United States business groups are increasingly worried about Chinese policies designed to prop up “national champions” in China.

New rules issues by the Chinese government are supposed to foster “indigenous innovation” businesses in China that would become national champions of business in China. But U.S. firms fear they will hurt the U.S. economy by excluding foreign companies.

The Chinese policies could have a devastating impact on innovative U.S. industries, including computers, software, telecommunications and green technology, the business groups said in a letter to five cabinet members. They are urging the Obama administration to take action.

The pressure from the business community comes amid growing tensions between the U.S. and China on a range of issues.

China is furious with the U.S. over a $6 billion arms sale to Taiwan that was announced on Friday. That fight comes on top of U.S. criticism of China over a cyberattack on Google that led that company to threaten to pull out of China. Read more...

Google hopes its threat to withdraw from China will put pressure on China’s government to change its policies, the company’s CEO said Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Google hopes China’s censorship of the Internet will change, and that Google hopes it can apply some pressure “to make things better for the Chinese people.”

Schmidt spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Washington and Wall Street are eagerly awaiting former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s book detailing the bank bailout and Amazon.com is offering a sneak peak.

On Friday morning the online bookseller was offering readers early access to Paulson’s memoir if they own a Kindle e-reader.
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(Updated to clarify quotes)

Companies are on their own when it comes to warding off full-scale cyber attacks, security experts said this week, urging the government to update its cyber war policies.

Jim Lewis, Director and Senior Fellow of the Technology and Public Policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, identified the need for an updated cyber protection and combat policy at the State of the Net Conference on Wednesday.

“We do have a cyber strategy, and it was out of date 20 minutes before it was released -- in 2003,” Lewis said.

The panel of cyber security experts debated the challenges Congress will face in enacting a coherent legal framework to respond to cyber threats. Lawmakers have called for a more aggressive defense against cyber attacks, but are still trying to figure out how to coordinate efforts across intelligence and defense agencies. Read more...

Facebook, Google and LinkedIn say they want the Federal Trade Commission to take a more active role in policing companies and advertisers that abuse consumers' personal information.

But they are concerned that heavy-handed, one-size-fits-all legislation of the online advertising industry could cut off business opportunities and limit consumer interaction on the Internet.

The three firms spoke at privacy workshop held by the FTC in Berkeley today, the second such workshop the agency has held on the topic. It comes as Internet firms are becoming increasingly worried about legislation being drafted by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.). Details of Boucher's plan can be found in this op-ed.

The FTC has jurisdiction over online advertising and consumer privacy issues, but the agency has traditionally had little enforcement power. Proposals to reauthorize the FTC, however, would give the agency more resources and the power to pursue litigation or expanded civil penalties and craft regulations. That could allow the FTC to assert more authority over the online ecosystem, presenting complications for online ad networks, social networks and search engines that all store user data.

It's not every day that you find three Congressmen featured in a Facebook blog post.

But today is Data Privacy Day. As we speak, the Federal Trade Commission is hosting a privacy workshop in Berkeley, Calif. 

And given the plans of Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) to introduce legislation to improve online privacy protection for consumers, Facebook and other Internet companies are trying to show how much they already care about the privacy of their users--and that such legislation is not necessary.

Here's an excerpt from Facebook's blog post: Read more...

Comcast promised Thursday its merger with NBC Universal would enhance competition across the airwaves.

In comments filed Thursday with the Federal Communications Commission, Comcast said it would continue to  provide free over-the-air broadcasting and to share its programming with competing cable providers. It also promised to increase the quantity of diverse and local programing when it takes over NBC Universal.

Taking on criticism that the merger would be anti-competitive, Comcast said the improvements it would bring to NBC would spur "other content producers and distributors to invest and innovate, thereby enhancing competition."

Consumer groups worry the merger will have the opposite effect by consolidating two content production and distribution powerhouses. They say the major transaction would stifle competition and raise prices for consumers, and lawmakers are expected to scrutinize the merger closely.

The formal filing with the FCC is the next step for Comcast in seeking regulatory approval of its acquisition of NBC Universal.

Sen. Richard Shelby says the Obama administration cares more about our nation's "Facebook status than fighting crime."