Responding to Germans' unease over U.S. surveillance of the
Internet, Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed initial plans on Wednesday
to boost European technology companies and make them a more favorable
alternative to U.S. peers.
Merkel's chief of staff said on Monday that fears of mass
U.S. spying on Germans were unfounded, and Washington had assured Berlin it had
upheld German law. But with an election looming in less than six weeks, the
government has come under pressure to do more to protect citizens' private
data.