Center for Democracy and Technology

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have joined rights groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to create the Global Network Initiative to protect and advance privacy, freedom of expression, and human rights.

The initiative will examine issues relating to freedom of expression and privacy around the world and international laws and standards that affect companies doing global business.

President George Bush signed two bills into law on Monday that would protect children from online predators, but one group said the bills were rushed to the White House for signature without careful consideration.

While Congress considered the nation's financial bailout plan, other significant bills protecting children were being debated, including the Protect Our Children Act of 2008 (POCA) and Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act (KIDSPA).

Microsoft on Monday revealed some new privacy features for Internet Explorer 8, the next version of its market-leading Web browser. The features address the concerns of consumers and privacy advocates, who called the plans a positive step.

The new features will let users control their history, cookies and other information that IE8 stores. Other features aim to help users control how their browsing history is shared by Web sites. By default, IE8 browses the Web the same way IE7 does.

Yahoo's recently launched Fire Eagle has privacy advocates burning up about the new open platform that allows users to show their location on the Web and also allows developers access to users' locations.

Yahoo officials insisted control is in the hands of the users. Users may decide how much they want to expose about their location, including the country, state, city and even street address.

Yahoo's recently launched Fire Eagle has privacy advocates burning up about the new open platform that allows users to show their location on the Web and also allows developers access to users' locations.

Yahoo officials insisted control is in the hands of the users. Users may decide how much they want to expose about their location, including the country, state, city and even street address.

While the Federal Communication Commission voted 3-2 to punish Comcast for its alleged poor network-management practices, concerns are being raised about the FCC's legal authority over the cable-TV and Internet services provider.

On Friday, the FCC ruled that Comcast had been monitoring and blocking subscribers' use of peer-to-peer file sharing, specifically with BitTorrent P2P software.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Chinese government confirmed Wednesday what free-speech advocates loathe to hear: Reporters covering the Olympic Games won't be able to access Web sites that China deems politically sensitive.

Internet censorship is standard for China's citizens, but China vowed seven years ago to allow journalists unfettered access during the Olympics. The backpedaling means about 20,000 reporters and technicians that will flood Beijing next week for the Olympic Games will be working with a handicap.

Online ad company NebuAd faced tough questions from U.S. senators on Wednesday. Privacy advocates have complained that the company's technology is too intrusive and may be breaking laws.

NebuAd is insisting its privacy protections are comprehensive. It also is offering new tools, such as customer notification and new opt-out technology, to empower Internet service providers.

"NebuAd is committed to driving innovation in online advertising while pioneering industry-leading privacy practices," said NebuAd CEO Bob Dykes.

Does Ad Targeting Break the Law?

U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton last week ordered Google to supply Viacom with records that reveal which users watched specific videos on its YouTube site. The ruling comes in the discovery phase of Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit against Google for copyright infringement.

Stanton decided Viacom needed more than user log-in names and IP addresses to target unique YouTube visitors. Nonetheless, privacy advocates are calling the ruling a blow to online privacy.