Microsoft, News Corp. discuss paying to delist from Google

In today's podcast: Microsoft, News Corp. discuss paying to delist from Google; FCC considers net neutrality for mobile networks; and Motorola, RIM sued over visual voice mail.

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Microsoft has discussed paying News Corp. to remove its news Web sites from Google's search results and list them on its Bing search engine instead, The Financial Times reported on its Web site. Microsoft also approached other major online publishers about removing their sites from Google. News Corp. initiated the discussions with Microsoft, the report said, citing an unnamed person close to the talks. The person said discussions are in early stages. The report comes two weeks after News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch told Sky News Australia that he planned to block popular search engines including Google and Bing from listing content from his company's news Web sites in order to get readers to pay for online content.

A month ago, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission began a proceeding to create formal net neutrality rules for broadband providers, and the proposals have generated serious debate in the telecom community. Until now, the FCC has focused its net neutrality principles on wired carriers. But consumer groups and other pro-net neutrality advocates say the consumer expectations are no different on mobile broadband networks. Mobile broadband providers, even as some of their parent companies oppose net neutrality for wired carriers, say the rules will be more difficult to apply on wireless networks, where providers need the flexibility to manage their networks and guard against congestion.

Klausner Technologies, a company with 25 patents related to visual voicemail technology, filed a lawsuit charging Motorola and Research In Motion with infringing its patents. The suit follows others the company has filed against a long list of companies including Google, LG Electronics, Cox Communications, Apple, Verizon, Vonage and Qwest. Verizon, Apple, AT&T, eBay and Sprint Nextel are among 24 companies that now license the technology from Klausner. Klausner charges Motorola with using its patents without permission in the new Cliq phone, which runs the Android operating system. Klausner also says RIM is using its patents without permission in the 3G BlackBerry Bold 9700 phone. Other BlackBerry models offer visual voicemail also, but they are covered under licenses granted to mobile operators

Hewlett-Packard reported an 18 percent jump in profit for its fiscal fourth quarter, thanks to cost-cutting efforts and the strength of its services business. Revenue was down in almost all segments, including Enterprise Storage and Servers, where it slipped 17 percent to $4.2 billion, and the Personal Systems Group, where it fell 12 percent to $9.9 billion. Revenue in the company's printing and imaging group also shrank, by 15 percent to $6.5 billion. But as with the previous quarter, services was a bright spot. Revenue from that group increased 8 percent from a year earlier to $8.9 billion,

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.