Amazon.com subsidiary A9.com on Monday released a version of its Internet toolbar for the Firefox Web browser.

A9 said the toolbar, which is available for free download, will offer the same features to users of the Mozilla open-source software as it does for other browsers. Those features include the “bookmarks” function, which lets users save favorite Web sites and access them from any PC, and “diary,” which lets users save notes to themselves.

The toolbar can be used with Microsoft’s Windows, Apple Computer’s Mac OS and the Linux operating system.

Download Toolbar

Google has fixed a flaw in its high-profile webmail service, Gmail, which created a possible route for hackers to gain full access hackers full access to a user’s email account simply by knowing their user name. Using a hex-encoded XSS link, the victim’s cookie file could have been stolen by a hacker, who might later use it to identify himself to Gmail as the original owner of an email account regardless of whether or not the password is subsequently changed.

The Chinese government confirmed this weekend that it has closed 1,600 internet cafes and fined operators a total of 100m yuan ($12m) since March, when it began its crackdown on violent or pornographic content, and other material it considers harmful to public morality.

Government inspectors have checked up on 1.8m cafes since the campaign began, seeking out those letting kids play violent games or access subversive foreign sites. In addition to the 1,600 cafes that have been closed permanently, 18,000 have been shut down for “rectification”, according to reports.

Zhang Xinjian, deputy director of the Chinese Ministry of Culture’s market department said that “porn, gambling, violence and similar problems have adversely affected the healthy development of the Internet in China”.

The government said that since the summer 445 people have been arrested and 1,125 web sites have been shut down.