Justice Brian Leveson, who led the inquiry into Britain's phone-hacking scandal, said Friday the Internet's growth had complicated debate about mass media privacy, with no easy solution.

Leveson, who last month called for an independent media regulator in Britain, told a privacy symposium in Sydney that there was "an element of mob rule" in identifying people online, and said it was a difficult area to police.

A judge mulling whether to trim or overturn Apple's billion-dollar damages award against Samsung on Thursday called for a ceasefire in the ongoing patent war between the smartphone titans.

"I think it's time for global peace," U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh said after legal teams from Apple and Samsung dueled for hours over post-verdict motions in her courtroom in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose.

YouTube on Thursday announced it was taking to the skies with a deal to stream shows from some of its partners free to seat-back screens on Virgin America planes in the United States and Mexico.

Within two weeks, Virgin passengers will be able to tune into shows from five partners of the Google-owned video service including "H+ The Digital Series" from Warner Brothers, according to YouTube marketing manager Kate Berland.

Activision Blizzard said Wednesday that sales of its "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" video game rocketed to the billion-dollar mark just 15 days after its release.

Sales of the game hit a billion dollars two days faster than 3-D film blockbuster "Avatar," which set a box office record after its release in 2009.

Sydney's world-famous New Year's Eve fireworks will go interactive with a smartphone-powered light show, officials announced Thursday, with ambassador Kylie Minogue calling on the city to embrace.

The light show, described by City of Sydney officials as a "world-first", will run through an app on iPhone and Android smartphones that will illuminate the screens with color at scheduled intervals leading up to midnight.

U.S. Internet security guru John McAfee, on the run from authorities in Belize over a murder probe, has been arrested in Guatemala for illegally entering the country, police said.

The arrest of the eccentric 67-year-old entrepreneur-turned-adventurer marks the latest twist in a novel-like tale of intrigue involving a murdered American expatriate and allegations of drug-fueled escapades with guns and prostitutes.

Social games pioneer Zynga confirmed Wednesday that it has taken a baby step into real-money gaming in the state that is home to casino-rich Las Vegas.

Zynga said that it has applied to the Nevada Gaming Control Board for a "preliminary finding of suitability" that would clear the way to seek a license to let players of its online games bet real cash.

Yahoo! said Tuesday it had acquired a small startup specializing in broadcasting video chats or interviews to online audiences.

Financial terms of the deal to buy OnTheAir were not disclosed but Yahoo! said the five members of the young company would join the Internet veteran's mobile technology team.

Ubisoft on Tuesday released a new installment of hit videogame "Far Cry" that turns a carefree island vacation young hipsters into tourist nightmare on a lawless land.

In the opening moments of "Far Cry 3" players go from swimming, dancing, skydiving and otherwise cavorting with friends to escaping the clutches of vicious and arguably psychotic pirates.

Apple and Samsung will face off in federal court on Thursday over whether a juror's own legal dispute wrongly led to the South Korean firm being hit with a billion-dollar patent damages award.

At the hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, Samsung will present a motion to have the $1.049 billion jury verdict tossed out based on the jury foreman's undisclosed legal skirmish with Seagate nearly 20 years ago.