NEW YORK

Broadband growth slowing in United States, study shows

NEW YORK — The rate of broadband adoption is slowing in the United States, partly because service providers already have grabbed the easiest converts, a study has found.

Price reductions and other factors led to 40 percent growth in adoption from March 2005 to March 2006. Over the following year, growth was a more modest 12 percent, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said in a report Tuesday.

"The low-hanging fruit was picked ... so you saw a slowdown understandably going to 2007," said John Horrigan, Pew's associate director for research. "You're left with people who are less-intense Internet users. They are likely to be users who aren't processing a lot of bits per month. They don't have the demand for high speed."

Horrigan, however, said many of the Internet users on dial-up simply can't get high-speed service, particularly in rural areas. About 31 percent of rural Americans have broadband at home, compared with 47 percent for the general population.

The telephone-based study of 2,200 adult Americans was conducted in February and March 2007 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

BELGIUM

Steamy EUTube promotional video clip stirs controversy

BRUSSELS — The European Commission has its own channel on YouTube to spread messages about topics such as climate change and human rights. But the most viewed video clip features nudity, dim lighting and some heavy breathing.

EU officials said the 44-second clip of sex scenes showcases the strong emotions featured in European films, but some European Union lawmakers have questioned the sexual content.

The clip — titled "Film Lovers Will Love This!" — has been viewed more than 280,000 times, while the next most popular video on the EUTube channel launched last week — one on humanitarian aid — has fewer than 30,000 views.

Eighteen couples, both homosexual and heterosexual, are shown having sex in bedrooms, kitchens and restaurant bathrooms.

EU lawmaker Maciej Giertych of Poland, from the conservative League of Polish Families, has accused the commission of using "immoral methods" of promotion, according to the British Broadcasting Corp.

But commission spokesman Martin Selmayr said the shots in the clip — drawn from award-winning films such as "Amelie" and "Bad Education" — highlighted Europe's tradition of rich cinema.

CALIFORNIA

Facebook gets help from its friends in playing catch-up

PALO ALTO — No. 2 social networking site Facebook Inc. has persuaded a 22-year-old high school dropout, two Microsoft Corp. veterans and more than 800 others to help it do the hard work of catching up to News Corp.'s MySpace.

Last month, Facebook launched a new "platform" that lets people unaffiliated with the company build online services that operate within its Web site. Among those who have stepped up: Ali and Hadi Partovi, twin brothers whose iLike Inc. service lets users search concert listings, post 30-second music clips and compare their scores on quizzes testing music acumen with those of their friends, and Numair Faraz, who left college as a freshman and built a service called Facebook Audio that enables people to play full-length songs on their profiles.

As a result of these and other outsiders' efforts, Facebook now offers more than 800 new services — from photo slide shows to online file storage. Meanwhile, those who are creating the Facebook services can access information about their customers and make money by selling related items and ads.

Other applications include Flash Sudoku, which lets users add the popular game to their page, and Stress Meter, which lets users chart their stress level. There's a weight tracker called Thinner; Socialight, which lets users share their favorite places complete with maps and photos, and a Carbon Diet Plan, which lists ways to improve one's ecological profile.

— From wire reports