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McDonald's. Blockbuster. And now Facebook? The social network and its controversial privacy policies are teeming with new complications as regulators overseas increasingly start to regard them as a suspicious, Americanizing import.

This week, data protection officials in Hamburg, Germany, sent a menacing missive in Facebook's direction, accusing the social network of partaking in illegal activities by retaining data about people who aren't members of the site but whose contact information may have come into its possession through members' e-mail importer tools. Last year, the privacy commissioner in Canada put significant pressure on Facebook to simplify its privacy … Read more

GETTYSBURG, Pa.--If you're a Civil War buff, or even an amateur historian, you no doubt know the history of the battle for Gettysburg. One of the most famous battles of the Civil War, it was also one of the bloodiest. Over three days of intense fighting, Federal troops led by Major General George Gordon Meade fought off Robert E. Lee's Confederate troops, and the battles in and around Gettysburg are often thought to be a turning point in the war.

Each summer, hundreds or thousands of enactors travel here to take part in the annual Gettysburg Civil War Reenactment. … Read more

The European Parliament took aim Wednesday at a secret intellectual property treaty that has been criticized for possibly giving copyright holders more power to pull the plug on peer-to-peer users.

By a remarkable vote of 633 to 13, the Parliament rebuked European negotiators who have been drafting the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in a series of confidential meetings around the globe. No version of the document has been disclosed by the participants, which include the United States, the European Commission, Japan, and Canada.

Parliament's resolution demands that the European Commission--the EU's executive branch--grant "public access" to … Read more

Microsoft's latest tweak to its browser ballot screen seems to have fixed a key programming flaw.

In response to antitrust concerns by European regulators, the company recently unveiled its browser ballot page to give European users a choice of browsers to install. But the company was criticized for using sloppy code that didn't adequately randomize the order in which each browser's icon and link displays.

The algorithm used is supposed to change the order of the browsers from left to right each time the page opens. That change occurred, but apparently not randomly enough. The code often … Read more

Google's Street View snapshot tours of Europe could potentially come to an end, according to a high-level executive. But a company representative differed, saying that Google has no plans to stop photo shoots on that continent.

Faced with European Union demands that Google reduce the time it stores its Street View images from 12 months to 6 months, Google Chief Technology Advocate Michael Jones said this week that the company may choose not to map any new photos in Europe unless an agreement on data retention can be reached. Jones, who is also Google's former chief technologist of … Read more

The highest court in Germany has suspended a controversial law in Europe requiring phone and e-mail providers to hold customer data for six months in case it's needed by law enforcement.

Germany's Federal Constitution Court called the law "inadmissable" and ruled that changes would be needed to limit its scope, according to a story in Spiegel Online. The court felt that the data was not properly secured or protected and that its use had not been made clear.

The legislation to retain customer records for e-mail as well as mobile and landline calls was first proposed … Read more

Prices may be falling for mobile and broadband access across the globe, but if you want fast Internet access, it still pays to be rich.

The costs for information and communication technology are continuing to drop, says a report released Tuesday by the United Nations agency known as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). However, broadband Internet access is still pricey and out of reach to many poor countries.

Prices on broadband services fell on average around 42 percent across 161 countries last year, according to the ITU report summary (PDF). The report ranked countries on the use and cost of … Read more

And so it begins: the European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation of Google.

The Telegraph reported late Tuesday that European regulators have sent a letter to Google asking the company to explain how it ranks search results and advertising after complaints from European businesses such as Foundem, a price comparison site, and Ciao, another price comparison site owned by Microsoft. Those companies--Foundem in particular--have long complained that Google penalized their Web sites in search results under competitive pressure.

Google confirmed that it has received an inquiry from European regulators but denied any wrongdoing. "While we will be providing … Read more

Microsoft and Yahoo have cleared the final hurdles to their search outsourcing deal--approval from the U.S. Justice Department and the European Union.

The two companies said Thursday they will now focus on the nitty-gritty of the transition.

"Implementation of the deal is expected to begin in the coming days and will involve transitioning Yahoo's algorithmic and paid search platforms to Microsoft, with Yahoo becoming the exclusive relationship sales force for both companies' premium search advertisers globally," the companies said in a joint press release.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called the approvals an "exciting milestone" … Read more