Techwatch

By M.M. Buechner, Daniel Eisenberg, Tam Gray, Daniel Levy, Tyler Maroney, Declan McCullagh, Michele Orecklin and Joshua Cooper Ramo

A VIRTUAL SWISS BANK FOR THE REST OF US

Got the urge for offshore banking but not the cash to try it? Rather than saving up for a plane ticket to Grand Cayman, check out a new online bank opening its virtual doors this week. Sicherheit und Privat (Security and Privacy) is an Austrian bank that offers encrypted communications, digital cash transactions and a privacy-protected MasterCard for a minimum deposit of $1,000 (as opposed to $10K to $50K in a typical Swiss bank). Could be just the thing for low rollers trying to hide cash from a spouse's divorce lawyers--or the IRS.

CAPITALIST TOOL

Even the savviest Web surfers still get fooled by sleazy sites that sneak innocuous words like child care into nasty porn hubs. The problem is that most search engines aren't smart enough to separate the meat from the spam. Last week a start-up called Goto offered the perfect capitalistic solution: goto.com the search engine that ranks sites by what they're willing to fork over. If Chrysler pays Goto more than Ford, it'll pop up first when you hunt for a good deal on a new car. And because smut sites are too cheap (or popular) to pay for promotion, you won't see Pamela Lee. Unless, of course, you ask for her.