Brian McWilliams

The playing field for Internet content is not level, according to About.com Inc., as long as megaportal Yahoo! Inc. is able to prevent it and other content sites from being listed within its search results. Scott Kurnit, About.com’s (BOUT) chief executive officer, publicly criticized Yahoo! (YHOO) this week for not giving his network enough links […]

As prices for gasoline continue to climb to some of the highest levels in years, priceline.com Inc. Friday extended its “name-your-price” model to allow consumers to decide what they will pay for gas. A recent survey by Opinion Research Corp. International shows that consumers are very aware of rising gas prices and are actively looking […]

Developers of Internet-enabled advertising software defended themselves Thursday against accusations of creating “spyware” and violating the privacy of Internet users. “We are completely onboard with privacy and would never do some of the things people are saying. That would be a huge violation of privacy and it’s against the law,” said Peter Fuller, director of […]

Microsoft Corp. and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. Wednesday announced plans to provide the first consumer two-way satellite broadband offering in the U.S. It’s first time the two companies have teamed up to offer consumers high-speed Internet access via two-way satellite. The deal takes aim at providing high-speed Internet access to areas where landlines fail to […]

Some Internet domain registrants are hot and bothered over a new marketing campaign from Bulkregister.com. Over the past two weeks, the Maryland company has used automated telemarketing services firm Voice Cast International to contact 125,000 domain holders, and to play a recorded message promoting Bulkregisters’ low-price domain registration service. According to Bulkregister.com chief executive officer […]

New information released by Yahoo! suggests some of the denial of service attacks on Web sites over the past week may have come from sophisticated attackers with knowledge of each site’s network. In a message sent Thursday to other Internet service providers and to the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), Yahoo! (YHOO) network engineer Jan […]

While Thursday produced no confirmed instances of new denial of service attacks on major Web sites, the FBI has renewed its call for Web server operators to tighten security. According to Ron Dick, chief of the computer investigation and operations section of the FBI’s National Infrastructure Protection Center, “The key to this is prevention and […]

Another wave of denial of service attacks hit Internet sites Wednesday, prompting harsh words from top law enforcement officials. “We are committed in every way possible to tracking down those who were responsible, to bringing them to justice, and to seeing that the law is enforced,” said U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno at a media […]

Three independent Internet service providers are suing America Online Inc. for support headaches they’ve encountered from users of the online giant’s latest software version. In the suit, filed late last week in Baltimore City Circuit Court, CapuNet LLC, Digizen and Millkern Communications Inc. are demanding compensation from the nation’s largest Internet service provider for the […]

Plans by Internet provider Verio Inc. to trademark the term “Whois” have hit a roadblock at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. On Tuesday, trademark examiners rejected the Colorado-based ISP’s appli cation for a service mark on Whois in a notice of non-final action. While Verio (VRIO) has an opportunity to respond within six months. […]

America Online Inc. has been hit with class-action lawsuit on behalf of subscribers who installed AOL version 5.0 and subsequently lost their ability to connect to other Internet service providers. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 31 in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia, alleges that AOL (AOL) “fraudulently concealed” the fact that the latest version […]

Another e-commerce site has been turned inside out by a cracker. Someone calling himself “Curador” claims to have stolen the entire sales database of an unidentified online site, including more than 5,000 credit card numbers. Around 1,000 of the stolen card numbers were posted by Curador late Monday night at a personal Website hosted by […]