F.T.C. It is said near a move on Google

For several months, lawyers at the Commission have collected information on Google search and search results to commercial advertising and the manner in which orders and related advertising constitutes illegal anti-competitive behaviour.

This month, Commissioners privately debated whether the competition authorise the Bureau to issue subpoenas to Google and are close to moving forward. As Commission Thursday afternoon, formalities remained before the investigation has officially begun, but two people with knowledge of the matter said a final decision to issue the subpoenas was forthcoming within days. They agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity because the action was not yet final and because it might be postponed if the Commission requested further information.

The Commission's action was reported online by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Spokesmen for Google and the Federal Trade Commission declined to comment.

Google has been the target of antitrust repeated requests in recent years, most of them involving proposed acquisitions. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have conducted reviews of acquisitions of Google DoubleClick Advertising Internet companies and AdMob.

More recently, the Justice Department reviewing Google's purchase of ITA Software, a provider of travel. In this case, the Government cleared the merger only after Google has agreed to conditions and continuous monitoring of the Government. Just this month, the Justice Department began an investigation into the acquisition of 400 million Admeld, Google that provides advertising services to publishers.

In 2008, the Department of Justice has blocked a proposed advertising deal between Google and Yahoo because of concerns about its effect on competition. Last year, also opposed a sweeping Court settlement between Google and publishers and authors, partly because the agreement would give Google too much power over the market for digital books.

But unlike these cases, which affected only a small part of Google's business, the current investigation is focusing on Google's main activities: research on the Internet and advertising. If port charges against the company, the impact could be more profound, antitrust experts.

"This is the main Act," said Ted Henneberry, a former trial attorney at the Department of Justice and partner of Orrick Herrington and Sutcliffe.

If Google is found to have abused its dominant position in Internet search and advertising, would levy fines F.T.C. not. But has the authority to issue orders to cease-and-desist for violations of the Law Commission, and may even file a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction against certain behaviors. The Department of Justice and the F.T.C. share jurisdiction over antitrust issues. But as a matter of practice they alternate which the Agency takes the lead in an investigation.

Critics of Google have pushed for a broad antitrust investigation into the company's research activities, where it controls about two-thirds of the market in the United States. In the past, the company's executives have said that the more control by regulators is a normal byproduct of his success.

Addressing in particular the results of research, company officials say its ranking decisions are made for the benefit of users and that, as with any system of classification, some parties will be satisfied with their marketing.

The company's market share remained stable in recent years. According to comScore, Google search stops controlled 65.5% of the market in may; Yahoo had 16 percent and 14 percent Bing.

Last year, the European Commission has opened their antitrust investigation into Google's search activity, after complaints from small firms, who said that Google downgraded their sites in its search results, giving a favor to their Web services. The investigation is pending.

Making a site more or less likely to climb to the top of its search results, Google theoretically could affect how much traffic a website has gotten so as it could pay for advertising. If another company's Web site for, say, a travel service, competes with an ancillary activity, manipulation of Google search results could be considered anti-competitive.

Principal activity of search advertising to Google accounts for most of the company's revenue, which amounted to $ 29.3 billion last year.

FairSearch.org, an organization that represents many of the critics of Google, including the websites of Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak and Microsoft said that it was encouraged by the reports of the investigation F.T.C ...

"Google engages in anti-competitive behaviour in many vertical search categories that harms consumers," the organisation said in a statement. "Is the result of anti-competitive practices by Google to curb innovation and investments in new technologies from other companies."

According to comScore, Google in May became the first company to have a billion unique visitors to their site in a month, a rate that was up 8 percent over a year earlier. Google's share price is down 19 percent since the beginning of the year.

Edward Wyatt reported from Washington and Miguel Helft from San Francisco.

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France drops plans for ' Google Tax '

Paris — the French lawmakers have abandoned plans for a tax on online advertising that had come to know, somewhat incorrectly, as the Google tax.

Late Wednesday, Philippe Marini, a legislator from the Party of President Nicolas Sarkozy, U.M.P. withdrew the legislation seeking to reintroduce the tax plans, just days after the National Assembly had refused.

The measure, which had been approved by the Senate, would have imposed a 1% levy on the cost of online advertising in France. Aimed to address the concern of the French Government that foreign companies of the Internet as Google pay little or no taxes on their earnings in France.

Support for legislation flagged after critics pointed out that it would have had little effect on Google because the company sells advertising aimed at users in France through its subsidiary in Ireland, where tax rates are lower. Instead, French Internet companies complained that they and their advertisers have suffered, thus holding back the development of an economy of homegrown French Internet.

After the rejection of the measure in the Senate this week, ASIC, a trade association for Web companies, including Google, Microsoft and eBay and French companies such as Dailymotion, praised as calls a decision to "save the digital economy."

Often seen as suspicious by the Internet, the French Government in recent months has been stressing the importance of digital technology for general economic development of France.

In may, Mr Sarkozy has convened a meeting of leaders of Internet companies here on the eve of the Group of 8 meeting in Deauville, France. Also this year, has established a National Council, which includes representatives of industry, to advise the Government on issues related to technology.

The proposal for the "Google tax" was backed by organizations representing the content creators and other copyright owners, who noted that income tax revenue from television advertising was used to support the film and television production in France.

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Media decoder: Google and Mozilla to announce new Privacy features

For the list of companies that intend to offer Web users new ways to control how we collect personal data online, add two largest producers of Internet browsers.

Monday, Mozilla and Google announced the features that enable users to Firefox and Chrome browser to opt-out of line caught by third-party advertisers. The companies made their ads a few weeks after the Federal Trade Commission has published a report that supported a mechanism of "track" that will allow consumers to choose if companies could monitor their online behavior.

In a blog post from Alex Fowler, Mozilla technology and privacy officer, the company presented a proposal for the Firefox browser functionality that would be a signal of third-party advertisers and commercial websites that indicates that a user would not be tracked. The mechanism, called an HTTP header do not trace, would rely on the companies who receive the information for the user agrees not to collect data.

The approach is different from other options currently available to users that rely on cookies or lists generated by the user. In December, Microsoft announced a feature called detection for Internet Explorer 9 that would rely on lists that users create that indicate which sites they don't want to share information with.

"We believe that the approach based on header has the potential to be better for the web in the long run, because it is a clearer and more universal mechanism to opt-out cookies or blacklists," said Mr. Fowler in the blog post.

In a statement, said the President of the Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz,: "initiative of Mozilla is to be commended. It recognises that consumers want a choice about who is tracking their movements online, and is a first step towards giving consumer choice about who will have access to your data. Also reports that Do not track options are technically feasible. "

Google's approach is based on a browser extension or plug-in, called Keep My Opt-out that work with all versions of its Chrome browser. The extension would allow users to opt-out permanently monitored online by advertisers that already offer opt-out options through self-regulatory programs, such as the Alliance of digital advertising and the Network Advertising Initiative.

In a blog post from Google, the company said it would offer the code for the extension developers on an open source and that you plan to make the functionality available to other browsers in the future.

Regarding the announcement of Google, said a spokesman for F.T.C., "we are pleased that Google is involved in the process, but Mozilla and Microsoft are clearly steps forward".

In a statement, Mike Zaneis, senior vice president and general counsel for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, an organization that supports self-regulation of the sector, said that the feature of Mozilla would require companies to voluntarily recognize consumer choice and that was not yet clear how users can protect their privacy.

"The first analogy that comes to mind is that if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?  Well, Google has guaranteed an audience to hear the sound of the tree falling, working with established industry, "said Mr. Zaneis.

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Google gives $ 100 million in stock and options of Schmidt

Stuxnet what it means for the future of computer viruses. what does it say a manuscript of Lincoln doctored around the 16th President of the enduring myths.John McWhorter and Benjamin Zimmer discuss the rhetoric and ritual of the State of the Union address.

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Google offers a Wisp of cloud printing

Print is directed to the cloud, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) announced several times in recent years and Mondays, it beta-launched mobile cloud print to documents.

"Imagine the printing of an important document from your smartphone on the way to work and find printing awaits you when you walk in the door," a member of the team of Google Print cloud Tyler Odean published on the Internet search giant's Mobile Blog. "Just open a document in Google Docs or an email to Gmail on your mobile browser and choose" print "from the drop-down menu".

Document printing from mobile devices, although accused of concerns safety, "is a step in the right direction to ' cut the cord, '" said Ari Zoldan, CEO of Quantum networks.

"The digital landscape is changing dramatically," he told TechNewsWorld. "Mobile devices are becoming the new notebook, and then print from your mobile phone will be commonplace."

One of the great promises of the cloud--a communications network, aptly named independent position becoming ubiquitous as his brother, the Web--it sounds as if it was heaven sent.

To use its many services, cloud computing does not require any drivers--none of those pesky programs that connect hardware to the software by another entity annoying cloud promises to make obsolete: the cable.

"As we said in the blog post yesterday, Google cloud Print is ' a service that allows you to print from any application on any device, OS or browsers without the need to install drivers, '" Google spokesman Eitan Bencuya pointed to TechNewsWorld.

What is more, "cloud Google Print in Gmail and docs mobile mobile is only a first step" in the cloud, Bencuya noted.

This step "100%" promises services which will be even more flexible, Quantum Zoldan explained, "and other options, the better it is for the consumer mobile"

On a PC desktop, cloud printing requires Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 running Google Chrome version 9.0.597.1 or later. Mac OS X and Linux is not supported. Wrench icon in the upper right corner of Chrome goes "sign in to Google cloud print." A success-access list available printers as cloud printing options.

HTML5 is the key to cloud printing works on mobile devices running Android 2.1 + and 3 + iOS.

"HTML5 mobile apps brings to behave more like desktop applications or native," said Compuware CTO Imad Moulin. He gives no success cloud printing and enjoy other Google applications for this version of the popular markup language, which ironically is not known among the general public.

"Safari uses HTML 5; Chrome uses HTML5; but some desktop browser to use it, so that the distribution was slow, "the Moulin told TechNewsWorld.

"HTML5 makes it easier to deploy Web-based applications and does not require an app store", he added. "Without it, cloud printing would be much less easy to use and much more difficult to operate across many different browsers and devices."

Sending confidential documents on a network of cloud raises two major security issues: public access and security of the transmission.

"Google Chrome OS was is designed to store all data in the cloud," Barnes & Thornburg partner John Watkins, a member of his or her practice of cloud computing and cyber security, told TechNewsWorld. "This raises all the privacy and security issues associated with the storing of information (especially sensitive information) on public cloud based systems."

What's more, if the transmission is not secure, "someone could intercept the transmission to the printer and access the document," added Barnes & Thornburg partner Roy Hadley, also a member of his or her practice of cloud computing and cyber security.

To respond to two concerns, "you can read our privacy policy the cloud of Google Print FAQ," Bencuya Google told TechNewsWorld.

"Any transfer of data between applications and between cloud Google Print and Google cloud printing and printers, is over an encrypted connection," explains the FAQ.

From Gmail messages to Google Docs, documents can be stored in the user's Google account. Google cloud Print temporarily stores data residing elsewhere, "securely accessible only by the user" FAQ explains. "Once the data has reached the printer, it is deleted from the Google servers".

Secure connections, security deposit remains.

"Although convenient, would not recommend clients store sensitive data in this way," said Barnes & Thornburg Watkins--"up to security, privacy and liability issues are sorted."

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