Google developing online payment system: CEO
By Lisa Baertlein

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc.(GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is developing an online payment system but not a direct rival to eBay Inc.'s PayPal, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Tuesday.

Schmidt spoke after several days of heated speculation over reports that Google was working on a potential rival to PayPal, eBay's popular online payment system.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...

Your ISP as Net watchdog

By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

The U.S. Department of Justice is quietly shopping around the explosive idea of requiring Internet service providers to retain records of their customers' online activities.

Data retention rules could permit police to obtain records of e-mail chatter, Web browsing or chat-room activity months after Internet providers ordinarily would have deleted the logs--that is, if logs were ever kept in the first place. No U.S. law currently mandates that such logs be kept.

CLICK HERE to continue reading...