THE NEWS WRAP: Payout for investors hit by collapse of Trio

The largest compensation package in Australian history will be paid by the Federal Government to help investors who lost their money with superannuation fund Trio.

The Government will pay $55 million to more than 5,300 investors via special levy on the super industry. Trio had its $400 million assets frozen by ASIC last year after it allegedly invested money in non-existent offshore hedge funds.

Huffington Post faces blogger lawsuit

AOL is being sued over claims that a large chunk of the $US315 million it paid for The Huffington Post should’ve been given to the army of unpaid bloggers who contribute to the site.

Jonathan Tasini, a social activist and commentator, has filed the lawsuit in the hope that it becomes a class action. Tasini claims that $105 million should be paid to him and around 9,000 contributors. The Huffington Post, founded by flamboyant entrepreneur Adrianna Huffington, has refuted the claim.

Microsoft to launch StreetView rival

Microsoft is to launch a rival to Google’s StreetView across Europe. Cars fitted with cameras will spend the next month mapping cities for the offering, dubbed Streetside.

Microsoft said that it wants to link the serve to other location-based devices, but said that it will be on a smaller scale to StreetView. It will, however, collect wi-fi data – an issue that has previously dogged Google due to complaints that the information capture comprises privacy.

Overnight

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 117.53 points to 12,263.58. The Australian dollar held steady at 104.4 US cents