Mediagazer: Senator Harry Reid Caves: PIPA Postponed (Erick Schonfeld/TechCrunch)

11:30 AM ET, January 20, 2012

Top News:

Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:

Why the feds smashed Megaupload — The US government dropped a nuclear bomb on “cyberlocker” site Megaupload today, seizing its domain names, grabbing $50 million in assets, and getting New Zealand police to arrest four of the site's key employees, including enigmatic founder Kim Dotcom.

Discussion: TechCrunch, CNET, PC Magazine, The Lede, Media News, Digits, Guardian, TechCrunch, New York Times, TeleRead, GigaOM and The Not-So Private Parts, more at Techmeme »

Molly Wood / CNET:

Anonymous goes nuclear; everybody loses? — #OpMegaUpload: like watching “War Games” play out, but with cyber-bombs. — In the aftermath of the Jan. 18 SOPA/PIPA blackout protests, the Internet community had amassed quite a bit of goodwill, flexed its muscles in a friendly, humorous …

Discussion: Forbes, Fast Company, New York Times, Mother Jones, Gawker, Techdirt, rt.com, Pocket-lint, Gizmodo and WatchingTV Online, more at Techmeme »

Ben Sisario / The New York Times:
7 Charged as F.B.I. Closes a Top File-Sharing Site

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:

Senator Harry Reid Caves: PIPA Postponed — After a day of widespread online protests against a pair of bills in Congress, 122 members of Congress came out against them. Now make that 123 (and counting). — Both bills have now been tabled. Hearings on the Stop Online Privacy Act …

Discussion: paidContent, @senatorreid, CNET, Reuters, Hillicon Valley, paidContent, Hillicon Valley, Washington Post, GigaOM, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Policy Blog, Uncrunched, @senatorreid, Forbes, The Next Web and PolitickerNY, more at Techmeme »

Nikki Finke / Deadline.com:
EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood Moguls Stopping Obama Donations Because Of President's Piracy Stand: “Not Give A Dime Anymore”

Discussion: New York Times, Threat Level, Indecision Forever, paidContent, rbr.com, The Huffington Post, ReadWriteWeb, The Informer, CNN, Techdirt, CNET, LA Observed and Free Press, more at Techmeme »

Greg Sandoval / CNET:

Facebook in talks to replace YouTube as Vevo's host — Facebook has held talks with Vevo about moving the music-video service away from YouTube and over to the social network's platform, sources with knowledge of the talks told CNET. — While the sources said the discussions are very preliminary …

Discussion: The Tech Trade, paidContent, mediabistro.com, SplatF, Electronista, Gizmodo, The Next Web and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Telegraph:

News International faces FBI phone hacking probe — Rupert Murdoch's is facing an FBI investigation into phone hacking in America after News International admitted intercepting voicemails of Jude Law, the actor, while it is thought he was in the United States. — Jude Law

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Erik Larson / Bloomberg: News Corp. ‘Startling’ E-Mails Trigger New U.K. Computer Search

Dan Wineman / venomous porridge:

The Unprecedented Audacity of the iBooks Author EULA — Apple just released iBooks Author, a free Mac app for creating digital books for the new version of iBooks. I haven't played with it much, but so far it looks like a very good tool. However, a curious thing happens when you go to export your work in iBooks format:

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Iran's Press TV loses UK licence — Ofcom revokes English-language channel's licence for breaching the Communications Act — Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster's English-language outlet, has been forced off the air in the UK after Ofcom revoked its licence for breaching the Communications Act.

Discussion: Reuters

Politico:

CNN's John King puts himself on firing line — CHARLESTON, S.C. — Newt Gingrich's heated exchange with moderator John King at Thursday's CNN debate may help determine the fate of Gingrich's campaign for president and could also be a defining moment for King, whose image as a serious reporter …

Discussion: Poynter, TVNewser, Media Decoder, New York Times, Washington Times, Online NewsHour, WLTX-TV, The Daily Beast, The Caucus, Telegraph, Erik Wemple and Inside Cable News

Cotton Delo / AdAge:

Search Still Drives Google, but Display Ads Now a $5 Billion Business — Revenue Falls Short of Expectations but Still Up 25% in Q4 — Citing a strong holiday season, Google reported a 25% increase in fourth-quarter revenue and a display advertising business that has doubled in the last two years.

Discussion: Adweek, Epicenter, Google Investor Relations, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, eMedia Vitals, San Francisco Chronicle and Media Buyer Planner, more at Techmeme »

Ananyo Bhattacharya / Guardian:

Nine ways scientists demonstrate they don't understand journalism — If reporters wrote stories the way some scientists seem to want, few people would read science coverage — Have you heard of Futurity? How about The Conversation? In different ways, these sites and others are bypassing …

Discussion: Erik Wemple

Laurie Sullivan / MediaPost:

Online Ad Spend Projected To Soar To Nearly $40B — In a watershed moment for the Web, researchers expect domestic online advertising to finally surpass print adverting in 2012. According to eMarketer, U.S. online ad spending will grow an additional 23.3% to $39.5 billion this year.

Discussion: MediaPost, NetNewsCheck Latest, AdAge, Future of Journalism, eMarketer, BtoB Magazine, Business Insider and Forbes

Jim Romenesko:

Dealing with the Fox News PR machine — “Much as I like Gabe Sherman's work, I disagree with him in this instance,” Times media editor Bruce Headlam told me Tuesday night. “Covering a person or organization doesn't mean you are carrying water for them. If it did, our homepage right …

Discussion: Gawker, Inside Cable News, Future of Journalism and TVNewser

John Koblin / WWD:

Condé Nast CEO Plans Meeting for Editors — NEW BFFS: Ever so slowly, the editors at Condé Nast are getting to know their company's chief executive officer more and more. Early next month, for the first time, Condé Nast ceo Charles Townsend will host a meeting …

Discussion: FishbowlNY