Sony Corp. is negotiating with Fujitsu Ltd. to acquire Internet service provider Nifty Corp., a Fujitsu subsidiary, industry sources said Friday.

The acquisition, estimated to be valued at tens of billions of yen, apparently reflects Sony's strategy of making distribution of motion pictures and music software through the high-speed broadband a major pillar of its business in the future.

If the deal goes through, Sony is considering integrating Nifty's operations with Sony Communication Network, an Internet provider that operates So-net, the sources said.

Fujitsu is shifting resources to the information systems business for corporations from individual clients and will use proceeds from the deal to make up an estimated 310 billion yen group net loss in the business year to March 31, the source said.

Nifty, with about 5 million subscribers, held the largest share of the domestic Internet provider market at the March 31 end of the 2000 business year, with 16.8 percent.

Its revenues for the year totaled 60.4 billion yen.

Sony shouts Yahoo!

NEW YORK (Kyodo) PlayStation2, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s home video game console, was the most searched item on portal site Yahoo! Inc. of the United States in 2001, Yahoo! said Thursday.

The World Trade Center, which was reduced to rubble in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., placed sixth in the ranking. Osama bin Laden was ranked 15th.

Yahoo! based the rankings on key words typed into its search engine between January and Dec. 15.

Dragon Ball Z, a popular Japanese animated TV series and movie, placed fourth, while well-known book and movie character Harry Potter was seventh, Yahoo! said.

Ichiro Suzuki, named the the U.S. American League's Most Valuable Player in 2001, placed tenth in the sports section.