The post office forwards letters when a person moves, and telephone companies likewise forward calls. Should Internet companies be required to forward e-mails to customers who switch providers?

  Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday that its third-quarter profit more than quadrupled as shoppers around the world bought more books, music, electronics and other goods than they did in the same period a year ago.

  With no other suitors stepping forward, business software maker Oracle Corp. is threatening to abandon its $6.7 billion bid for BEA Systems Inc. unless its smaller rival accepts the offer by Sunday evening.

  Brazilian regulators gave the go-ahead Tuesday for Spain's Telefonica SA and its Italian partnersto buy a controlling stake in Telecom Italia SpA, removing a major hurdle to the $5.8 billion deal.

  IBM Corp. says it has dreamed up a new method for profiting from its vast storehouse of patents. And by the way, the company wants to patent the idea.

  Verizon Communications Inc. on Tuesday introduced an unusual plan for its fiber-optic Internet service: one that uploads as fast as it downloads.

  British and Dutch police shut down what they say is one the world's biggest online sources of pirated music Tuesday and arrested the Web site's 24-year-old suspected operator.

  Shares of Texas Instruments Inc. tumbled more than 9 percent Tuesday, a day after the chip maker announced positive earnings results that were overshadowed by a bleaker earnings forecast for the upcoming quarter.

  Cisco Systems Inc. is snapping up privately held Navini Networks Inc. for $330 million, extending the networking equipment maker's acquisition streak and providing the latest validation for the new wireless network technology called WiMax.

  Catapulted by its acquisition of BellSouth Corp., AT&T Inc. on Tuesday reported net income of $3.1 billion in the third quarter, 42 percent higher than in the same period last year.

  Two services launching just a week apart tap a growing interest in DNA testing to help people find their ancestors and learn more about their lives.

  Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has developed a more advanced flash memory chip that will allow increased data storage in digital products such as music players.

  The Anti-Apple RevueAs someone who has surfed the technology wave for over two decades, I was curious to go back along the timeline see just what the experts have been saying about Apple over it's lifetime, especially in light of it's current successes and growth.

  A shortsighted and often just plain stupid federal government has allowed itself to be bullied and fooled by a handful of big wireless phone operators for decades now. And the result has been a mobile phone system that is the direct opposite of the PC model.