As the U.S. steps back from overseeing the group entrusted to essentially run the Internet, states and corporations are grabbing for the reins.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has gone from being behind the scenes tending to the task of managing website addresses to being center stage in a play for power on the Internet.

Hackers are shaking off their reputations as nerdy, loner basement dwellers and rebranding themselves on the world stage as members of Internet age tribes with offbeat codes of conduct and capricious goals.

Clans of hackers such as Anonymous, LulzSec and Lizard Squad have caused havoc -- and made news -- in recent years, but the legacy of the online community stretches back decades.

Superfast Internet connections are likely open up new kinds of communication such as "telepresence" and improve services such as remote health care, a survey of experts showed Thursday.

The ultrafast connections, expected to be widely deployed in the coming years, can open up a range of possibilities by delivering "immersive" experiences and virtual reality, according to the experts polled by the Pew Research Center and Elon University.

The European Union and U.S. Internet giants including Facebook and Twitter have agreed to work together to combat online extremism, and discussed steps that the firms are taking to block beheading videos, officials said Thursday.

EU Interior ministers and officials met representatives from the technology firms at a dinner in Luxembourg on Wednesday amid growing alarm that Islamist material is encouraging young Muslims to fight in Syria and Iraq.

Online voting has the potential to boost election participation around the world, but is not yet ready to be widely rolled out due to security risks, a study released Wednesday said.

Apple on Wednesday sent out invitations to an October 16 event expected to spotlight updates to its line of iPad tablet computers.

The global market for personal computers showed signs of stabilizing in the third quarter as infatuation with tablets appeared to fade, a market tracker said Wednesday.

Taiwan-based HTC on Wednesday unveiled its newest smartphone with high-resolution cameras on both sides to appeal to people who take "selfie" pictures.

The HTC Desire Eye, unveiled at a New York event, includes 13-megapixel cameras on both the front and back.

Google's Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday U.S. online spying is a threat so dire it could wind up "breaking the Internet."

Schmidt's concern was echoed by Facebook, Microsoft, Dropbox and others involved in a panel discussion in Silicon Valley led by Senate finance committee chairman Ron Wyden. 

The European Union will ask major U.S. technology companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter to help tackle online extremism at a meeting on Wednesday, officials said.