China is defending its Internet censorship policies, less than a day after U.S. Internet company Google moved its China-based search engine to Hong Kong. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang fended off questions about Google by saying the Internet in China is fully open, but that it is administered according to law and in line with international practice. Qin says China filters content that it considers harmful to national security or social interest. He urged foreign Internet service providers, such as Google, to abide by China's laws and regulations if they want to do business here.

It remains unclear exactly what Google Inc. will do about its operations in China but a decision will reportedly come this week. The Wall Street Journal said an announcement could come as early as Monday, citing information from an unnamed person briefed on the matter. The Mountain View search giant's decision to stop censoring the results of its search engine in China met with new criticism there over the weekend. The state-owned Xinhua news agency accused Google of "playing an active role in exporting culture, value and ideas" and said the company's "ambition to change China's Internet rules and legal system will only prove to be ridiculous." It remains uncertain whether Google will close only its Chinese search engine at www.google.cn or will shut down all of its business operations in the country. Talks with Chinese officials about keeping the search engine running with less censorship have reportedly been fruitless.

IMAGINE that for $33 a month you could buy Internet service twice as fast as what you get from Verizon or Comcast, bundled with digital high-definition television, unlimited long distance and international calling to 70 countries and wireless Internet connectivity for your laptop or smartphone throughout much of the country. That’s what you can buy in France, and similar speeds and prices are available in other countries with competitive markets. But not in the United States. Prices here are three to five times that much for the fastest speeds — the highest prices among advanced economies. The Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan, announced last week, is aimed at providing nearly universal, affordable broadband service by 2020. And while it takes many admirable steps — including very important efforts toward opening space in the broadcast spectrum — it does not address the source of the access problem: without a major policy shift to increase competition, broadband service in the United States will continue to lag far behind the rest of the developed world.

(CNN) -- The Venezuelan National Assembly took up debate on Internet regulation just days after President Hugo Chavez called for online restrictions in televised remarks. The legislative body was not expected to propose new laws regulating the Internet but to establish sanctions for those who break existing laws regulating media, the state-run ABN news agency reported. At the center of the debate Tuesday were online communications that incite hatred, violence, murder and coups, ABN said. "These [Web] pages can't be free to say whatever you feel like," Chavez said over the weekend in response to false reports posted on a news Web site that one of his ministers had been murdered. The Web site, Noticiero Digital, retracted the false report, but Chavez said laws were broken.