YouTube streams 2bn videos daily

YouTube has exceeded two billion video views per day, reports Mediapost.com.

The announcement from the Google-owned site comes as part of a larger initiative that the company is introducing, to relay the history behind YouTube and its growth.

Part of that campaign is the launch of "My YouTube Story" and the related YouTube five-year channel. The site wants users to send videos about the impact YouTube has had on their lives. Stephen Higgins, a documentary filmmaker, will eventually add a timeline and videos from celebrities discussing the achievement.

The European Union (EU) has issued a major report that will be key to its Europe 2020 IT strategy plan, says Computing.co.uk.

“ICT in the European and Global Economy” found that half of all economic growth in the EU since 1995 can be attributed to ICT, and that around half of citizens use the Internet on a daily basis.

"Europe's digital economy is crucial to economic growth and prosperity. ICTs and high-speed Internet are as revolutionary in our lives today as the development of electricity and transport networks over a century ago," said Digital Agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes.

Microsoft is refreshing its free e-mail service, Hotmail, in an attempt to give it an edge over rival offerings from Yahoo and Google, reports the BBC.

The update will mean documents sent via Hotmail can be viewed and edited via Web versions of its Office software.

Other changes are designed to improve security by filtering spam and spotting phishing attacks.

Microsoft has fired a major shot across the bow at Salesforce.com, filing a federal lawsuit against the online software company claiming it infringes on nine patents, says CNet.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Seattle, seeks both monetary damages, as well as temporary and permanent injunctions.

Specifically, the company seeks a jury trial and also asks that the damages be tripled and that Salesforce be ordered to pay legal fees and other costs, arguing that the company's patent infringement is wilful.

CBS will air a sitcom in which William Shatner plays a cranky old fogie whose rants are captured by a Twitter-obsessed son with a million followers, writes The Register.

The programme is based on the real-life Twitter feed shitmydadsays, which claims more than 1.3 million followers.

It was started last August by Justin Helpern, shortly after he went to live with his father, who it would seem rarely misses a chance to volunteer patronising one-liners in doses small enough to fit Twitter's 140-word limit. Shatner reportedly will play the father in a series tentatively titled Bleep My Dad Says.