Federal Trade Commission

U.S. regulators are reportedly digging deeper into Google's planned AdMob acquisition. The Federal Trade Commission is asking for sworn statements from the search giant's competitors and advertisers in what could signal plans to hold up the merger. The news comes as part of a wave of government scrutiny against the maturing company.

Nearly 100 organizations have been notified by the Federal Trade Commission that "sensitive data" about customers and employees has been taken from their computer networks and made available on peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks. The FTC said Monday that it has also opened "nonpublic investigations" of other companies whose information has been "exposed" on the P2P networks.

Google is getting plenty of backlash from privacy advocates. Just a week after the search giant launched Google Buzz social features in its Gmail service, the Federal Trade Commission is receiving accusations about violations of federal consumer-protection laws.

Opera announced it has developed a version of its Opera Mini web browser for Apple's iPhone. The Norwegian company said it will demonstrate the new browser at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Jon von Tetzchner, cofounder of Opera Software, said he is "thrilled" to offer the preview and added that the software provides a "fast, feature-rich" experience for iPhone users. Opera on the iPhone brings the company "one step closer" to its mission of "bringing the web to the world," he said.

Will Apple Approve?

Microsoft has taken a step toward getting the federal government to pay attention to cloud-computing services. The Redmond, Wash.-based company is asking for a cloud-computing law.

Microsoft's senior vice president and top legal counsel, Brad Smith, has proposed that Congress institute the Cloud Computing Advancement Act to help foster trust in cloud-computing services and address privacy concerns.

After 59 acquisitions, Google has hit a roadblock with one of its latest purchase attempts. Consumer groups have asked the Federal Trade Commission to block the search giant's $750 million acquisition of AdMob, a mobile advertising company.

The Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog said Google's acquisition would be anticompetitive. Acquiring AdMob gives Google the tools it needs to more effectively create and analyze mobile-ad formats.

U.S. antitrust regulators are taking a closer look at Google Inc.'s proposed $750 million purchase of mobile phone marketer AdMob, the latest sign of greater government vigilance as Google tries to expand its advertising empire.

The Federal Trade Commission sought more information about the deal this week, according to a Wednesday post on Google's blog.

This so-called "second request" doesn't mean regulators intend to block Google's AdMob deal. Most other acquisitions that go through this stage end up getting approved.

Facebook's privacy problem is getting worse. Not only is the dominant social-networking company facing ongoing resistance to new privacy controls from users and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), but now it faces a Federal Trade Commission complaint filed by the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center.

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Intel Wednesday that accuses the world's leading microprocessor maker of illegally stifling competition for more than a decade. By waging a systematic campaign to prevent competing microchips from gaining full access to the marketplace, the FTC said, Intel has deprived consumers of potentially superior chips at lower prices.

The Obama administration has decided to join United Nations talks on cyberwar and Internet crime. After several years of staying out of talks between the U.N. and other countries, the U.S. will participate in discussions with Russia and the U.N.'s Arms Control Committee, sources told The New York Times.

The committee has been leading the talks between nations that wish to tackle cybercrimes. The U.S. is interested in reducing cybercrimes and limiting military use of cyberspace, while other countries such as Russia are interested in talks on cyberterrorism.