Reuters - U.S., Google take hard line on China Web censorship

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U.S., Google take hard line on China Web censorship

Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 4:25AM UTC

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc said it may pull out of China because it is no longer willing to accept censorship of its search results, in a surprise retreat from the world's largest Internet market by users.

The announcement on Tuesday comes amid growing tensions between China and the United States over Internet freedoms, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton set to announce a technology policy next week to help citizens in other countries gain access to an uncensored Web.

Google said it had uncovered a sophisticated attack on the email accounts of Chinese human rights activists using its Gmail service, and that more than 20 other companies were similarly attacked.

"These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered -- combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the Web -- have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China," Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said in a statement posted on the company's blog.

"We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China."

The search market in China, while small in revenue terms, has 360 million Internet users and is viewed as a critical battleground for Google. It is one of the rare markets where the U.S. company is not in the lead, lagging homegrown rival Baidu Inc, which commands a 60 percent share of the Chinese Internet search market versus Google's 30 percent.

Shares of Google fell 1.3 percent in after-hours trading following the news that it might withdraw from China, while shares of Baidu jumped 6.8 percent.

China's tough stance on Web censorship has put it at odds with Western technology firms in recent years. The latest dispute had pit personal computer makers against a Chinese government that said it was intent on keeping pornography out of the hands of China's youth, though many believe the move involved censorship and invasion of privacy.

In June, Beijing ordered Google to block overseas sites with "vulgar" content from being accessible through the Chinese language version of its search engine. Google said then that it met with Chinese government officials and was taking necessary steps to ensure search results on its Chinese site complied.

NO ACCESS?

Google said the hackers had tried to access the Gmail email accounts of Chinese human rights activists but only managed to access two unidentified accounts, and then only subject headings and other data such as when the account was created.

It did not say what information the hackers tried to access from the other corporations, nor which they were. Google said it was now notifying the other affected corporations, adding that it was working with the U.S. authorities.

A Google spokesperson said the company was still investigating the attack and would not say whether Google believed Chinese authorities were involved.

The "implication here is that the government is somehow responsible for conducting this cyber-attack and I guess they feel they cannot operate in that kind of an environment," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Stephen Ju.

"This is a complete 180 turnaround (for Google). Just about every earnings call recently has been that they are focused on the long-term growth opportunities for China and that they are committed."

Google generated 53 percent of its $5.9 billion in revenue in the third quarter outside of the United States. It does not disclose the size of its business in China, where it maintains the Chinese-language Google.cn which the company says complies with local laws.

Google has faced a rocky road in China, where its video site YouTube has been inaccessible since March. Many of Google's primary services, such as Gmail and Google.com, became briefly inaccessible to many Chinese users last year.

"We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all," Drummond said.

Human rights have been a frequent source of tension between the United States and China, which is the largest holder of U.S. Treasuries, with total holdings of $798.9 billion.

Last week, Clinton dined with tech heavyweights such as Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Microsoft Corp research and strategy chief Craig Mundie, and Cisco Systems Inc Executive Vice President Sue Bostrom. It was not clear if the meeting was related to Google's revelation, and the companies had no immediate comment.

According to a JPMorgan estimate this month, the search market in China hit $1 billion in 2009 and will grow to $1.5 billion in 2010. But search advertising is still less than 50 percent of the total online ad market in China, compared with 67 percent in the United States, according to JPMorgan.

"What makes Google the largest search engine and one of the leading Internet companies is that they care about users' privacy, and if that privacy comes under challenge it may impact their global business," said Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal. "They obviously did not appreciate the attack ... We should not take the Google threat lightly."

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Edwin Chan; Additional reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Peter Henderson, Steve Orlofsky and Richard Chang)

CNN - 7.0 quake hits Haiti; 'Serious loss of life' expected

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7.0 quake hits Haiti; 'Serious loss of life' expected

A major earthquake struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, knocking down buildings and power lines and inflicting what its ambassador to the United States called a catastrophe for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

Several eyewitnesses reported heavy damage and bodies in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where concrete-block homes line steep hillsides. There was no estimate of the dead and wounded Tuesday evening, but the U.S. State Department has been told to expect "serious loss of life," department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.

"The only thing I can do now is pray and hope for the best," the ambassador, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN.

Pictures sent to CNN's iReport show what appear to be homes and small businesses in Haiti that have collapsed.

Are you there? Submit an iReport

The magnitude 7.0 quake -- the most powerful to hit Haiti in a century -- struck shortly before 5 p.m. and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away, witnesses said.

Mike Godfrey, an American contractor working for the U.S. Agency for International Development, said "a huge plume of dust and smoke rose up over the city" within minutes of the quake -- "a blanket that completely covered the city and obscured it for about 20 minutes."

Witnesses reported damaged buildings throughout the capital, including the president's residence and century-old homes nearby, and The Associated Press reported that a hospital collapsed. President Rene Preval is safe, Joseph said, but there was no estimate of the dead and wounded Tuesday evening.

He said an official of his government told him houses had crumbled "on the right side of the street and the left side of the street."

"He said it is a catastrophe of major proportions," Joseph said.

Impact Your World: How you can help

Frank Williams, the Haitian director of the relief agency World Vision International, said the quake left people "pretty much screaming" all around Port-au-Prince. He said the agency's building shook for about 35 seconds, "and portions of things on the building fell off."

"None of our staff were injured, but lots of walls are falling down," Williams said. "Many of our staff have tried to leave, but were unsuccessful because the walls from buildings and private residences are falling into the streets, so that it has pretty much blocked significantly most of the traffic."

Read what people in Haiti are saying via social media

Haiti's government is backed by a U.N. peacekeeping mission established after the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.

The headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Port-au-Prince collapsed, a U.N. official told CNN.

There was no immediate report of any dead or wounded from the building, but Alain Le Roy, the undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations said of the 9,000-member, Brazilian led-force, "For the moment, a large number of personnel remain unaccounted for." Outside the capital, several people were hurt when they rushed to get out of a school in the southwestern city of Les Cayes, said the Rev. Kesner Ajax, the school's executive director. Two homes in the area collapsed and the top of a church collapsed in a nearby town, he said, but he did not know of any fatalities.

Les Cayes, a city of about 400,000 people, is about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince.

The quake was centered about 6 miles (10 kilometers) underground, according to the USGS -- a depth that can produce severe shaking. At least 10 aftershocks followed, including two in the magnitude 5 range, the USGS reported.

Appeals for aid after quake strikes Haiti

Jean Bernard, an eyewitness in Port-au-Prince, told CNN the city had no electricity Tuesday evening. The first quake lasted 35 to 40 seconds, he said.

"A lot of houses [and] buildings went down, and people are still running all over the streets," Bernard said. "People are looking for their wives, looking for their husbands and their kids. It's scary."

Luke Renner, an American staying in Cap-Hatien, a city nearly 100 miles north of Port-au-Prince, said he was sitting at his home when "the whole world started to shake."

"It felt like our whole house was balancing on a beach ball," Renner said. "We heard the whole community screaming and in an uproar during that whole 20- to 30-second window."

"I haven't seen any structural damage here," Renner continued. "With the sun setting it may be difficult to tell. In the morning we'll know for sure."

Because of the earthquake's proximity to the capital, and because the city is densely populated and has poorly constructed housing, "it could cause significant casualties," said Jian Lin, a senior geologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

In Washington, President Obama said the U.S. government would "stand ready to assist the people of Haiti." At the Pentagon, the U.S. military said humanitarian aid was being prepared for shipping, but it was not yet clear where or how it would be sent. A U.S. aviation source said the control tower at the Port-au-Prince international airport collapsed, possibly hindering efforts to fly relief supplies into the country.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that Washington is offering "our full assistance" to Haiti."

The deputy chief of the U.S. mission in Haiti, David Lindwall, told Clinton that he saw "significant damage" from the quake and said U.S. officials there expect "serious loss of life," Crowley said.

And Clinton's husband, former President Clinton -- now the U.N. special envoy for Haiti -- said the world body was "committed to do whatever we can to assist the people of Haiti in their relief, rebuilding and recovery efforts."

The United States has been heavily involved in Haiti commercially, politically and militarily for most of the last century. U.S. intervention under Clinton restored Aristide to power in 1994 after a 1991 coup, and a U.S. jet hustled him out of the country again in 2004 following a rapidly spreading uprising against his government.

The disaster is the latest to befall the country of about 9 million people, roughly the size of Maryland. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and among the poorest in the world.

With people stripping the trees for fuel and to clear land for agriculture, the mountainous countryside has been heavily deforested. That has led to severe erosion and left Haitians vulnerable to massive landslides when heavy rains fall.

Hurricane Gordon killed more than 1,000 people in 1994, while Hurricane Georges killed more than 400 and destroyed the majority of the country's crops in 1998. And in 2004, Hurricane Jeanne killed more than 3,000 people as it passed north of Haiti, with most of the deaths in the northwestern city of Gonaives.

Gonaives was hit heavily again in 2008, when four tropical systems passed through.

In addition, a Haitian school collapsed in November 2008, killing more than 90 people and injuring 150 -- a disaster authorities blamed on poor construction.

Eighty percent of Haiti's population lives under the poverty line, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Reuters - Qualcomm to support Google's Chrome OS

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Qualcomm to support Google's Chrome OS

Friday, Jan 08, 2010 8:0PM UTC

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) -Qualcomm plans to support Chrome, Google Inc's upcoming operating system for small computers known as netbooks, the company's chief executive, Paul Jacobs, said on Friday.

Jacobs, who heads the leading maker of mobile phone chips, announced support for Chrome during a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show that focused on the convergence of wireless and computing.

The executive, a first-time keynote speaker at the annual gadget festival, also said 15 different device makers are designing about 40 products that will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon chip for smartphones and mobile computing devices.

Also during Jacobs' presentation, the chief executive of HTC Corp came on stage to announce that his company would support Qualcomm's Brew mobile application platform.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Reuters - Judges question FCC authority in Comcast case

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Judges question FCC authority in Comcast case

Friday, Jan 08, 2010 11:17PM UTC

By John Poirier

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. judges questioned the FCC's authority to punish Comcast Corp for blocking online file-sharing services on Friday in a case that could wind up curbing the regulators' campaign for a free and open Internet.

A three-judge panel appeared unsatisfied with Federal Communications Commission arguments and was probing whether the FCC acted based on established rules or on direct authority from Congress on broadband network management issues.

The case, which may not be decided by the court for several months, could severely hamper the FCC's push to maintain an open and free Internet through a "net neutrality" rule-making proposal if the judges decide the agency lacks authority.

That could in turn prompt the FCC, which has argued it has broad authority through regulation of the cable and telephone industries, to ask Congress to pass "open Internet" legislation, which has been waiting in the wings to give the agency cover if needed.

In a packed courtroom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge A. Raymond Randolph told FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick that it appeared the FCC acted based on policy statements that are "aspirational, not operational."

"It's very difficult to predict what the court will do based on oral argument, but it certainly appears that the judges were troubled by the FCC's order," former FCC General Counsel Sam Feder said.

"A lot of regulation -- both present and future -- could go down with this case," said Feder, a partner at Jenner & Block.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said he was confident the agency has the legal authority. "Our hope is that there's an outcome that preserves a free and open Internet and accomplishes what we're in this game to do," he said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

In 2008 under then-Republican Chairman Kevin Martin, the FCC upheld a complaint accusing Comcast of violating the agency's open Internet principles by blocking file-sharing services that distribute video and television shows.

Comcast then challenged the FCC order and asked a federal appeals court to reverse the action, which required the biggest U.S. cable operator to change its management practices.

Paul Galant, an analyst with Concept Capital, said it appears likely the court's ruling will strike down the FCC's move and said even some additional legal or political maneuvering is not guaranteed to succeed.

NETWORK BLOCKING, OR MANAGEMENT?

The FCC is now guided by a set of principles dating back to 2005 and aimed at preventing Internet service providers from interfering with certain network traffic.

Backed by many advocates, the FCC and Genachowski, a Democrat appointed by President Barack Obama, proposed rules in October that would put teeth behind those guidelines.

Obama strongly backed an open Internet, or net neutrality, during the campaign and as a senator.

The FCC may not act on a final net neutrality rule possibly affecting Internet providers Comcast, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc until spring.

But Comcast and other Internet providers argue they must engage in reasonable network management due to increasing bandwidth-hogging applications used by consumers.

During the oral arguments before the three-judge panel, an attorney for Comcast argued the FCC acted based on a set of nonbinding principles rather than on established rules or direct congressional authority.

"All that existed was a policy statement," said Helgi Walker, an attorney representing Comcast, referring to the set of principles opposed to blocking, discriminating or degrading content by Internet providers.

Walker asked the judges to vacate the FCC order and erase the black mark from the company, which has already agreed to comply fully with the FCC requirements to alter its network management practices.

Experts say the FCC could salvage a win even if the judges decide that the FCC process -- not its authority -- was flawed because it could still move forward with its net neutrality proposal by changing its process.

(Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in Las Vegas; editing by Andre Grenon, Gary Hill)

Reuters - Google becoming "giant monopoly" - German minister

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Google becoming "giant monopoly" - German minister

Saturday, Jan 09, 2010 5:33PM UTC

BERLIN (Reuters) - Internet search engine Google Inc is becoming a "giant monopoly" like Microsoft and could face legal action if it does not become more transparent, Germany's justice minister said.

In an interview with weekly magazine Der Spiegel Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said she was concerned the firm was accruing too much power and information about citizens via programs like Google Earth and Google Books.

"All in all, what's taking shape there to a large extent is a giant monopoly, similar to Microsoft," the minister said.

"My initial response is not to ban something or stop something. But I do want to create more transparency and ensure that users know what is going on with their data," she added.

"I think the companies have an obligation here, and a lot of things ought to be improved. If that doesn't happen soon we may have to take action as legislators."

A liberal member of the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger also served as justice minister between 1992 and 1996, when she stood down in protest about moves to allow the state more scope to snoop on citizens.

A spokesman for Google in Germany said offering users full transparency was central to how the company operated and that it was constantly working to make improvements in this realm.

(Reporting by Dave Graham and Klaus-Peter Senger)

Reuters - Republicans call on Senator Reid to quit post

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Republicans call on Senator Reid to quit post

Sunday, Jan 10, 2010 5:28PM UTC

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party chief called on Senator Harry Reid on Sunday to step down as Senate majority leader over racial comments about President Barack Obama, while Democrats tried to put the issue behind them.

Reid, a key figure in pushing Obama's agenda through Congress, apologized to the president on Saturday over remarks published in a new book calling Obama a "light-skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."

Both Obama and Reid are Democrats.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Reid should step aside as Senate majority leader, saying if a Republican made the same remarks Democrats would be "screaming for his head."

"Oh yeah, there's a big double standard here," Steele, who is black, said on the NBC program "Meet the Press."

"There is this standard where the Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it ... comes from the mouths of their own. But if it comes from anyone else, it's racism," Steele added on "Fox News Sunday."

Steele said Reid used "anachronistic language," adding, "It harkens back to the 1950s and 60s, and it confirms to me a mind-set that's out of step with where America is today."

Steele was asked about his use in a recent television appearance of the words "honest injun," seen as disparaging toward American Indians. Asked if his own words were a racial slur, Steele said, "Well, if it is, I apologize for it. ... I wasn't intending to say a racial slur at all."

Reid's comments, made in private conversations, were quoted in a newly published book about the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, "Game Change," by Time magazine reporter Mark Halperin and New York magazine writer John Heileman.

'A POOR CHOICE OF WORDS'

Reid on Saturday apologized for "using such a poor choice of words." Obama issued a statement accepting the apology.

Reid, 70, has been a close partner of the White House on key Obama initiatives, and succeeded in helping to round up the 60 votes needed to win Senate passage on December 24 of a healthcare reform bill, Obama's top legislative priority.

It is unclear whether this controversy will undermine Reid's influence in the Senate. Reid is also facing a tough re-election battle in Nevada this November.

Democratic Party chairman Tim Kaine said "the comments were unfortunate and they were insensitive," but he said there is no reason for Reid to step down as majority leader.

"I think the case is closed because President Obama has spoken directly with the leader (Reid) and accepted his apology. ... We're moving on," Kaine told "Meet the Press."

"Harry Reid made a misstatement. He owned up to it. He apologized. I think he is mortified by the statement he's made. And I don't think he should step down," Democratic Senator Jack Reed told "Fox News Sunday."

Republicans compared Reid's remarks to those made in 2002 by Republican Trent Lott, praising former segregationist presidential candidate and long-time senator Strom Thurmond. Lott stepped down as Senate majority leader over the comments.

"If he (Lott) should resign, then Harry Reid should," Republican Senator Jon Kyl told "Fox News Sunday."

(Editing by Todd Eastham)

CNN - Senate Democratic leader sorry for 'Negro dialect' remark

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Senate Democratic leader sorry for 'Negro dialect' remark

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologized Saturday for making disparaging remarks about Barack Obama during the presidential campaign.

Journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann reported the remarks in their new book "Game Change," which is scheduled to be in bookstores Tuesday.

The authors quote Reid as saying privately that Obama, as a black candidate, could be successful thanks, in part, to his "light-skinned" appearance and speaking patterns "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

"He [Reid] was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama -- a 'light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,' " Halperin and Heilemann say.

"Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination," they write.

In a statement to CNN, Reid said, "I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words."

"I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans for my improper comments.

"I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda," the senator from Nevada said.

Reid pointed to his efforts to integrate the Las Vegas Strip and the gaming industry, among other legislation favored by African-American voters.

"I have worked hard to advance issues important to the African American community."

Reid, who waited to formally endorse Obama until after the tough presidential primary battle ended in 2008, is facing an uphill re-election fight this year in his home state.

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Marvel sues to keep Spider-Man, X-Men copyrights

Marvel Entertainment, home of superheroes such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, sued the heirs of one of its most successful artists Friday to keep the rights to the lucrative characters.

The federal lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan by Marvel, now a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), asks a judge to invalidate 45 notices sent by the heirs of artist Jack Kirby to try to terminate Marvel's copyrights, effective on dates ranging from 2014 through 2019.

The heirs notified several companies last year that rights to the characters would revert from Marvel to Kirby's estate.

The lawsuit says Kirby's work on the comics published between 1958 and 1963 were "for hire" and render the heirs' claims invalid. The famed artist died in 1994.

Kirby's attorney Marc Toberoff says the heirs were merely trying to take advantage of change to copyright law that lets artists recapture rights to their work.

Of Marvel's lawsuit, he said: "It is a standard claim predictably made by comic book companies to deprive artists, writers, and other talent of all rights in their work ... The Kirby children intend to vigorously defend against Marvel's claims in the hope of finally vindicating their father's work."

The statement claims Kirby was never properly compensated for his contributions to Marvel's universe of superheroes.

"Sadly, Jack died without proper compensation, credit or recognition for his lasting creative contributions," the statement said.

Comic book characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men have become some of Hollywood's most bankable properties.

The lawsuit says the comic book titles in the notices to which Kirby claims to have contributed include "Amazing Adventures," "Amazing Fantasy," "Amazing Spider-Man," "The Avengers," the "Fantastic Four," "Fantastic Four Annual," "The Incredible Hulk," "Journey into Mystery," "Rawhide Kid," "Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos," "Strange Tales," "Tales to Astonish," "Tales of Suspense" and "The X-Men."

John Turitzin, a Marvel lawyer, said in a statement that the heirs are trying "to rewrite the history of Kirby's relationship with Marvel."

"Everything about Kirby's relationship with Marvel shows that his contributions were works made for hire and that all the copyright interests in them belong to Marvel," he said.

Reuters - Next version of Nexus will be enterprise phone

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Next version of Nexus will be enterprise phone

Saturday, Jan 09, 2010 7:36AM UTC

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Google Inc executive Andy Rubin said on Friday that the next version of the Nexus One phone, which was made by HTC Corp, will be for enterprise users and might have a physical keyboard.

Such a device could potentially pose a competitive threat to BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, which has a strong position in the enterprise cellphone market.

Rubin, the brains behind Google's Android operating system, made the comment during an interview with Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg at an event hosted by the newspaper.

The comment followed Google's announcement earlier this week that it would sell phones direct to consumers via its website.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Richard Chang)

Reuters - "Lost" producers come full circle in final season

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"Lost" producers come full circle in final season

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010 4:17AM UTC

By James Hibberd

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Get ready to return to the island one last time: The final season of ABC's "Lost" is going to be an emotionally intense journey that harks back to previous highlights of the series, with the ideological battle between Jack Shephard and John Locke taking center stage.

By the time most major network shows cross the finish line, they're limping in the ratings and creatively exhausted, wrung out by networks and producers trying to mine just a few more hours. With "Lost" producers having persuaded ABC to set 2010 as a series end date years ago, the hit drama is going into its final lap with level of fan anticipation rarely seen for the ending cycle of a broadcast show.

In their first full-length interview focusing on the sixth season, "Lost" executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof promised a satisfying cliffhanger-free conclusion. And even after the May finale, there's almost surely going to be more "Lost" to come.

YOU OBVIOUSLY CAN'T TALK ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THE ENDING. BUT HOW DO YOU THINK FANS WILL FEEL ABOUT IT?

Lindelof: That's a very cagey way of asking it. It's tough to prognosticate. But the one area we're in agreement is there will be a short-term reaction to the ending and then a legacy reaction that comes six months, a year down the road, looking at the show as a whole. Carlton and I were trying yesterday to remember what the final season of "The Sopranos" even was about -- we couldn't remember much about the finale itself except Anthony Jr. was going to go into the Army and crashed his car and changed his mind. But we remember every frame of the diner scene. What people take away from our finale is going to be based purely on that two-hour episode, but our hope is they'll be able to connect that experience to the six years that preceded it.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THIS SEASON IN TERMS OF ITS, SAY, TONE? WHAT IS IT LIKE COMPARED TO PAST SEASONS?

Cuse: We feel tonally it's most similar to the first season of the show. We're employing a different narrative device, which we feel is creating some emotional and heartfelt stories, and we want the audience to have a chance in the final season to remember the entire history of the show. So we have actors coming back like Dominic (Monaghan) and Ian (Sommerhalder). We're hoping to achieve a circularity of the entire journey so the ending is reminiscent of the beginning.

IS THERE ANY ONE CHARACTER'S STORY LINE THAT YOU THINK PARTICULARLY EMOTIONALLY RESONATES THIS SEASON?

Cuse: Jack and Locke have always been at the center of the show, that dilemma of faith vs. reason, and the conflict between those two characters has been there since the beginning. It's very exciting to bring that relationship to its conclusion, and we can't really be any less vague about that.

IN THE PAST FEW YEARS WE'VE HAD "SOPRANOS," "THE SHIELD," "THE WIRE" AND "BATTLESTAR GALACTICA" AIR FINAL EPISODES. ANY OF THEM THAT YOU FELT CONCLUDED REALLY WELL?

Cuse: I personally don't feel any of those were messed up, they were all kind of appropriate for those stories. Shawn Ryan did a great job ending "The Shield."

Lindelof: It really boils down to: Is it satisfying? Have you given the audience an emotional ride that makes them feel that they're satisfied, that it's a good meal? Every one of those shows had a different criteria. The ending for "The Shield" was, asking whether Vic Mackey would get some form of comeuppance for all the things he's done over the series. That's a similar question that went into the "Sopranos" ending, which is why people who didn't like the cut to black were unsatisfied, because they felt, "I feel the resolution of this show has to be what happens to Tony Soprano, and you didn't answer that question." The "Battlestar" ending had 10 different things on its agenda other than character resolution ... you have to admire it for the sheer audacity for what it was trying to accomplish. That being said, the "Shield" ending was phenomenal, and almost every fan of the show agrees with that. Whereas the other shows -- and probably with the ending of "Lost" -- there's some debate about the ending. "Did I like it? Did I love it?"

HAVE YOU BOILED "LOST" DOWN TO A CENTRAL QUESTION THAT THE FINALE NEEDS TO RESOLVE?

Lindelof: The only question that's ever mattered to us is what is going to happen to these people. What is the character resolution? That the audience feels like the characters had an arc -- a beginning, middle and end. And I'm satisfied with that. All the crazy island mythology stuff, we love it, but it's like terrorists attacking Jack Bauer -- it's stuff that happens in order to tell cool character stories.

YOU MENTIONED A NARRATIVE DEVICE, I'M ASSUMING IT'S NOT A FLASHBACK OR FLASHFORWARD?

Cuse: Musical numbers. If you love Bollywood movies, you will love this season.

Lindelof: The show never rests on its laurels. Not because we're trying to be artsy, but the show demands constant shifts to best tell the story. We've known what we were going to do for a couple years now, and there's been a tremendous amount of work setting up the premise so it would work. But we're still wondering, "Will it work? Will the audience understand? What's the reaction going to be like?"

SINCE THERE IS NO FOOTAGE BEING REVEALED IN ADVANCE OF THE FEB. 2 SEASON PREMIERE, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN SAY TO TEASE IT?

Cuse: We ended with Juliet pounding on this atomic warhead. There's Jack's prediction that the bomb will reset events and the plane will never crash. There's the possibility that it doesn't work. We want the audience to be pondering what is the consequence of Juliet hitting that bomb. Our cliffhangers are designed to frame the question that we want audience thinking about.

NOW THAT YOU'RE THIS FAR ALONG, DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE SEASON?

Lindelof: The first season is probably my favorite season, you forget in hindsight all the pain that goes into doing the show.

Cuse: I'll say Season 5. We did something radical (by introducing time travel) and embraced the sci-fi roots of the show. We were concerned about doing this. But the fact people liked last season was enormously gratifying.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO PITCH A NEW SHOW, ON ABC OR ELSEWHERE, FOR NEXT SEASON?

Lindelof: No. We don't. The world works in mysterious ways, but our full-time job for the last six years has been coming in here and working 70- to 80-hour weeks on "Lost." The idea of going back into the fray Brett Favre-style is not alluring to us. When we finish "Lost" we will disappear to our undisclosed locations then think about things for a while.

Cuse: I think the one thing that's pretty certain is neither of us have a great (urge) to do something that's this dense, sprawling and serialized. You need to exercise different creative muscles.

Lindelof: My hope is to rip off other successful shows.

LIKE YOU'VE BEEN RIPPED OFF?

Lindelof: Exactly. Maybe a show about vampires that work in an ad agency and one is a serial killer.

Cuse: Especially if the lead character is also cooking meth.

Lindelof: Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Almost guaranteed an Emmy. "Breaking Bad Men."

COULD SOMEBODY STILL DO THAT "LOST" PILOT TODAY?

Lindelof: When you look at development season last year and shows like "FlashForward" and "V" and go, "Those shows are very expensive to produce with the size of their cast and their (ambitious) premise." But what's sort of strange is that they're a lot more overtly sci-fi from the get-go. With the exception of a loud noise in the jungle and it's weird that there's polar bears on an island, there were no science fiction elements in the pilot of "Lost." In "Jaws" you don't show the shark until an hour and a half into the movie. We feel like you have a better chance making a "Lost" now because they want their sci-fi to be stealth. You go to an "Indiana Jones" movie and they'll say it's not sci-fi and you're like, "But their faces melted off!"

YOU GUYS HAVE SAID THAT YOU'LL TAKE THE DAVID CHASE ROUTE AND SKIP TOWN FOR THE FINALE. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS?

Cuse: We'll be watching the last episode here in L.A. We traditionally have an intimate viewing party. We celebrate by renting out a restaurant and set up big TVs, and then afterward we will disappear to parts unknown.

WHO'S GOING TO WRITE AND DIRECT THE FINAL HOUR?

Cuse: Damon and I will write, Jack Bender will direct.

LOOKING BACK, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?

Cuse: The journey had to be the way it was. We both feel no regrets. The meaning only becomes clear in hindsight, and we're still on that journey so the meaning is not yet complete.

Lindelof: Look, it would be nice to look back and say, "We love every episode of 'Lost,' and every episode turned out the way we wanted it to." There are sh--ty episodes of "Lost" that we wish we had never written. But had we not written them we would be in a different situation now, because we ran out of ideas, we stalled, then the network realized what we had been saying from early on -- that "Lost" needed an end date. And now here we are six years later on broadcast with a show that is -- not what it once was (in the ratings) -- but still performing, and we're ending it on our own terms because we had sh**ty episodes.

CAN YOU SAY DEFINITIVELY, AFTER THIS FINAL EPISODE, THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER PRODUCED HOUR OF "LOST" ON FILM, TV, WEB, ANY MEDIUM -- THIS IS IT?

Cuse: The Walt Disney Co. owns "Lost." It's a franchise that's conservatively worth billions of dollars. It's hard to imagine "Lost" will rest on the shelves and nothing will ever be made with "Lost." Eventually somebody will make something under the moniker of "Lost" -- whether we do it or not. We just made a commitment to this group of characters whose stories are coming to a conclusion this May.

Lindelof: Somebody made a sequel to "Gone With the Wind." Sometimes the franchise transcends the storyteller. The definitive edition of "Lost" ends this May on ABC, and that is the story that we have to tell. It has a beginning, middle and end. That ending will not have cliffhangers, or be set up in such a way that people will be saying, "Clearly they're going to make more of these." We don't have any connection to another TV series or movie, but there's a new "A-Team" movie coming out, for god's sake. This is a business that thrives on known commodities. "Tron" is the most buzzed-about Disney movie for next year, and it has been gathering dust for 20 years. I cannot imagine there will not be something with "Lost" on it involving smoke monsters and polar bears and time travel.