Roy Mark

WASHINGTON — Underscoring the call for a light regulatory approach to emerging Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies, key advisors to Congress and the Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday the primary Capital Hill concerns about Internet telephone businesses built on VoIP are related to law enforcement and emergency services. Speaking on a panel at the […]

Native Americans are gearing up to oppose legislation that gives states the authority to enforce federal laws against Internet tobacco retailers. The bill gives states the authority to enforce the Jenkins Act, which requires cigarette vendors to report interstate sales. The Internet Tobacco Sales Enforcement Act (H.R. 2824), approved on a voice vote Wednesday by […]

The House Judiciary Committee approved controversial legislation Wednesday that extends protection for facts within databases which are not currently eligible for copyright protection. Opponents to the bill claim it is special interest legislation that will ultimately make it more difficult and costly to access public information. The Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act (H.R. […]

In its largest legal action to date, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed another 532 lawsuits Wednesday against alleged music pirates operating through peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. The lawsuits use the “John Doe” process, which is used to sue defendants whose names aren’t known. The lawsuits identify the defendants by their Internet protocol computer […]

One of the nation’s oldest Internet trade groups says the current U.S. Senate standoff over reviving the lapsed access tax ban is an election year power play by states to gain taxing authority over the Internet. The ban, which barred states from taxing Internet dial-up connections, expired Nov. 1. The U.S. House of Representatives on […]

The Bush administration is on record this week in support of the adoption of current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ultra wideband (UWB) emission limits for all outdoor device applications. In an ongoing, lengthy proceeding at the FCC, military, aviation, fire, police and rescue officials have voiced concerns that interference from wireless UWB devices could potentially […]

A new Internet protocol task force Tuesday said it wants public input on the next generation of the Internet and how much of a roll government should be taking in the transition. The U.S. Commerce Department’s task force studying issues related to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). The current version of IP is version 4, […]

A Congressional committee’s investigation into fraud claims surrounding the fund that subsidizes Internet services for schools and libraries is focusing on the Chicago public school system. With a public hearing looming in February, the probe is centering on approximately $5 million of equipment supplied by telecom carrier SBC to the Chicago school system that is […]

After an appeals court ruled that Internet service providers (ISPs) do not have to hand over names of suspected music pirates to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), ISPs are showing no interest in the RIAA’s latest effort to enlist them in its fight against music piracy. The RIAA now wants ISPs to notify […]

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman plans to convene a peer-to-peer (P2P) summit within the next two months in hopes of avoiding a federally mandated response to online piracy. The Minnesota Republican said the answers to protecting copyrighted material are more likely to be found through technological innovation rather than passage of more laws. After holding several […]

America Online launched its election year coverage Wednesday by rolling out a multimedia package focusing on both local and national races. Among the voter resources offered by the Internet arm of Time Warner is a polling place locator that lets users enter their zip code to find voting places and driving directions. AOL members can […]

U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu says he is drafting a bill to keep Internet telephony beyond the reach of state and federal regulations that govern traditional telecoms. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began proceedings in December to determine what, if any, telecom taxes and rules should apply to the quickly emerging Internet telephone business built […]