In the United States, we have some pretty easy-to-remember guidelines on what constitutes “public” and “private.”

Areas like your home and your car are considered private. With a few notable exceptions, other areas are public. These legal definitions apply to entities like the police and the press—anything that happens (or is found) in public is “fair game,” but to intrude on your privacy, the police have to have at least a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity (or your permission).

The European Union wants IP addresses to be considered personal information; the topic was discussed yesterday before the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee.

Google and Facebook, sweethearts of the Internet who would never face legal challenges on this

The EU will open a pair of investigations into Microsoft, focusing on their two big businesses: Windows operating systems and the Office productivity suite.

The European Union Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson said the Untied States should change the Internet gambling law that discriminates against European companies by not allowing them to offer their services in the U.S.

The European Competition Commission that has vexed Microsoft for years will look at Google’s potential DoubleClick acquisition solely on competitive grounds.

The European Union’s privacy group said it would take three more months to reach a decision on whether Google and other search engines are violating EU privacy laws.

The European Commission is lobbying mobile phone operators to discount their rates for text messages and is threatening to put price caps in place if they don’t comply. Recently price caps were put in place for roaming charges.

When I was in the tenth grade, before anybody’d heard of the Internet except this geek buddy of mine and the geek buddies of his that he connected with like Matthew Broderick did in that movie by plugging his phone into this contraption (this buddy of mine now works for the NSA by the way), my geek-of-all-geeks friend showed me instructions on how to build a nuclear bomb.

The mythological Theseus was a Greek hero who became a king; he presumably became filthy rich, as well.  The modern Theseus – a German search engine project – has also gained quite a bit of money: the European Commission just authorized $165 million in aid.

Google seems pleased to announce that European regulations on broadcast video content will not apply to search engines, user-generated content, or YouTube.

Google’s policy of retaining user information for up to two years, has become the center of an investigation by an EU panel, according to the AP.

Two years may be too long to keep search information without some kind of justification, according to the European Union.

Utah lawmakers are at it again, mulling a legislative crackdown on open wi-fi connections because they make it easier for children to access online pornography.

The state of Utah has been in the news a lot lately for its heavy-handed approach to Internet regulation. The most recent curfuffle was over a law banning the use of competitor keywords in search advertising.

The British Government is seeking to stop an EU directive that would force any website featuring video clips to register as a Television-Like Service.

Europeans have rushed to grab a virtual home in cyberspace, says the BBC.