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China's top Internet regulator insisted Friday that Google must obey its laws or "pay the consequences," giving no sign of a possible compromise in their dispute over censorship and hacking.

"If you want to do something that disobeys Chinese law and regulations, you are unfriendly, you are irresponsible and you will have to pay the consequences," Li Yizhong, the minister of Industry and Information Technology, said on the sidelines of China's annual legislature.

With its mind in the clouds and an eye on rival Microsoft, Google on Tuesday launched an online application store for third-party programs that can be integrated with its online Google Apps office suite, with a single log-in and Google's universal navigation. The programs can sync with Gmail and Google's calendar, and use document-sharing features.

Google is being probed by the European Commission for antitrust behavior. EC officials confirmed Wednesday that the Internet search giant is under investigation after a trio of companies filed complaints against Google.

The complaints came from Foundem, a price-comparison web site; French legal search site Ejustice; and Ciao from Bing, a search site operated by Microsoft.

Google is being probed by the European Commission for antitrust behavior. EC officials confirmed Wednesday that the Internet search giant is under investigation after a trio of companies filed complaints against Google.

The complaints came from Foundem, a price-comparison web site; French legal search site Ejustice; and Ciao from Bing, a search site operated by Microsoft.

Google Inc. wants the digital rights to millions of books badly enough that it's willing to take on the U.S. Department of Justice in a court battle over whether the Internet search leader's ambitions would break antitrust and copyright laws.

The stage for the showdown was set Thursday with a Google court filing that defended the $125 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit the company reached with U.S. authors and publishers more than 14 months ago.

A high-ranking Chinese official on Tuesday again rejected all accusations of involvement of his government in any hacking attacks against Western companies.

"The government has never supported or been involved in cyber attacks, and it will never do so. Those remarks are sheer nonsense," said Peng Bo, of the Internet bureau of the State Council's Information Office.

Google's accusation that its e-mail accounts were hacked from China landed like a bombshell because it cast light on a problem that few companies will discuss: the pervasive threat from China-based cyberattacks.

The hacking that angered Google Inc. and hit dozens of other businesses adds to growing concern that China is a center for a global explosion of Internet crimes, part of a rash of attacks aimed at a wide array of targets, from a British military contractor to banks and chemical companies to a California software maker.

The recent hacking attack that prompted Google's threat to leave China is underscoring the heightened dangers of previously undisclosed computer security flaws -- and renewing debate over buying and selling information about them in the black market.

Because no fix was available, the linchpin in the attack was one of the worst kinds of security holes. Criminals treasure these types of "zero day" security vulnerabilities because they are the closest to a sure thing and virtually guarantee the success of a shrewdly crafted attack.

Even if Google's stand against censorship leads it to close its search engine in China, the company still hopes to maintain other key operations in the world's most populous Internet market.

Google Inc. is in delicate negotiations with the Chinese government to keep its research center in China, an advertising sales team that generates most of the company's revenue in the country and a fledgling mobile phone business.

Both sides are torn by conflicting objectives.

Amid fears of more than 100,000 dead, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it's too early to estimate how many people fell victim to the massive earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years.

But tech giants aren't waiting for a final assessment of casualties and damages. Major industry players like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Systems, Verizon and Sprint Nextel are rushing to offer financial help and setting up donation mechanisms for the public.