Internet Openness, Primera Spaceshot, DVDs & Crocodiles

The Internet's potential for promoting expression and empowering citizens is under threat from corporate and government policies that clash with the medium's long-standing culture of openness, some leading Internet thinkers warned.

The Civilian Space Xploration Team, a collection of rocket jocks, engineers and space enthusiasts around the country, are set to launch their rocket, dubbed Primera Spaceshot 2002, by the end of June from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.

Circuit City, America's second-largest electronics retailer, is phasing out sales of videotape movies as the chain makes way for the inevitability of DVD.

A 28-year-old Panamanian accused of killing a judge was eaten by a crocodile as he swam across a river after escaping from prison.