit card debt and use funds available in their bank will be able to utilize the seamless eCheck service.
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Thursday, April 5, 2012
How To Be Successful With Regards To Commercial Real Estate
Your investment might be very time consuming at first. Although the investment might be a tremendous opportunity, it will only be good if you take care of any repairs or perhaps do a bit of remodeling. Do not cut corners on this process, just because it might take up a lot of time. You may need to spend some time researching before buying your commercial real estate purchase, but it will pay off in the end.
Before making a real estate purchase, sit down and talk with your tax adviser. A good tax adviser can let you know what percentage of the income will be taxable, and exactly how much the building will cost you. Let your adviser help you find a building that won?t require you to pay too much in taxes.
Don?t choose a real estate broker until you learn about his or her preferred negotiation techniques. Find out about their experience and training. Also be certain that they are ethical when conducting business, and good at what they do. Go ahead and ask them for examples of any past negotiations, including those that were successful and those that were failures.
You need to know the details of emergency maintenance procedures. Speak with your landlord, and ask who is in charge of emergency repair work at your home or office. Be sure to have emergency numbers on hand, and remember to check about a quoted response time for maintenance emergencies. Make an emergency plan once you have this information. If a flood, fire or break-in interrupts your normal business day, you need to have a plan in place so that you can re-open as soon as possible.
If you have found the right commercial property for your needs, read the lease in its entirety prior to signing it. Large real estate companies often slip in additional requirements or covenants into lease documents, which could be very long at times. By reading the document carefully, you can avoid the potential pain a standard commercial lease could cause.
Learn to set realistic prices by observing the market. Market conditions can vary greatly; therefore, an appraisal may not be the best indicator of true market value.
Stick with a firm that is looking out for your best interests before you enter into an agreement. Bad customer service can cost you a fortune when dealing with commercial property, so do your homework.
While searching through different properties, make a checklist of each tour you went on. Get the responses from the first round of proposals, but make sure the property owners are aware of this before proceeding. You may want to offhandedly let the owners know that theirs is only one of a few properties in which you are currently interested. It may help get you a better deal.
Location is vital to commercial real estate. Pay attention to the property?s surrounding area. The neighborhood?s demographics, including socioeconomic status and age of residents, influence the success of your investment. Compare the growth of the property?s neighborhood to similar neighborhoods around the country. You want to make sure that in 5 or 10 years down the road, the area is still a descent and growing area.
As previously noted, the business of commercial real estate can be challenging to succeed in. For a chance at success, you?ll have a large, initial down payment, plus significant time and effort. That, though, is still not a guarantee that you will make money, and you could possibly still lose money.
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UK's Sky News: We hacked in the public interest
The entrance of one of the BSkyB headquarter buildings complex in west London, Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Media executive James Murdoch, under pressure over his role in Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal, is stepping down as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting, the Sky News channel reported Tuesday, Sky, the news channel of BSkyB, said he resignation would be confirmed later Tuesday after an unscheduled board meeting. It said Murdoch would remain a board member and would be replaced as chairman by Nicholas Ferguson, the current deputy chairman. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
The entrance of one of the BSkyB headquarter buildings complex in west London, Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Media executive James Murdoch, under pressure over his role in Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal, is stepping down as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting, the Sky News channel reported Tuesday, Sky, the news channel of BSkyB, said he resignation would be confirmed later Tuesday after an unscheduled board meeting. It said Murdoch would remain a board member and would be replaced as chairman by Nicholas Ferguson, the current deputy chairman. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
LONDON (AP) ? Rupert Murdoch's Sky News channel twice authorized its reporters to hack into computers, a potentially embarrassing revelation that could further dent the media tycoon's hope of acquiring full control over satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
Sky News said in a statement Thursday that in one case it broke into emails belonging to Anne and John Darwin, the so-called "canoe couple" who became notorious in Britain after the latter faked his own death in a boating accident as part of an elaborate insurance scam. The circumstances surrounding the second case weren't made clear.
Sky News acknowledged intercepting the canoe couple's emails, but said the material was later handed to police and insisted it had done nothing wrong.
"We stand by these actions as editorially justified and in the public interest. We do not take such decisions lightly or frequently," Sky News chief John Ryley said in a statement.
He noted that, in a 2004 investigation, a Sky News journalists had bought an Uzi submachine gun to illustrate the availability of banned weapons in Britain. In 2003, a reporter sneaked into a restricted area at London's Heathrow Airport to highlight security failings.
"These investigations serve the public interest and are a legitimate part of responsible journalism," Ryley said.
Shares in BSkyB fell about 2.8 percent following the news to 639 pence ($10.11).
A media frenzy was kicked off when John Darwin ? long thought to have died in a boating accident in the North Sea ? walked into a London police station in late 2007 and said: "I think I'm a missing person."
He claimed to have amnesia and said he could remember nothing since 2000, but his story unraveled as journalists and police started digging into his background.
Sky News didn't identify which of its stories was the result of hacking, but in an article dated July 21, 2008, journalist Gerard Tubb said the channel had uncovered documentary evidence showing that John Darwin had decided to come back to England because he was having trouble staying in Panama.
"We discovered an email," the article begins, without giving any explanation of how the message was obtained. Sky declined to make Tubb or Ryley available for interviews.
The company's public interest defense immediately drew skepticism from British legal experts.
David Allen Green, media lawyer at Preiskel & Co., said that there was no such thing as a public interest defense as far as Britain's Computer Misuse Act was concerned.
"It is not possible for the editor of any news organization to authorize criminal acts," said Green, who's been a frequent critic Murdoch's News Corp.
Britain's Crown Prosecution Service can decide, however, that it wouldn't serve the public interest to file charges.
"As Sky News took the hacked emails to the police themselves, it appears that any prosecution was decided not to be in public interest," Green said in a message posted to Twitter.
Sky's email hacking, first reported in Britain's Guardian newspaper, could be a further headache for Murdoch. His international media empire has spent the better part of a year in the spotlight over widespread illegal behavior at his now-defunct News of the World tabloid, where journalists routinely hacked into public figures' phones in an effort to win scoops.
News Corp. owns a 39.1 percent stake in BSkyB, which owns Sky News, and Murdoch was forced to abandon a potentially lucrative bid for full control of the broadcaster after the phone hacking scandal boiled over in July.
The scandal has increasingly embroiled BSkyB and Murdoch's son James ? the broadcaster's chairman until earlier this week.
James, the former head of his father's British newspaper division, has long insisted that he knew nothing of the widespread wrongdoing at the News of the World. With that claim coming under increasing scrutiny, the 39-year-old stepped down Tuesday in a move to insulate BSkyB from the scandal.
Opposition lawmaker Chris Bryant, whose own phone was hacked by the News of the World, said he was writing to BSkyB to ask when the company's board members knew about the hacking.
"Is this why James left?" Bryant asked on Twitter.
In a separate development, a person close to the case said that News of the World publisher News International was challenging celebrity phone hacking victim Sienna Miller over the size of her legal bill.
Miller won 100,000 pounds (about $160,000) from News International last year after the company admitted eavesdropping on her phone messages, but there's been no agreement on legal costs and the issue is headed to court, the person said. He spoke anonymously because the information wasn't cleared for release.
News International spokeswoman Daisy Dunlop declined comment, as did Miller's lawyer, Mark Thomson.
The phone hacking scandal has already cost News Corp. nearly $200 million, much of it in legal and consulting fees.
___
Associated Press writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
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