News Corp finally sells MySpace

29 June 2011 Last updated at 21:12 GMT MySpace had been a leader in the social networking revolution News Corporation has sold its ailing social networking site MySpace to online advertising firm Specific Media.

News Corp paid $580m (?361m) for MySpace in 2005, but users and advertisers left the site for rival social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The sale terms were not disclosed, but there were unconfirmed reports that price paid was as low as $35m.

Pop star and actor Justin Timberlake will take a stake in the business, Specific Media said.

He will play "a major role in developing the creative direction and strategy for the company moving forward," the company said.

Specific Media was founded in 1999 by three brothers - Tim, Chris and Russell Vanderhook - and is based in Irvine, California.

MySpace was a leading social networking site when it was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

But the business was eclipsed by rivals, and despite attempts to revive MySpace's fortunes the site has been a financial millstone.

Continue reading the main story Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent, BBC News

Mr Murdoch can comfort himself by reflecting that if his social adventure ended badly, another media giant fared much worse”

End Quote The Reuters news agency cited a News Corp-owned blogging site as reporting that MySpace was sold for $35m.

Specific Media said: "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."

Losses

News Corp's chief operating officer Chase Carey said in November that the losses at MySpace were "unsustainable".

Although News Corp does not publish specific results for MySpace in its accounts, the "other" segment, which includes the social network, reported a second quarter operating loss of $156m - $31m worse than a year earlier.

According to tracking firm comScore, MySpace had 21.8 million unique monthly US visitors in August 2005 compared with Facebook's 8.3 million.

By May 2011, Facebook's monthly US visitors had risen to 157.2 million compared with MySpace's 34.9 million, comScore said. Facebook has nearly 700 million members worldwide.

View the original article here

China boy 'sells kidney for iPad'

3 June 2011 Last updated at 13:08 GMT By Martin Patience BBC News, Beijing The iPad 2 went on sale in China last month A teenager in China has sold one of his kidneys in order to buy an iPad 2, Chinese media report.

The 17-year-old, identified only as Little Zheng, told a local TV station he had arranged the sale of the kidney over the internet.

The story only came to light after the teenager's mother became suspicious.

The case highlights China's black market in organ trafficking. A scarcity of organ donors has led to a flourishing trade.

Deep red scar

It all started when the high school student saw an online advert offering money to organ donors.

Illegal agents organised a trip to the hospital and paid him $3,392 (?2,077) after the operation.

With the cash the student bought an iPad 2, as well as a laptop.

When his mother noticed the computers and the deep red scar on his body, which was caused by the surgery, Little Zheng confessed.

In 2007, Chinese authorities banned organ trafficking and have introduced a voluntary donor scheme to try to combat the trade.

View the original article here

Lowry painting sells for £555,000

3 June 2011 Last updated at 07:44 GMT The sale forms part of the academy's "rationalisation" programme A Lowry painting, sold by The Royal Scottish Academy to raise money to buy new works, has fetched ?555,000.

Money raised from the sale of The Hawker's Cart, a typical Lowry street scene, will create an endowment fund to buy key works by Scottish artists.

"It may take some time but we can now make a start," said academy secretary Arthur Watson.

"Our decision to sell the painting in Scotland has been fully justified."

The academy - an independent, privately-funded collective of artists and architects - said it had identified a number of Scottish painters missing from its current collection.

The 1929 Lowry work, depicting an urban landscape in northern England, sold at Lyon and Turnbull auctioneers in Edinburgh.

The auction house said it was "delighted" with the result.

Lancashire-born Lowry, who died aged 88 in 1976, was known for his depictions of working-class life.

Last month, his 1949 work The Football Match, sold for ?5.6m at Christie's in London, a record auction price for the artist.

View the original article here