The Register reports that “

[t]he European Commission has launched a consultation on how it can strengthen the European Union's response to computer attacks. The Commission is canvassing views ahead of a debate early next year about an EU-wide coordination of computer security. A statement from the Commission said that responses to cyber-attacks from individual countries were inadequate and that countries must act together to ensure that information and networks are safe for users. The Commission is holding an online consultation until January next year, when the results will be used to determine whether a coordinated policy will form a part of planned telecoms law reforms.”

The Guardian features a list of “top contenders to replace Jerry Yang” at Yahoo.

The New York Times writes that “almost five years into its expansion into Europe — where it has a headquarters in Dublin, large offices in Zurich and London, and smaller centers in countries like Denmark, Russia and Poland — Google is getting caught in a web of privacy laws that threaten its growth and the positive image it has cultivated as a company dedicated to doing good. In Switzerland, data protection officials are quietly pressing Google to scrap its plans to introduce Street View, a mapping service that provides a vivid, 360-degree, ground-level photographic panorama from any address, which would violate strict Swiss privacy laws that prohibit the unauthorized use of personal images or property. In Germany, where Street View is also not available, simply taking photographs for the service violates privacy laws. ‘The privacy issue will likely become increasingly important for Google as it continues to offer new services in Europe,’ said Dirk Lewandowski, a professor of information sciences at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg. ‘For the moment, most consumers are not aware their data is being used by Google in some fashion. But I think as people become aware of this, there could be protests that Google will have to address.’”

Internetnews.com has more speculation on the CTO position to be created by Obama: Who will it be? What will their duties be? Is the CTO position going to be a Cabinet position? How much responsibility will the position shoulder in shaping policy? About the last issue, Martha Dorris, deputy associate administrator of the Government Services Agency's Office of Citizen Services, told Internetnews that she “would assume [the position] would have a high impact on outward technology policies, and it's going to have a high impact on the technology industry.”

According to the Mercury News, “[s]pam volume has been cut by more than half because Internet providers pulled the plug on a Web hosting firm that was allegedly helping some of the world's most dastardly junk e-mail gangs. The break won't last long. Garbage e-mail levels are already swelling again, and are expected to return to normal in a matter of days. The holidays are the busiest time of the year for spammers, and criminals are hustling to reconnect with potentially millions of virus-infected PCs that they once used to send spam — which accounts for 90 percent of the world's e-mail. Spam fighters scored big last week with the takedown of McColo, a U.S. company apparently catering to bulk e-mailers. But the battle against McColo also highlights the difficulty in squashing spam-sending operations. Slapping one down means it just pops up somewhere else.”