According to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, the freedom of the Internet is facing its greatest threat ever. In an interview published by Britain's Guardian newspaper, Brin said that the principles of openness and universal access are being squashed by governments in order to control populations around the world. "There are very powerful forces that have lined up against the open Internet on all sides and around the world," Brin said. "I am more worried than I have been in the past. It's scary."

Yahoo is filing a lawsuit against Facebook claiming infringement of patents covering advertising, privacy controls and social networking. In a court filing, Yahoo said that Facebook infringes 10 of its patents.Yahoo had first threatened Facebbok with a lawsuit last month, and demanded that the social network license the patents.

CNN is said to be in advanced talks to acquire Mashable. The sale could be announced as early as Tuesday in a deal worth more than $200m. Mashable, which was founded by Scottish-born Pete Cashmore in 2005, covers social media and technology news and has expanded to business and entertainment news as well. Mashable has a large following, with more than 20 million unique monthly visitors.

The Dubai Lynx International Advertising Festival juries have shortlisted 438 entries from the 2,037 entries submitted. The festival will run until Wednesday, after which festival award winners will be named. The festival has been hosting various exhibitions, workshops and seminars for the advertising and marketing industry, featuring seminars on digital media and brand engagement.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tablets will outsell desktop and laptop PCs within a few years. Speaking at a Goldman Sachs technology conference, Cook said that the growth of tablets "will be good for the PC industry, because there will be this strong competitor and tablets will innovate like crazy and customers will decide which to buy. There will be a strong PC industry but tablets will be stronger in units". 

Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal has invested $300 million in Twitter. With Twitter's worth currently estimated at $8 billion, the investment amounts to a 3.75% stake. The prince, who is the second largest investor in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, has taken the stake with his Kingdom Holding Company investment firm. "Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact," said Alwaleed in a statement.

As part of the Guardian's efforts to speak to more audiences in the Middle East and North Africa, it has started this year to provide content in Arabic. So far, the Guardian has run content on news, comment and sport in Arabic language, featuring articles, liveblogs and videos which are either translations or specifically commissioned for an Arabic-speaking readership, and is set to expand into business, arts and culture, fashion and food.

According to ZenithOptimedia’s recent forecast, both the Egyptian revolution and the Japanese earthquake are expected to strip global advertising almost $2.5 billion. The company pointed out that there were immediate consequences for TV advertising in these markets, with Egypt being the largest ad market to be caught up in the Middle Eastern uprisings, and running almost no advertising during that period.

The Guardian reports that photographers in Kuwait are facing a ban on the use of larger digital cameras in public places. Three government ministries in the Gulf state have outlawed the use of "digital SLR" (single lens reflex) cameras in public for all citizens except accredited journalists, according to the Kuwait Times.