Los Angeles OKs plan to use Google Web services

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles City Council has tentatively approved a multimillion-dollar proposal to tap Google Inc. for government e-mail and other Internet services.

The vote on Tuesday shows progress in Google's plan to wrest market share for office software from rival Microsoft Corp.

The council voted unanimously for the $7.2 million deal with contractor Computer Sciences Corp. to replace many city computer systems with the so-called Google Apps services. The contract's implementation is contingent on Computer Science's agreement to pay a penalty if a security breach occurs.

The city's police officers' union and privacy advocates raised security concerns over the plan because it places data online rather than on individual computers under a government agency's direct control.