Roy Mark

Colleges and universities are considering launching pilot projects with online music services this spring that would make music downloads as ubiquitous — and legal — as cable service in dorm rooms. Dr. Graham Spanier, president of Pennsylvania State University, said the hope of the programs would be to make the “illegal, legal.” Spanier and Cary […]

Organizations representing journalist, scientists, librarians, environmental groups and privacy advocates sent a letter Thursday to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge calling for DHS to disclose draft regulations for “safeguarding” and sharing a vaguely defined set of information between firefighters, police officers, public health researchers and federal, state, and local governments. According to OMB Watch, DHS […]

The U.S. Telecom Association (USTA) and three Baby Bells asked an appeals court Thursday to reverse the rules issued last week by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allowing states to determine if the incumbent telecoms must continue to share their lines with competitors at below market rates. According to the new rules, state public utility […]

To demonstrate how private information is at risk on the Internet, a California consumer advocate claims he has purchased online the social security numbers of Attorney General John Ashcroft, CIA Director George Tenet, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and FTC Commissioner Tim Muris. Jamie Court, the executive director of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and […]

Large outsourcing contracts are changing the dynamics of the federal computer systems market and have implications for the way vendors sell to the federal government according to a new report from Reston, Va.-based research firm Input. The report says federal government spending on computer systems will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 8 […]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Tuesday they will continue to “refine and improve plans” for the controversial Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II). A joint statement from DHS Chief Privacy Officer Nuala O’Connor Kelly and TSA Administrator Admiral James Loy said, “The mission of the […]

The first guilty plea has been entered in the nationwide probe of the government’s troubled E-Rate program. Duane Maynard, a former employee of a Fresno, Calif., electrical contracting firm, has admitted to federal bid rigging in order to obtain multi-million contracts to install computer networking and Internet access for the West Fresno Elementary School District. […]

Prominent conservatives and liberal groups said Monday that the controversial Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System (CAPPS II) airport security system is the “logical outgrowth of the bureaucratic fixation on technological quick fixes to highly complicated international and domestic security problems.” In late July, the Department of Homeland Security issued new guidelines for the program aimed […]

The National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) proposed Electronic Records Archive (ERA) project is missing key elements of recognized industry standards, according a new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO). Earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $22 million budget increase to NARA for the project. Charged with preserving government records in […]

President Bush has nominated Michael Gallagher to serve as assistant commerce secretary for communications and information and the administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is the administration’s chief policy arm for spectrum management. Gallagher is currently serving as deputy chief of staff to Commerce Secretary Donald Evans. Pending Senate confirmation, Gallagher […]

Incumbent telephone companies, long distance carriers trying to crack the local market and consumer advocates waited five months for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue the underlying rules to support February’s landmark decision to allow the Bells to close off their high-speed lines to competitors while continuing to require the telecom giants to share […]

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Tim Muris said Tuesday proposed anti-spam bills in Congress would “do little or nothing” to halt unsolicited commercial e-mail. Speaking at an Aspen, Colo., conference on telecommunications and technology, Muris said because the Internet allows anonymity and because spammers can send thousands of e-mails a day at essentially no cost, there […]