The short battle between Amazon and the Authors Guild over the text-to-speech feature found in the Kindle 2 has finally come to an end. In a statement, the world-famous bookseller announced that control over the feature has been handed over to the publishing houses. By transferring power to an outside source, Amazon not only successfully avoids a lawsuit, but allows both the union and the publishers to have more control over the published work. As we have previously reported, the Authors Guild aren’t exactly fans of the new tool, claiming that it essentially allows users to “steal” the audio book. Many within the tech industry question the union’s position, calling it “petty” and “not thought out.” The National Federation for the Blind has also spoken out against the Guild, saying that their position is “shameful” and “harmful to blind people.”

Elsewhere, it seems as if someone from Microsoft has contracted a bad case of “loose lips.” On Twitter over the weekend, Microsoft search guru Barney Pell casually mentioned that he “played… with Live search upcoming (to be rebranded) launch pre-beta (sic).” Needless to say, this admission caused the industry to stand up and take notice and caused Microsoft to pull some emergency damage control. Aside from deleting the “rogue” Tweet, the folks at Redmond have completely ignored the incident. As of now, there is still no time table for when the change will happen.

In other news, Flock, a former Free Line favorite that attempts to combine social networking and web browsing, is switching allegiances. The company has officially announced that they are dumping the Mozilla code the browser is currently based upon for that of Google Chrome. While the actual reason for the change is unknown, many speculate that it is due to the unwillingness of the Mozilla community to embrace newer protocols and tools. While the switchover to Chrome is coming, don’t expect for it to happen overnight. Due to the nature of browser development, many feel that Flock will be dependent upon at least some of Mozilla’s code for the foreseeable future.

Next: Hulu fans have yet another place to go to get their video fix — Dailymotion. “Dailymotion is delighted to partner with Hulu,” Dailymotion General Manager Joy Marcus said in a statement. “We’re confident that our audience will benefit not only from the addition of such an impressive line-up of content, but also from the premium entertainment experience offered by Dailymotion’s advanced technology.” Those close to the deal are surprised that it even happened at all. The folks at Hulu aren’t exactly making any friends at the moment, and the France-based Dailymotion isn’t necessarily a known entity in the US. That being said, officials are hopeful that the deal will help to both improve a reputation and raise a profile, respectively. As always, the Hulu/Dailymotion partnership is a US-only venture.

And finally: Like most people, we here at the Free Line have a well-known “love/hate” relationship with ZIP files. When it comes to storing pictures or packing programs, the ZIP file type is a godsend. When it comes to loading a printer driver, on the other hand … well, let’s just say that that is when the good tidings end. After all, nothing says “fun” like spending twenty minutes loading a gigantic file when all you need is one or two components. Luckily for us, there’s WobZIP. WobZIP is a handy little web app that actually opens a ZIP file before it ever loads. Once the file is open, the user can pick and choose the pieces that he or she needs. The result is a clean download of files that you actually want. Easy to operate and indispensable in certain situations, WobZIP takes the “hate” out of the love/hate relationship mentioned above.