Responsibility comes with digital freedom

That Yelp libel case my Chronicle colleague Deborah Gage wrote about Thursday is scheduled for settlement talks today. I suspect all parties - the San Francisco furniture designer who blasted a San Francisco chiropractor on Yelp, the offended chiropractor who took the case to court, and Yelp, the San Francisco business-rating Web site that tried and failed to mediate the dispute - dearly wish the whole thing will go away. Though I'd say the chiropractor, Steven Biegel, has reason to be upset. Being publicly accused by furniture designer Christopher Norberg that Biegel supposedly said he was out to "stick it to insurance companies" is no joke.

Depressing, though not unpredictable, is the Electronic Frontier Foundation's knee-jerk, digerati response in the matter. Flying to Norberg's defense, attorney Matt Zimmerman says we all just have to get used to this kind of "unflattering material" on the Web. In fact, both Zimmerman and Yelp agreed, trying to combat such attacks - no matter how defamatory, it would appear - merely serves, as least in this case, in "tarnishing Dr. Biegel's reputation," in a Yelp representative's words.

My bottom line: If I'm ever looking for a furniture designer, it won't be Norberg (currently employed by Custom Furniture Design in San Francisco). And, memo to the Electronic Frontier Foundation: With freedom comes responsibility. Without the latter, the former gets gravely diminished.

My God, we're losing the Earth race! According to John Doerr, it's an ominous trend, akin to the challenge the United States faced when the Soviet Union shot Sputnik into space. Technology developed outside the United States, Doerr said he was sorry to report to a congressional panel in Washington on Wednesday, is contributing to the world's quest for alternative energy. So much so that his famed Silicon Valley VC firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, has felt compelled to invest in at least two of them. "In fact, if you list today's 30 top companies in solar, wind, and advanced batteries, American companies hold only six spots," he testified.

Shocked, I called Kleiner Perkins PR people for more information, first about that list. Sorry, I was told, it's confidential. "They don't want to share the list of top companies." Right then. Back to the testimony.

Doerr offered three examples of the kind of innovative ventures America is sorely lacking:

-- Ausra. True, the company was founded in Australia. But since 2006, it has been a Palo Alto company. California is where "we helped them hire additional world-class engineers and management," Doerr said. California is also where Ausra does most of its solar business, including a contract with PG&E to install 200 megawatts of solar power in the central part of the state. So, one might ask: What is it exactly America is losing here? Oh, and by the way, Oakland's BrightSource has a PG&E contract to install 900 megawatts of solar power in the Golden State.

-- Silver Springs Networks. This "smart grid" company, which got $75 million from Kleiner Perkins and other VCs in October, is an American company. Originally founded in Wisconsin, it moved to San Mateo and now has headquarters in Redwood City. It scored a big contract with PG&E in July, and there are more deals in the works, I'm told by a company representative, including one with an overseas company. So there, foreigners!

-- ?? This non-U.S. company is in stealth mode until the Kleiner Perkins deal closes. "So unfortunately I cannot name it today," Doerr said. But he assured lawmakers that the anonymous company has made a breakthrough in advanced battery technology for hybrids and electric cars. Not so very different in its details, he might have added, than the advances made by U.S. companies, like A123 with technology out of MIT.

Gilding the lily: Doerr said his firm has invested in "45 new green-tech ventures over the past five years. In the next two years, we expect to invest in 40 more." Given that Kleiner Perkins is not known for missing a good thing, how many of these are foreign firms, I asked their PR people. "I've been told a 'handful,' " came the response. OK, how many of the "40 more" Kleiner Perkins intends to invest in over the next two years are not American? "It's difficult to predict, but there is great thinking happening around the world."

What's my point? First, it's nonsense to equate the green-tech race with the space race, as Doerr did. We're all in this one together. Second, as Doerr's testimony amply demonstrates, the United States not only remains a key to clean-tech innovation, it is still the place that knows best how to bring such innovation to market. That's why overseas techies and entrepreneurs make regular beelines to Silicon Valley to see folks like Doerr. His call for action in alternative energy is well taken. Gilding the lily really isn't necessary.