A U.S. judge's order to Google to turn over YouTube user data to Viacom sparked an outcry Thursday from privacy advocates in the midst of a legal showdown over video piracy.

Yahoo sought to rally shareholder support for its board of directors and management amid a proxy battle with billionaire Carl Icahn, saying the investor had outlined an "ill-defined plan" for the future of the Internet company.

Two of Wall Street's technology darlings that had been looked to as beacons to guide the sector out of hard times instead will be leading the market lower Thursday.

Shares of Yahoo jumped on a report that Microsoft is back in talks to buy the company, though sources have told CNBC that no deal is in the offing.

Google was named Monday in a trade secrets lawsuit alleging that the company's business software unit copied a tiny start-up's tool for moving customers off of Microsoft software onto Google's.

Nokia said on Monday it would buy social networking start-up Plazes -- a smaller rival to services like Twitter and Jaiku -- as part of the world's top cellphone maker's push into Internet services.

Shares of Yahoo fell about 3 percent on Friday as reports of a brain drain raised fresh worries about the future of the Web company after it chose to partner with Google instead of Microsoft.

Microsoft sought on Friday to enlist support for its opposition to a new advertising collaboration deal between Google and  Yahoo, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

An investor with a minority stake in Yahoo on Thursday urged Microsoft to take its most recent proposal for a partial investment directly to Yahoo shareholders and prove its merits.

One in three information technology professionals abuses administrative passwords to access confidential data such as colleagues' salary details, personal emails or board-meeting minutes, according to a survey.

Yahoo and Google face intense U.S. Justice Department scrutiny of their deal to share some advertising revenue, and the heat will likely increase under a new administration.

Yahoo investors are showing more interest in an alternate board slate proposed by billionaire Carl Icahn that was first formed to deliver the company to Microsoft in a now-defunct buyout.

Microsoft sought on Friday to enlist support for its opposition to a new advertising collaboration deal between Google and  Yahoo, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Microsoft is still open to negotiating with Yahoo after offering $1 billion in cash to buy its search business in a deal that would have delivered $1 billion in additional annual operating income to Yahoo.

Google announced a non-exclusive advertising services agreement with Yahoo, only hours after a decision by Microsoft to walk away from talks to acquire Yahoo.