Google-China case may deter US

The US says Google's problems in China with cyber attacks could deter US companies from investing in the Asian economic powerhouse amid rising trade tensions, says AFP.

"Recent events, specifically the well-publicised Google incident, have reminded us of the continued challenges faced by foreign and US companies operating in China," says US commerce secretary Gary Locke.

The secretary called on China to continue making strides to be "more transparent, predictable and committed to the rule of law" to reassure American firms. "If there is backsliding on these issues, it will affect the appetite of US companies to enter the Chinese market and ultimately that will be bad for both the people of China and the US," says Locke.

Mozilla has embarked on an ambitious project to change the way people view privacy policies from the traditional means of scrolling through pages of legal waft, by designing a standard set of coloured icons to reveal how data-protective or how intrusive Web sites are, reports CNET News.

The Mozilla Foundation's tentative solution is to employ the leverage it has through Firefox to convince publishers to disclose their privacy practices in a standard way that would be displayed in a Web browser's address bar.

"The most important thing we can be doing now is to create the information architecture which defines what people should care about privacy," says Aza Raskin, head of user experience for Mozilla Labs.

The Open Book Alliance (OBA) has filed its formal opposition to the Amended Google Settlement, claiming the revised agreement hasn't affected Google's conduct and that it will still create a de facto exclusive licence, states The Book Seller.

The OBA argues that Google is aiming to become the sole owner of an immense digital library that will improve the company's advertising-based search business, and complains the situation would provide Google with an enormous advantage over its search competitors.

The group is comprised of competitor organisations Amazon, Yahoo, and Microsoft, as well as the National Writers Union, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and Special Libraries Association.