Roy Mark

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded a $90 million, five-year contract to Dell Computer Corp. to provide, install and maintain Microsoft software for 140,000 computers at the agency. The deal makes Microsoft the primary software provider for DHS. The five-year contract has an option for a fifth year, bringing the total amount of […]

WASHINGTON — Legislation to permanently extend the existing temporary moratorium on Internet access taxes hit the fast track in Congress Wednesday with the House Judiciary Committee sending a bill to the floor and the Senate Commerce Committee holding a hearing on the issue and predicting a vote on the measure by next week. The current […]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has purchased a Silicon Graphics supercomuter to help monitor the reliability and performance of America’s nuclear stockpile without underground testing. SGI’s Onyx4TM UltimateVision, which the Mountain View, Ca.-based company calls the world’s largest and most powerful advanced visualization system, is an 80-processor, […]

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee is expanding its investigation of the troubled $2.25 billion E-Rate program, calling on IBM, which received $350 million from the fund in 2001, and other participants to turn over documents related to their involvement in the program. The E-Rate program is designed to help schools and libraries connect […]

Mike Becraft, former acting deputy commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has joined SI International to head its homeland security programs. Becraft brings more than 35 years of federal civilian government and military experience and expertise to his new job. He most recently served as deputy commissioner of the INS, where he […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee last week denied any funding for the controversial the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) until the General Accounting Office (GAO) produces a study on the privacy impact of the program. In early March, the Bush administration revealed the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a department of the DHS, planned to […]

When the Supreme Court ruled last month that public libraries must install anti-pornography filtering software on their computers as a condition of federal funding, child safety advocates called it a landmark decision for the rights of children. The decision also applies to public schools although that portion of the law wasn’t challenged. For Congress, it […]

The chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology plans to introduce legislation this year to mandate computer security standards for the private sector. Speaking at an e-government conference Thursday, Adam Putnam (R.-Fla.) said neither the government nor private enterprise has done a good job in securing the nation’s electronic infrastructure. Putnam cited as […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Wednesday continued its summer campaign against Internet fraud when it filed a complaint in U.S. district court charging Electronic Financial Group, Inc. (EFG) and its principals with providing assistance to fraudulent telemarketers seeking to drain funds from consumers’ checking accounts. The FTC alleges that the defendants violated the law by […]

WASHINGTON — House Democrats, with the backing of a number of Republicans, are throwing their support behind an anti-spam bill that calls for more broadly defining spam and tougher criminal and civil penalties than the legislation favored by powerful House Energy and Commerce Chairman Billy Tauzin (R.-La.)and Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R.-Wisc.) Sponsored by Heather […]

The IRS’ in-house consumer advocate says the current e-filing process is relatively cost free for the government but suffers from at least two “significant” drawbacks: it is not available to all taxpayers and it is not free for everyone. Last fall, the IRS struck a deal with an alliance of tax preparers and software publishers […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged the operators of an Internet “shopping mall” network with operating an illegal pyramid scam. In a complaint filed Monday in an Arizona U.S. District Court, the FTC alleges that Tucson, Arizona-based NexGen3000.com and its principals marketed Web-based malls that they claimed would enable investors to earn substantial income […]