Roy Mark

A spyware operation that promised protection from viruses and spam but instead installed malware agreed today to pay a $2 million fine to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges of false and deceptive practices. The settlement also includes a suspended judgment of $8.5 million for alleged violations of the FTC Act. Named in the complaint […]

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist targeted a ban on Internet gambling as a top priority for the U.S. Senate in the waning days of the 109th Congress. With little more than 20 working days left before the November mid-term elections, the Senate faces a crowded agenda including 13 different funding bills to keep the government […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a final consent order today forcing the Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR) to change a rule barring discount brokers from listing properties on ABOR’s public Web sites. The order prohibits ABOR from adopting or enforcing any rules that treat one type of listing more advantageously than another listing type. […]

America’s first convicted felony spammer may finally be on his way to prison. The Virginia Court of Appeals Tuesday upheld the November 2004 conviction of Jeremy Jaynes, who was charged with three counts of using deceptive routing information in sending bulk commercial e-mail. Although prosecutors sought a 15-year jail term for Jaynes, a Loudon County, […]

The other legal foot fell Friday for Korean chipmaker Hynix. After negotiating a plea bargain with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and a $185 million fine last year for its role in a global price-fixing scandal, Hynix was sued Friday in civil court by Sun Microsystems and Unisys. The companies are seeking unspecified damages […]

Sign-wielding voters demanding Congressional action on network neutrality took to the streets of America this week. They were as angry as the peasant villagers of Visaria storming Dr. Frankenstein’s well-wired castle on the hill. Action now, or heads will roll, the angry mob warned lawmakers nervous over not heeding the threat. “Vote yea on net […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ) and Microsoft put the final legal touches Wednesday on their May agreement to extend by two years the communications protocol licensing program portion of Microsoft’s antitrust agreement with the government. The original settlement is due to expire next year, but both the DoJ and Microsoft agreed an additional two years […]

Robert M. Carey, a former National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientist, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for producing and possessing more than one million online child pornography images. Among the images found in Carey’s collection were photographs of sexual acts between Carey, 52, and a minor female member of his family. […]

“When someone offers you something for free, be suspicious,” states a new video on copyright law by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). According to several trade groups and public interest organizations, that might also include the RIAA’s legal views on copying music. As part of a college campus anti-piracy back-to-school campaign, the RIAA […]

European low fare airline Ryanair plans to offer cell phone and satellite broadband connections by the second half of next year. Passengers will be able to call, text and e-mail using their mobile phones, BlackBerrys and Treos at international roaming rates. The service, developed by OnAir, will be offered on all of Ryanair flights of […]

A 21-year-old Californian is heading to prison for three years as a result of his role in launching a botnet attack that harmed thousands of computers. Among the victims of the attack were a Seattle hospital and U.S. Department of Defense computer systems in Germany and Colorado. U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman sentenced Christopher […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants some answers from Verizon about a new fee it imposed on its DSL customers. The new charge comes only days after Verizon and other telephone companies are no longer legally obligated to collect Universal Service Fund (USF) fees on broadband bills. Verizon’s new “supplier surcharge” is approximately the same […]