The Internet advertising industry appears to be in denial about the growing momentum behind Internet privacy -- and it should start to prepare for more protection of data through global privacy legislation.

As I noted last week, the European Union is moving toward privacy policies, most notably with the "cookie directive" which would require all advertisers to obtain opt-in to place cookies in user browsers.  In addition, we are in the early stages of new privacy legislation in the United States which would introduce tighter Internet privacy.

All of these powerful new regulations are likely to put signficant pressure on Internet media, most notably the ecosystem of ad networks and data exchanges.

Dell is making a big move into the data storage market with a $1.15 billion all-cash deal for 3Par Inc. It comes at an interesting time, as 3Par's growth and share price had recently slowed and it is still losing money. The offer is an 86% premium to 3Par's closing price Friday of $9.65

The move shows Dell has an interest in moving outside the commoditized world of PCs and comsumer electronics and into higher margin data-center products. 3Par specializes in building large storage arrays for corporations and data centers which can be "virtualized," or partitioned so that the system can handle data from many applications at once.

At any rate, it's paying off big for 3Par shareholders this morning with the stock indicating it will trade up nearly 85%.

• Hulu is said to be preparing an IPO that would value the company at more than $2B (New York Times).
• Japan's economy is stuck in its tracks again. And theoretically, that means China is now more powerful (Bloomberg). Bullish on Moo-shu, bearish on Sushi?
• Want a 4.4% mortgage? Good luck, says Fortune.
• China's currency fell to a seven-week low agains the U.S Dollar (Wall Street Journal). Remember all that noise about them strengthening the Chinese currency?
• This is what I want for Christmas: A Ferrari simulator (Physorg.com). Scratch that, I want a real Ferrari.
• Facebook is buying Chai Labs for $10 million (VentureBeat). Here's a fun fact: it was founded by a former Google executive.
• VCs and Super Angles: The War for the Entrepreneur (TechCrunch). Hmm, a bunch of rich arrogant people beating each other to a pulp. Sounds fun.
• Tim Ferriss thinks he has a way for you to read 300% faster (Tim Ferriss blog).