As expected, the Federal Trade Commission today said there's no need for new privacy laws that would regulate behavioral targeting companies' efforts to collect data about consumers.

The Maryland General Assembly's information services chief intends to repeal his ban of Facebook, but not MySpace, Legum's New Line reports.

Microsoft executives today told European privacy officials that the company is willing to anonymize its search logs after six months if its competitors do likewise.

With newspapers struggling for survival, industry observers are asking whether it makes sense for publishers to continue to post free articles online. Entrepreneur and journalist Steven Brill has joined the pundits who say the answer is no.

More than 40 state legislators in Maryland have created Facebook pages. But don't expect them to post any status updates during the workday. In one of the more bizarre governmental leaps of logic, the Maryland General Assembly's Information Services Director has blocked access to Facebook and MySpace due to a fear of computer viruses.

A Connecticut lawmaker intends to introduce a bill to protect students' right to free speech online, Fox News reports. A preliminary version of the bill would prohibit school officials from "punishing students for the content of electronic correspondence transmitted outside of school facilities ... provided such content is not a threat to students, personnel or the school."

The Web might be worldwide in theory, but a hodgepodge of different laws about freedom of speech and privacy threaten to create vastly different versions of the Internet in different countries.

Italy's inexplicable decision to bring criminal proceedings against Google executives highlights the stark contrast between U.S. law and laws in the rest of the world. It also calls into focus the growing hurdles faced by Web companies that have developed a global presence.

The record industry's lawsuit against grad student Joel Tenenbaum appears likely to be one of the last such cases against an individual accused of file-sharing. The case also will be one of the most significant, likely to affect how courts view the Internet for years to come.