Business facts

F.C.C. Investigates Google Street View

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it was investigating whether Google had violated laws when it collected Wi-Fi data as part of its Street View photo project.

News of the F.C.C. investigation came just two weeks after the Federal Trade Commission halted its own inquiry into the Google project without taking action.

“Last month, Google disclosed that its Street View cars collected passwords, e-mails and other personal information wirelessly from unsuspecting people across the country,” Michele Ellison, chief of the F.C.C’s enforcement bureau, said Wednesday in a statement.

Street View is a project that Google began in 2007 to add street-level pictures to its mapping service. The images are collected by cars that use cameras to capture 360-degree views and link the images with GPS data. The project has expanded across the United States and into at least 30 other countries.

More recently the cars were also recording information abo

Cisco profit rises, but outlook sinks stock

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Cisco Systems Inc. on Wednesday reported an 8% gain in profit, but the tech giant offered a weaker-than-expected sales outlook, sending its shares falling sharply.

Shares of Cisco (CSCO 24.49, +0.14, +0.57%) fell more than 14% in after-hours trading.

For the current quart

Panel weighs deep federal budget cuts to trim deficit

The co-chairmen of President Obama's bipartisan deficit reduction commission on Wednesday offered a draft blueprint for wiping out trillions from projected deficits through 2020, signaling the start to a roiling season of political pain for lawmakers trying to stabilize the nation's finances.

The plan proposes major cuts in domestic and military spending, and would remake the tax code to boost revenue. Among the changes are higher payments for Medicare patients, increased gas taxes and the delay of full Social Security benefits until age 68.

Several lawmakers and analysts predicted that the plan, should it be adopted by the full 18-member commission, would be unlikely to survive a vote in Congress.

One labor leader said the report sent a message that working Ame