A Spanish court has ordered blocks on six file-sharing sites to be lifted.
All six sites were blocked in May after being accused of infringing copyright by the Spanish anti-piracy federation.
The block meant mobile operators and internet service providers (ISPs) in Spain were told to stop letting customers get at the sites.
Now a court in Zaragoza has said there were "insufficient grounds" for maintaining the blocks and has called for them to be lifted.
The decision should mean that mobile companies and ISPs will lift the blocks in the next few days.
The court was considering the blocks after those running some of the accused sites appealed.
The sites blocked were SpanishTracker, PCTorrent.com, NewPCT.com, PCTestrenos.com, Descargaya.es and TumejorTV.com.
Traffic to sites fell sharply after they were cut off but some of them set up alternative domains and proxies to help regular users get around the block.
Spain has been a vigorous pursuer of pirates and has passed tough anti-piracy laws and jailed operators of file-sharing sites.
17 July 2014Last updated at 16:22By Joe MillerTechnology Reporter
Microsoft is to stop developing Android-powered smartphones beyond those already available, the BBC understands.
Nokia X models will now become part of the Lumia range and run the Windows Phone operating system, although existing Android handsets will continue to be supported.
The move comes as Microsoft announced 18,000 job cuts across its workforce.
The tech firm acquired Nokia's handset division earlier this year.
Nokia unveiled its first family of Android phones at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona in February.
Continue reading the main story
Everybody was scratching their heads when the Android phones were unveiled in February"
End QuoteBen WoodAnalyst at CCS Insight
The release of the smartphones, which were priced at the lower end of the market, was described as a "perplexing strategic move" at the time, given that Microsoft had its own mobile operating system, Windows Phone.
In an email to employees on Thursday, Stephen Elop, Microsoft's executive in charge of mobile devices, announced that Android handsets were being phased out.
"In the near term, we plan to drive Windows Phone volume by targeting the more affordable smartphone segments, which are the fastest-growing segments of the market, with Lumia.
"In addition to the portfolio already planned, we plan to deliver additional lower-cost Lumia devices by shifting select future Nokia X designs and products to Windows Phone devices.
"We expect to make this shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products."
Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight, told the BBC the move was designed to drive sales of Microsoft's Lumia range, which has lagged behind handsets from competitors such as Apple and Samsung.
"Everybody was scratching their heads when the Android phones were unveiled in February," he said, adding that the decision had been made before Microsoft's takeover of Nokia.
However, Mr Wood said, phasing out the Android devices was a strategic decision, designed to "take the work Microsoft have done on the hardware [of Nokia X models] and drive the Lumia price points to much lower levels".
Too many governments are "rubber-stamping" mass surveillance programmes, the UN human rights watchdog warns.
In a report, the UN body said more needed to be done to ensure that surveillance was balanced against its harm to personal privacy.
It added that mass retention of data to aid surveillance was "neither necessary nor proportionate".
The report comes as the UK passes an emergency law to make ISPs and mobile companies store user data.
The document was written by the office of Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who said it revealed a "disturbing" lack of transparency about the reasons governments approve or start large-scale monitoring of what people do online.
Mass surveillance, said Ms Pillay, was becoming a "dangerous habit rather than an exceptional measure" for governments.
'Constant stream'
These programmes necessarily interfered with privacy, and governments must do more to ensure that this curbing of freedoms was "neither arbitrary nor unlawful".
The further that governments went in scooping up information about citizens, the harder they needed to work to justify the snooping and monitor it to guard against excess, said Ms Pillay.
The report said laws that set out how surveillance could be carried out must be publicly available and demonstrate specific reasons why the monitoring was taking place.
It said measures to force net companies, mobile operators and others to retain data on what people did online and whom they talked to had little justification.
Simply gathering data, even if it was never consulted, could potentially curb privacy because too few states put good limits on who could look at the data and what it could be used for.
"The constant stream of new revelations shows how disturbingly little we really know about the precise nature of surveillance," said Ms Pillay.
17 July 2014Last updated at 15:47By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor
Airbnb's logo change is facing a backlash on social media, with many commentators suggesting it looks like sexual organs and other parts of the human body.
Others, however, have praised the US home-rental service's new look.
But criticism that the logo had been "stolen" from another tech firm, Automation Anywhere, appears to be misplaced.
Airbnb said the two had come to an agreement before the announcement.
"In early 2014 both Airbnb and Automation Anywhere began use of new logos that, by coincidence, have similar designs," a spokesman told the BBC.
"Airbnb and Automation Anywhere are working cooperatively to address this issue, and Automation Anywhere is in the process of transitioning to a new logo design that is not similar to the Airbnb logo."
The rebrand was carried out by the London-based firm DesignStudio.
Ben Wright, its founder, said seven members of his team had worked on the rebrand over the course of a year.
He said they had not been aware of Automation Anywhere's logo, nor had they recognised their design's sexual connotations.
"We weren't aware to be honest," he told the BBC.
"In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really bother us too much what people are saying about it.
"People around the world are reacting to this and a small percentage of those people are choosing to read into the logo how they want."
'Make it your own'
Airbnb calls its new logo Belo, saying it represents "the universal symbol of belonging".
"It's a symbol for going where the locals go - the cafe that doesn't bother with a menu, the dance club hidden down a long alleyway, the art galleries that don't show up in the guidebooks," it said on Wednesday.
"It's a symbol for people who want to welcome into their home new experiences, new cultures, and new conversations."
The firm added that it wanted the public to take Belo and "make your own unique symbol".
It did not take long for social media users to comment that the logo looked like various body parts, and several then created pornographic drawings that incorporated the design. A Tumblr blog has since gathered many of them together.
Meanwhile, commentators on the firm's official Facebook and Google+ pages were split about the new look.
"Boring ,dull and nothing to do with staying anywhere, what does it represent - I think you should go back to your old logo and then have a rethink," wrote Anna Arnott.
But Brisbane-based user Simon Phillips wrote: "Personally I kinda like it - nice bit of design, identity and positioning for the future."
On Twitter the mocking continued, with Belo being compared to a bottom, testicles and a squished clothes hanger.
A fake account was created and used to tweet off-message thoughts.
While others adapted the design to create animal-themed drawings.
Despite the criticism and jokes, Mr Wright said he and his team still believed it was a good idea to ask the public to adapt the logo, noting that it was the top trending item on Twitter for a time.
"It think it has a synergy and represents Airbnb itself," he explained.
"They're an incredibly brave company - they are going through a lot of problems in places like New York, but ultimately what they are about is their community and they have complete and utter respect for their community.
"So, it felt completely natural and right that the brand should engage with their community and give them ownership.
"Yes, you could say there was a risk element in there, but ultimately the reaction from the community has been great."
Another branding expert, not involved in the campaign, also defended the design.
"Apparently, some people are saying it looks like genitalia. I'm not sure I agree," said Hector Pottie, associate partner at brand consultancy Prophet.
"Not any I've seen anyway.
"The overall identity refresh is strong as well. Building on the spirit of Airbnb that already exists. All in all I think the designers got it spot on."
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have come up with a robotic extension to the human hand they said could help with everyday tasks.
Researches said the extension - essentially, two extra "fingers" - could be used to grasp, leaving the hand free to do other tasks.
Worn around the wrist, it mimics the movement of the wearer's hand.
The next step, they said, will be a less bulky version.
The extra fingers developed by the team at MIT work using sensors attached to the human hand to measure the position of the wearer's fingers. An algorithm controls the output from the sensors to the robotic fingers, moving them in sync.
"Every day, we use various tools, say a knife and fork and we drive a car and, if we use these tools for a long time, you see that those tools are just an extension of your body," said Harry Asada, the Ford Prof of Engineering in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering.
"That is exactly what we would like to do with robotics, you have extra fingers and extra arms. If you have control and can communicate with them very well, you feel that they are just an extension of your body," he added in a video posted on YouTube.
The robotic fingers are at either side of the the hand - one outside the thumb, and the other outside the little finger.
"This is a completely intuitive and natural way to move your robotic fingers. You do not need to command the robot, but simply move your fingers naturally. Then the robotic fingers react and assist your fingers," said Prof Asada.
The developers said their work up until this point was focused on perfecting the posture and movement of the robotic fingers.
"But it's not the whole story," said graduate student Faye Wu, who presented a paper on the fingers this week at the Robotics: Science and Systems conference in California.
She said: "There are other things that make a good, stable grasp. With an object that looks small but is heavy, or is slippery, the posture would be the same, but the force would be different, so how would it adapt to that? That's the next thing we'll look at."
'Specialists'
One independent expert said that the device was most likely to appeal to specialists, rather than the mass market.
"Clearly, the military is interested in robotics, they are interested in building machines, like exoskeletons that allow people to run very fast for a long time," said David Bourne, principal systems scientist at the robotics institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
"But those things are inherently very expensive," he said, adding that devices need to have a "killer application" to work in the mass market.
However, Mr Bourne said that, after a lull, he has seen a resurgence in interest in robotics in recent years because of advances in the technology.
"You have better control and less awkward communication with the devices now," he said.
Prof Asada acknowledged the project had only yielded a prototype at this stage, but said he was optimistic about the possibilities it offers.
"We can shrink it down to one-third its size, and make it foldable," he said.
"We could make this into a watch or a bracelet where the fingers pop up, and when the job is done, they come back into the watch.
"Wearable robots are a way to bring the robot closer to our daily life."
18 July 2014Last updated at 00:25By Dave LeeTechnology reporter, BBC News
There has been a dramatic rise in reports of child abuse images posted to commonly used parts of the internet, according to a US watchdog.
They include photos posted to publicly-accessible parts of social networks.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a record number of reports in the first week of July, four times the weekly average.
It comes in a week UK authorities arrested 660 people in connection with online child abuse.
That investigation was believed to have been targeted at those using the so-called "dark net" - parts of the internet that are hidden and can be hard to access without special software.
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote
Any type of platform that allows people to post images or videos - they get used for the wrong reasons"
End QuoteJohn ShehanNational Center for Missing and Exploited Children
But the NCMEC stressed there was still a significant and growing challenge for law enforcement agencies to deal with material on the open internet as well as the harder-to-reach areas.
Tip-offs
In the US, all electronic communications providers (ECPs) have had to report any instance of child abuse on their networks to the Cyber Tipline provided by the NCMEC since 1998.
Since many of the world's most popular communications sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, are based in the US, the NCMEC works with authorities around the world to follow up leads provided by tips.
The UK is among the 62 countries working closely with the NCMEC.
In the week from beginning 29 June and ending July 5, 92,800 reports were made to the Cyber Tipline.
Of those, the vast majority - 91,334 - came from internet firms, with the remainder being tip-offs from members of the public.
On average, the NCMEC receives around 15,000 reports per week.
John Shehan, executive director of the NCMEC Exploited Children Division, said the large numbers early in July may prove to be an anomaly.
But he stressed the growing concern with social networks.
"You wouldn't think someone would do it on Pinterest or LinkedIn," Mr Shehan said.
"But any type of platform that allows people to post images or videos - they get used for the wrong reasons."
Extremely rare
While most would assume social networks are an unlikely place for illegal material to be shared - by people who would presumably want to hide any trace of their identity - Mr Shehan said several theories had emerged.
"When you look at the types of offenders who have a sexual interest in children, there is a wide spectrum as far as their internet knowledge, and their backgrounds with being able to anonymise and hide their identities online.
"If you look at where the content is being uploaded from - sometimes we see that it goes back to third-world countries.
"Some of these are just starting to get high-speed internet access, and they may not be as sophisticated as some countries in using different anonymisers."
Continue reading the main story
39 suspects were registered sex offenders
833 buildings searched
9,172 devices, including phones and laptops, seized
Thinkstock
The BBC contacted the leading social networks that report into the NCMEC.
All stressed that the latest technology - which is able to spot known images of child abuse and flag authorities immediately - was deployed across the sites.
LinkedIn confirmed that reports about child abuse had been made to the NCMEC, but that instances were extremely rare.
Twitter, which is the subject of a campaign by internet activist group Anonymous to do more to quickly remove child abuse images, said it had a no-tolerance approach.
A spokesman said: "When we are made aware of links to images of or content promoting child sexual exploitation they will be removed from the site without further notice and reported to the NCMEC, we permanently suspend accounts promoting or containing updates with links to child sexual exploitation."
No UK law
In the UK, there is no law that compels UK communications companies to inform the Cyber Tipline, or any similar service, about child abuse content discovered on their services.
In a statement to the BBC, the NCA said: "The UK internet industry is very small in comparison to the US and no such equivalent legislation currently exists.
"UK internet service providers voluntarily block access to known indecent images of children."
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Phil Gormley, NCA: "We are not going to simply arrest our way out of this problem"
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) - the UK-based group that actively targets illegal content online - said that while it would be interesting to see the effects a US-style law would have, the UK's impressive record in stamping out child abuse meant existing rules were working.
"Due to the cooperation we have with the online industry in the UK less than 1% of child sexual abuse imagery is hosted here, down from 18% in 1996," said Susie Hargreaves, the IWF's chief executive.
Ms Hargreaves re-iterated the concerns of the the NCMEC that child abuse images were increasingly being spread on the open internet as well as the dark web.
"This isn't a problem which is only found in hidden areas of the internet," she told the BBC.
Within a year, the IWF had just four full-time analysts working on monitoring the internet.
"We now have 12 analysts who are still working full time and due to our ability to proactively seek out the images and videos, we're able to identify around three times as many URLs as last year."
Internet giant Google has reported a 22% jump in revenue during the second quarter period from March through June compared to a year earlier.
Revenue rose to $16bn (£9.4bn) and profits were up 6% to $3.4bn, said the firm in its earnings report.
Strong demand for Google's advertising helped boost revenues above expectations.
Google also announced chief business officer Nikesh Arora was leaving for SoftBank.
Mr Arora, who has been with Google for 10 years, will be temporarily replaced by Omid Kordestani, who who was Google's business founder and formerly led Google's sales team.
Shares in Google rose by about 1% after the market closed.
Microsoft's plan to compete with Netflix and Amazon by producing its own TV shows has come to an early end, as the firm announces 18,000 job cuts.
Xbox Entertainment Studio will close by the end of the year, Xbox chief Phil Spencer told employees in an email.
The studio launched to great fanfare in 2012, having secured Steven Spielberg to produce a spin-off of the military-themed sci-fi video game, Halo.
That show will go ahead, despite the studio's closure, Microsoft said.
Five other shows had been given the green light, and a further 11 were in development.
The majority were male-friendly titles, with ties to the company's major video game franchises, including Gears of War, Age of Empires, Fable and Forza Motorsport.
Only one had made it to air - Every Street United, a football-themed reality show, which debuted last month.
Documentary programme Signal to Noise and a second Halo spin-off, Halo: Nightfall, written by Prison Break creator Paul Scheurin, are already in production and will be not be cancelled.
Humans, a co-production with Channel 4 in the UK, is also expected to go ahead.
A remake of a Swedish series about humans living with robot servants, the eight-episode drama is scheduled to debut next year.
"Xbox will continue to support and deliver interactive sports content like NFL on Xbox, and we will continue to enhance our entertainment offering on console by innovating the TV experience through the monthly console updates," said Microsoft in a statement.
The closure comes against the background of major cuts at the technology firm.
Up to 18,000 jobs will go, the majority from its phone unit Nokia, which Microsoft bought in April.
The firm employs 127,000 globally, including 3,500 staff in the UK.
18 July 2014Last updated at 11:22By Dave LeeTechnology reporter, BBC News
Apple has been criticised by the European Commission for not offering any "concrete and immediate" plans to stop users being misled by "free" apps.
Many popular apps are free to download, but are designed to tempt users to pay for in-game enhancements - often allowing for quicker progression.
The Commission is now forcing Apple and Google, the biggest vendors of apps, to make the "true cost" of games clear.
But it singled out Apple for not making a commitment to change.
"Regrettably, no concrete and immediate solutions have been made by Apple to date to address the concerns linked in particular to payment authorisation," the Commission said in a statement.
"Apple has proposed to address those concerns. However, no firm commitment and no timing have been provided for the implementation of such possible future changes.
Continue reading the main story
Our own findings show that 95% of consumers never pay anything for free-to-play games"
End QuoteTigaUK games industry trade association
"CPC [consumer protection co-operation] authorities will continue to engage with Apple to ensure that it provides specific details of changes required and put its practices into line with the common position."
The Commission said national authorities had the option to take legal action against companies that were deemed not to be complying with Europe's guidance on free apps.
'Strengthen protections'
In a statement, Apple said it was doing "more than others" to protect parents.
"These controls go far beyond the features of others in the industry," an Apple spokesman said.
"But we are always working to strengthen the protections we have in place, and we're adding great new features with iOS 8, such as Ask to Buy, giving parents even more control over what their kids can buy on the App Store."
Google is said to have decided on a number of changes due to come into force by September.
Europe's rules on apps
In December last year, the European Commission asked app vendors to take steps to ensure:
Games advertised as "free" should not mislead consumers about the true costs involved;
Games should not contain direct exhortation to children to buy items in a game or to persuade an adult to buy items for them;
Consumers should be adequately informed about the payment arrangements for purchases and should not be debited through default settings without consumers' explicit consent;
Traders should provide an email address so that consumers can contact them in case of queries or complaints.
The Commission said: "These include not using the word "free" at all when games contain in-app purchases, developing targeted guidelines for its app developers to prevent direct exhortation to children as defined under EU law, and time-framed measures to help monitor apparent breaches of EU consumer laws.
"It has also adapted its default settings, so that payments are authorised prior to every in-app purchase, unless the consumer actively chooses to modify these settings."
As the app market has boomed, in-app purchases have been a point of controversy between consumers and technology companies.
Huge bills
Unlike the traditional business model for games - where a title will be purchased outright - the so-called freemium model has proved particularly lucrative for games makers.
However, there has been criticism that it is too easy for players, particularly children, to find themselves with huge bills as a result.
In some cases, in-app purchases cost well over £100.
Google, Apple and Amazon have all faced legal action relating to claims they mislead customers.
Last year, Apple agreed to refund parents $32.5m (£19.9m) as part of an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission.
Apple will soon update its iOS mobile operating system to include more safeguards for parents to prevent accidental purchases within apps.
European Commission vice-president Neelie Kroes said: "The Commission is very supportive of innovation in the app sector.
"In-app purchases are a legitimate business model, but it's essential for app-makers to understand and respect EU law while they develop these new business models."
Tiga, the trade association for games developers in the UK, welcomed the guidance but stressed free-to-play's role as an important revenue stream for businesses.
"Our own findings show that 95% of consumers never pay anything for free-to-play games.
"So given this is a model which generally delivers fantastic value for consumers, this co-ordinated approach will help protect that value, and ensure a bright long-term future for the free-to-play sector."
People in the UK who persistently pirate music and movies will soon start getting emails warning them that their actions are illegal.
The warnings are part of a larger scheme that aims to educate people about copyright and legal ways to enjoy digital content.
Starting next year, up to four warnings annually will be sent to households suspected of copyright infringement.
But if people ignore the warnings, no further action will be taken.
The warning system is the result of four years' wrangling between internet service providers (ISPs) and industry bodies representing music and movie-makers.
The original enforcement regime was outlined in the Digital Economy Act 2010 and called for persistent pirates to have their net access cut off after a series of warnings.
'Difficult to protect'
In addition, rights holders wanted warning letters to mention the potential penalties people would face for copyright infringement and access to a database of known illegal file-sharers.
The years of talks brokered by the government have led to the creation of the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (Vcap) that uses warnings via email or post.
The UK's biggest ISPs - BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky - have signed up to Vcap. Many smaller ISPs are expected to join later.
In addition, the UK government has pledged to contribute £3.5m to an education campaign that will promote legal ways to listen to music and watch movies.
Introducing the three-year educational scheme, Business Secretary Vince Cable said the initiative was all about supporting the UK's creative industries.
"It's a difficult industry to pin down and it's also difficult to protect," he said. "But unless you protect it then it's an industry that cannot function."
'Persuading the persuadable'
Government estimates suggest the UK's creative industries contribute £71bn to the UK economy and support about 1.68 million jobs.
Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, said it had been a "long road" to produce the Vcap agreement. He said that though it lacked punitive action it could still help bring about change in people's habits.
"It's about persuading the persuadable, such as parents who do not know what is going on with their net connection," he said.
"Vcap is not about denying access to the internet. It's about changing attitudes and raising awareness so people can make the right choice," he said.
As well as taking part in Vcap, the BPI and other rights holders were working on other fronts to tackle persistent pirates, file-sharing sites and to suppress the economy that supported them, said Mr Taylor.
These initiatives included issuing notices to Google about links to pirated content, action in the courts to shut down websites that offer links to infringing content, and working with advertisers to limit the funds that flow to file-sharing sites.
