BBC News - Google users in Iran report problems, as rallies loom
My Way News reports: "Google says its e-mail traffic in Iran has dropped sharply, amid reports access is being restricted for the Islamic Revolution's anniversary."

My Way News - Berlusconi moves to impose Internet regulation
My Way News reports: "Going beyond other European countries, the premier's government has drafted a decree that would mandate the vetting of videos for pornographic or violent content uploaded by users onto such sites as YouTube, owned by Google, and the France-based Dailymotion, as well as blogs and online newsmedia."

Comment: This is extraordinary, coming only days after U.S. Secretary of State Clinton encouraged China to become more open and lessen internet censorship, one of the core countries of Western Europe is going in the other direction. Rule by decree? Have the fascists returned to Rome?

My Way News - China slams US criticism of Internet controls
My Way News reports: "Beijing issued a stinging response Friday to Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism that it is jamming the free flow of words and ideas on the Internet, accusing the United States of damaging relations between the two countries by imposing its 'information imperialism' on China. [...] In her speech in Washington, Clinton cited China as among a number of countries where there has been "a spike in threats to the free flow of information" over the past year. She also named Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam."

My Way News - China tells Web companies to obey controls
My Way News reports: "In China's first official response to Google's threat to leave the country, the government Thursday said foreign Internet companies are welcome but must obey the law and gave no hint of a possible compromise over Web censorship."

Google reports China-based attack, says pullout possible - CNN.com
CNN reports: "Google said Tuesday the company and at least 20 others were victims of a 'highly sophisticated and targeted attack' originating in China in mid-December, evidently to gain access to the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. [...] as a result of the attacks, Google has decided it is no longer willing to consider censorship of its Google site in China and may have to shut down its site and its offices in that nation."

Skilled foreigners must get UK identity cards - BusinessWeek
Business Week reports: "New regulations that took effect Wednesday require skilled foreign workers who extend their stay in Britain to obtain identity cards containing biometric data, including finger prints and photographs."

My Way News - UK privacy concerns likely to impede body scanners
My Way News reports: "Britain's government wants to quickly deploy full body scanners at U.K. airports to fight an expanded terrorist threat, but privacy concerns - and fears that children may be exploited - seem likely to slow the plan."

My Way News - Vietnam Internet users fear Facebook blackout
My Way News reports: "Vietnam's growing legions of Facebook users fear that the country's communist government might be blocking the popular social networking Web site, which has become difficult to access over the past few weeks."

At Checkout, More Ways to Avoid Handling Cash or Plastic - NYTimes.com
The New York Times reports: "Instead of leather wallets, consumers could, sooner than they think, carry virtual wallets, with their credit card and bank information stored on remote computers that are accessible everywhere and anytime. They could use them whenever they want to buy something, whether on the Web, on cellphones or at cash registers."

Comment: Here is an interesting report that looks at new ways of making payments, methods that exist now, and methods that may soon exist. It's a good report that takes stock of where we are on the way towards a cashless society.

My Way News - A growing PayPal could soon overshadow parent eBay
My Way News reports: "PayPal bills itself as a shopper's online wallet. Users set up accounts and link them to bank accounts and credit cards, making it easy to transfer cash into the account. Then users can make payments through PayPal using either their cash balances or the underlying credit card. PayPal users can also send cash to someone based on as little information as an e-mail address or cell phone number [...] this week PayPal opened its system to third-party developers, which will mean PayPal can be built in to all sorts of applications. For instance, an iPhone app could let consumers order a pizza and pay for it with PayPal."

Comment: I think that Google is going to be a much bigger competitor than they imagine, but let's see how this shakes out. The trend though is clear, we are moving toward a world of digital transactions. Swiping a credit card is 20th Century technology, paying online with the click of a mouse or using your cell phone is the save of the future. The farther we get from physical cash the more our financial system will be based on digital data and that means he who controls the data controls the money.