The website went under in 2009

A row has erupted in the United States centring on the ownership of a gay teenagers' database.

The owner of XY Magazine and its associated website – which catered for young homosexual boys – filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

XY's creditors have applied for the firm's one remaining valuable asset: its database of one million users.

But the Federal Trade Commission has expressed its concerns and said the sale "could violate Federal law".

The issue of selling databases is not new, but it is the sensitivity of this particular database that is catching the attention of lawmakers.

The list contains details of tens of thousands of young men, the majority of whom will be gay.

Writing on the technology blog Read Write Web, Curt Hopkins summed up the concern felt by many users.

"The selling off of private information, gathered under the supposition of privacy, is bad enough," he wrote.

"Even worse if you're forced into it.

"And positively untenable when the information is connected to kids who are dealing with a dawning sexual reality that in some instances is even more fraught than what straight kids go through," he added.

Simon Davies, director of the human rights campaign group Privacy International, told BBC News that while privacy policy was very clear, in the event of bankruptcy or winding-up "all bets are off".

"Information shouldn't be used for a purpose other than for which it was originally intended," he said.

"In the UK, it would be hard – under normal circumstances – to take a database and apply it for another purpose.

"However, in the real world, when a firm goes into receivership, all bets are off when it comes to protection, because everyone's scrabbling for something of value.

"It's yet another hurdle for data protection advocates to jump through," he added.

Wound up

XY's founding editor, Peter Ian Cummings, filed for bankruptcy in February 2010. He listed his personal assets at $1,500, a net income of zero and one other asset: the "customer list, personal data and editorial and back issues of XY Magazine and XY.com"

Shoshanna Schiff, a partner with the Trenk law firm – representing the creditors – told the US website Cnet.com: "Any property listed on the debtor's bankruptcy petition is property of the bankruptcy estate and my client intends to administer those assets for the benefit of creditors."

Mr Davies said that the UK Information Commissioner had an obligation to protect any British citizens who may be on the database.

"I would argue that this is a case where the Information Commissioner should write directly to the US and ensure action is taken."

The Social Connector in Outllook unites Facebook and e-mail

Microsoft has integrated Facebook into its Outlook e-mail system in its latest move towards the social web.

Users of Outlook will be able to see the Facebook profile photos of their e-mail contacts, plus their news feeds, status updates, pictures uploads and wall posts.

Currently people will only be able to view Facebook pages rather than update them via their e-mail account.

The move follows an integration between Outlook and business network LinkedIn.

Not spectacular

The add-on to Microsoft Outlook's Social Connector is available for download immediately.

Chris Adams, Microsoft's Office 2010 product manager said: "The Outlook Social Connector and providers from partners such as Facebook makes it easy and convenient for busy people to stay in touch with the people they care about."

Microsoft has long seen pulling the social web into its suite of products as a key part of its strategy.

Last year it launched Outlook Social Connector as part of its new Office 2010 software which went on sale in June.

Nate Elliott, a principal analyst with research firm Forrester, said the news would have more impact for the companies involved than for consumers.

"I'm not convinced it is a huge deal from the consumers' point of view as it doesn't really change the social media experience," he said.

"Pulling in a photo of someone in your contacts list isn't that spectacular. It does allow you to add people to your Facebook account but that is a relatively minor piece of functionality," he added.

For Microsoft though it is an acknowledgement that the social web is here to stay, thinks Mr Elliott.

"Microsoft has always maintained that it has its own social network in Windows Messeger so it is pretty notable that it is reaching beyond its own products," he said.

And for Facebook, the more integration it gets in other key software products the more likely it is to maintain its dominance of the social web.

"A few years ago Facebook took over from MySpace but the threat of people switching away from Facebook still exists," said Mr Elliott.

To avoid the privacy issue that blew up when Google integrated its social network Buzz into GMail, Microsoft has made sure that only Outlook e-mail addresses linked to Facebook accounts will be drawn into the system.

Gartner predicts that by 2014 social networking services will replace e-mail as the primary vehicle for communication for 20% of business users.

Steve Ballmer showed off a slate device by HP in January 2010

Tablet devices which run the Windows 7 operating system will launch in the coming months, according to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba, and Sony are among the manufacturers working on Windows slate PCs, he told delegates at a company conference.

Mr Ballmer said the area was "terribly important" to Microsoft, but did not mention any specific release dates.

Apple's iPad touch-screen device sold 3 million units within 80 days of launch.

"This year, one of the most important things that we will do in the smart device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates," Mr Ballmer said at the firm's annual World Partner Conference.

The devices will come in various forms, some dockable and some with keyboards, he added.

In April 2010, Microsoft shelved development of the Courier, a dual-screen tablet device, and rumours have swirled about the future of HP's slate, which was revealed by Steve Ballmer at technology fair CES in January 2010.

The device has not been brought to market, but Mr Ballmer did name HP as one of the manufacturers working with Microsoft on Windows tablet devices.

Cloud looming

Tim Danton, editor on PC Pro magazine, said that the challenge for Microsoft in the tablet market was that the Windows operating systems were not designed for a touch screen format.

"They are fundamentally built for a mouse and keyboard – trying to develop everything for touch is very different," he said.

"Windows 7 has some touch functionality, but it is still not a core part of the operating system. Microsoft would be better looking at its Windows 7 phone operating system and using that."

Mr Ballmer also said that cloud computing, in which devices use internet-based programmes and storage rather than hardware, is a priority for Microsoft.

"We are at an inflection point in technology history," he said.

"For customers, cloud computing creates tremendous value, which translates to massive opportunity for Microsoft and its partners."

Robert Wahbe, Microsoft's Vice President, Servers and Tools, wrote in a blog post that the firm was "investing deeply" in cloud computers with products such as Windows Azure, a cloud-based platform.

However, while some market analysts are predicting that the area will continue to grow in terms of popularity and investment, others are more cautious.

"The amount of cloud computing is quite small at the moment, so even if it does double that is not such a big deal", said analyst Laurent Lachal at rival research firm Ovum.