Google close to buying Twitter?

Reports on TechCrunch claim Google is in advanced negotiations to acquire micro-blogging site Twitter, says Computing.co.uk.

Citing two separate sources, TechCrunch said the asking price is more than the $250 million valuation that Twitter's recent round of funding would suggest.

A third source, however, recently added to the TechCrunch report, suggests talks are only in the early stages.

Sun Microsystems rejected IBM's formal buyout offer on Saturday, calling the bid insufficient and putting future deal talks at risk, says CNet.

IBM reportedly made a formal bid of $9.40 a share, or less, for Sun, which in turn rejected the offer and terminated Big Blue's right to exclusive merger talks, The Wall Street Journal reported. IBM, in turn, withdrew its buyout offer.

In addition to holding a belief that the bid was too low, Sun apparently was also concerned that the terms of the offer provided IBM with too much flexibility in being able to walk away from the deal, the Journal reported.

A small group of protesters held a successful musical protest against attempts to extradite UFO enthusiast turned hacker Gary McKinnon to the US, reports The Register.

Janis Sharp, McKinnon's mum, organised the sing-in protest outside the US embassy on Thursday to coincide with president Barack Obama's visit to London for the G20 conference and UN World Autism Awareness Day. Sharp rewrote the lyrics (but not the tune) of Graham Nash's "Chicago" as a protest against long-running attempts to wrench her son over to the US to face trial and probable incarceration for hacking into US government and military systems.

These efforts gained a massive publicity boost when David Gilmour, legendary singer and guitarist with Pink Floyd, agreed to sing on the backing track of the song.

MEPs say organisations tracking Internet use should themselves be monitored, says the BBC.

The Euro-MPs overwhelmingly backed a statement which called on governments to list Internet watching organisations and report on what they do.

The reports would name and shame organisations carrying out illegal or disproportionate amounts of surveillance.