YouTube deal puts Paramount movie rentals online

ONLINE VIDEO

Paramount films on YouTube

YouTube and Paramount Pictures have reached a deal to make nearly 500 films available to rent online, even while their parent companies continue to feud over a $1 billion lawsuit.

The agreement announced Wednesday makes Paramount the fifth major Hollywood studio to join YouTube's online video store, a growing rental library that typically charges $2 to $4 per viewing. News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox is now the only major studio holdout.

But Paramount seemed less likely to join given that its parent company, Viacom, is still pursuing a 2006 lawsuit that seeks damages for alleged piracy by YouTube, which is owned by Google. A federal judge in New York ruled in 2010 that YouTube hadn't broken U.S. laws governing digital piracy, but Viacom is appealing the decision.

MEMORY

MBA BY THE BAY: See how an MBA could change your life with SFGATE's interactive directory of Bay Area programs.

Big drop at SanDisk

SanDisk Corp., the biggest maker of flash-memory cards, fell the most in two months after cutting its forecast for first-quarter sales and profitability, citing weaker-than-expected pricing and demand for components that store data in mobile phones.

The stock declined 11 percent to $44.51 in New York trading after the company's forecast Tuesday. Earlier, SanDisk had lost as much 9.9 percent for the steepest intraday drop since Jan. 26. The Milpitas company's shares had risen 1.7 percent this year before Wednesday.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter in Detroit

Twitter announced Wednesday that it plans to open an office in downtown Detroit.

The San Francisco microblogging company said its first Michigan location will be in the M@dison Building and house a team focused on issues related to advertising. The M@dison is located in a growing technology district being developed by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert.

Twitter's president of global revenue, Adam Bain, said: "Detroit's emerging mix of automotive and digital cultures made it a natural location for Twitter's newest office.

INTERNET

Google boom near Tulsa

Google will double its server capacity in Oklahoma and add 50 jobs when it builds a new facility in the state.

Mike Wooten, the operations manager of Google's data center near Pryor, said the company is looking primarily for local residents to fill the new jobs.

Google's $600 million data center opened in the Mid-America Industrial Park about 45 miles east of Tulsa last fall and already employs more than 100 workers. It contains systems that support Gmail, Google Maps, Google Search and Google Plus.

Wooten said the expansion will bring Google's investment in Oklahoma to $700 million.