6. : The European Commission and the U.S. government have returned to negotiations on the sharing of European banking information with the U.S. for security reasons. Europe's data security rule prohibits the information from being passed to the U.S., but authorities in the U.S. claim the data is useful in fighting terrorism. The initial agreement was voted down by the Commission over concerns that it didn't adequately address citizens' privacy rights. The U.S. demanded the bank data after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but it approached a major bank networking firm for the information instead of going through the European Union.

7. and : Republicans and broadband providers, also known as the champions of deregulation, questioned parts of the national broadband plan that the U.S. government introduced last week. The providers feared that the plan would lead to increased regulation and rulemaking processes, since the measure nearly classifies providers as common carriers, a designation that subjects them to many U.S. Federal Communications Commission regulations. Republicans presented the same arguments as the carriers, with one congressman questioning the need for the program because, he said, 95 percent of U.S. homes have broadband.

8. : IBM and Microsoft are taking their wares to the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market, a space that large IT vendors have yet to serve, according to analysts. A Microsoft executive said the SMB space is underserved, and Microsoft sees the company's cloud computing offerings as a good fit for companies looking for affordable IT options. IBM looks to offer SMBs on-site software options, citing bandwidth concerns as a factor that may limit SMB adoption of cloud computing. While vendors may disagree on what type of IT best serves the SMB space, one analyst said the debate is positive because IBM and Microsoft realize that one model doesn't fit every business.

9. : A proposed cybersecurity bill in the U.S. Senate may prove that bipartisanship in the U.S. Congress is possible. The legislation, co-sponsored by New York Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, would force the White House to identify international cybercrime hotspots and develop plans to address the issue. The bill looks to crack down on international cybercrime, which is on the rise and proves difficult to resolve across foreign borders. The legislation would provide the president with a yearly assessment of international cybercrime and would permit suspensions in aid or financing to countries that do not act on curbing online crime.

10. : A clause in a leaked document that is supposedly the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement caused concern among civil rights groups and Internet users. The clause supposedly calls for countries that sign the agreement to implement a "three strikes" law that cuts off Internet access for users who violate copyright laws three times. One part of the clause says ISPs will not be held liable for any copyright material that their networks carry. However, additional wording says this measure is only valid if ISPs terminate the accounts of repeat offenders.