Netflix's streaming-video audience of more than 20 million subscribers has led many to label it a kind of digital TV network, and one that may grow into an HBO rival — if it's not already.

But unlike television programming, which comes with viewing guides, DVR reminders and weekly picks from all manner of media, the Netflix instant universe is a largely uncharted, Byzantine library prone to aimless clicking and haphazard double features.

The U.S. State Department on Friday launched a new high-tech form of outreach to the international community when it took questions on foreign policy from Twitter followers in different languages.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland answered a number of tweets from followers in English as well as those arriving in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu.

Israel said on Saturday that it will respond to cyber-attacks in the same way it responds to violent "terrorist" acts, by striking back with force against hackers who threaten the Jewish state.

The message from Deputy Foreign Minister Dany Ayalon came after a self-defined "Saudi hacker" from a cabal known as "group-xp" published details of more than 6,000 Israeli credit cards online.

Inspired by the role of social media in the Arab Spring, Palestinians have harnessed the same tools, under the wary gaze of the authorities in the West Bank and Gaza.

In both parts of the Palestinian territory, ordinary people and activists have taken to social networking to share their hopes, mobilize demonstrations and call for government reform.

Belarus introduced tough new Internet restrictions on Friday that imposes fines on providers for failing to monitor their clients and allow the authorities to block sites deemed "extremist".

The new rules also require local Internet vendors to register in the ex-Soviet nation and impose fines on companies selling goods in Belarus through foreign websites.

Ultra-thin laptops will take center-stage alongside new software and smartphones at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a gadget extravaganza that officially opens on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

The more than 2,700 exhibitors filling an excess of 1.8 million square feet - approximately 33 U.S. football fields - will range from car, computer and chip makers to technology startups and iPhone accessory sellers.

China's two biggest video websites are fighting a court battle over accusations they are misusing each other's programming as rivalry heats up in an industry that is luring viewers away from bland state TV.

The conflict between Youku.com Inc. and Tudou Inc. is part of a struggle for dominance in an online market with nearly 400 million viewers and dozens of privately owned outlets that might represent the future of China's video watching and a lucrative advertising stream.

An uncomfortable suspicion that an icon of American business may have no future pushed investors to dump stock in Eastman Kodak Co. Wednesday.

The ailing photography pioneer's shares fell to a new all-time low after the Wall Street Journal reported that Kodak is preparing for a bankruptcy filing "in the coming weeks" should it fail to sell a trove of 1,100 digital-imaging patents.

Barnes & Noble said Thursday it is reviewing its options for its Nook e-book and e-book catalog business and might separate it from its core bookstore business.

The company also lowered its yearly guidance. The news sent shares down 30 percent in morning trading.

Yahoo's previous turnaround attempts have flopped under three different leaders with dramatically different backgrounds — former movie mogul Terry Semel, beloved Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and profanity-spewing Silicon Valley veteran Carol Bartz.

Now, the struggling Internet company is making yet another unorthodox choice with Wednesday's announcement that it has lured Scott Thompson away from a lower-profile job running eBay's thriving PayPal service to step into the pressure-packed position as Yahoo's fourth CEO in less than five years.