Tech Giants to Set Free Speech Guidelines

Google(GOOG), Yahoo!(YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) plan to announce Tuesday they have agreed to a common set of principles for how to do business in nations that restrict free speech and expression, according to a published report.

Under the new principles, the companies promise to protect the personal information of their users wherever they do business and to "narrowly interpret and implement government demands that compromise privacy," according to the code, the Wall Street Journal reports. They companies also will scrutinize a country's track record of jeopardizing personal information and freedom of expression before launching new businesses in a country.

The document was crafted with the help of human rights groups, the Journal reports. The companies also agreed to have their compliance with the new principles monitored by independent experts.

The plan has yet to receive the support of Internet companies in China and other countries whose policies it implicitly attacks, the newspaper reports.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports Google is increasingly looking to the energy sector as a potential business opportunity.

In recent weeks, Eric E. Schmidt, Google's CEO, has hinted at the company's broad interest in the energy business, and engineers at Google are hoping to unveil soon tools that could help consumers make better decisions about their energy use, the Times reports.

Google also is now considering large investments in projects that generate electricity from renewable sources, the Times reports.

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