Europe and US converging on Internet privacy

For years the United States and Europe, with around 700 million Internet users between them, have diverged in their approach to policing the Web. But the two sides are converging in their Web privacy positions, partly through intensive meetings in recent months between regulators from Washington and Brussels. There are still many specifics to be worked out -- final legislative proposals are not expected from the European Union until later this year and the United States in June or July -- but officials are confident about steadily narrowing the gap.