According to Yahoo!Tech, “

[t]he European Commission began legal action against the U.K. Tuesday over its failure to protect Internet users from Phorm — a covert behavioral advertising technology tested by the U.K.'s biggest fixed line operator, BT, in 2006 and 2007.  The move signals growing concern in Brussels over the way new Internet-based technologies are using people's personal data. In addition to taking legal action against the U.K., the Commission also issued a general warning to all 27 E.U. countries to uphold privacy laws, especially regarding social-networking Web sites and users of RFID (radio frequency identification) technologies.”

SFGate.com reports that “[t]he number of funds that raised venture capital hit a 5 1/2-year low last quarter, according to the National Venture Capital Association, showing the pressure from the current recession and the still lingering effects of the dot-com bust.  A mere 40 funds raised $4.3 billion last quarter, down from 71 funds in the first quarter of 2008 and 81 funds in the first quarter of 2007. Only three of this year's 40 funds are new – the rest are follow-on funds raised by established firms, said association President Mark Heesen.”

CNet’s Caroline McCarthy has a good post on Twitter and its (lack of a) business model.

BusinessWeek writes that “[t]he latest evidence that economic woe is leaving more Americans vulnerable to Internet fraud came from an Apr. 14 report from Gartner. More than 5 million U.S. consumers lost money to phishing attacks in the 12 months ending in September 2008, a 39.8% increase from a year earlier, according to the new Gartner (IT) study.  ‘Phishers are preying on the bad economy,’ says Avivah Litan, a security analyst at Gartner.”

ZDNet has a fun list of “seven bid tech acquisitions to watch for in 2009.”