San Francisco Chronicle

Silicon Valley should be pleased with the Federal Communications Commission's new national broadband plan. Though it isn't perfect, the plan is far better than anything that came out under former President George W. Bush's FCC - and it recognizes that broadband is becoming as crucial to the American economy as electricity and telephones.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is slightly off track in suggesting a ban on text-message lobbying during meetings of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and city commissions.

The United States does not have a monopoly on innovation. As we fall behind in broadband, we're falling behind in our global competitiveness and our ability to grow our economy. It does not have to be this way.

Apple's patent lawsuit last week against Taiwanese smart phone manufacturer HTC was just one complaint aimed at a rival trying to outdo the iPhone. But the case shines a new light on the growing use of technology patents to mark turf and battle competitors in the fast-growing field of mobile.

Cybersecurity researchers in the private sector have lamented for many years that collaborations with government officials on addressing cyberthreats have been few and far between.

The Obama administration's top computer systems chief started a West Coast tour of tech giants such as Apple and Google on Wednesday to pick up Silicon Valley ideas that can help streamline a complex federal information technology bureaucracy.

A big part of the Facebook experience is how friends and family share Web links to interesting news stories, photos, videos and Internet sites. This "friend-casting" of information has helped propel Facebook into a major force in directing traffic around the Web.

Why Google would want to undertake such a major project as building a high-speed network? It is not exactly clear yet.

Apple's recent unveiling of the iPad was primarily a product announcement aimed at priming the pump for consumers, developers and content owners. By trumpeting its own chipset for the iPad, passing on Adobe Flash software and putting even more emphasis on its iTunes system, Apple appears intent on tightening its command over the user experience and delivering a distinct vision of mobile computing, Internet connectivity and media consumption.

AdMob Inc. isn't well known among consumers, but privacy groups, the Federal Trade Commission and mobile businesses all know its name.