Roy Mark

Neteller agreed today to forfeit $136 million in profits and return $94 million in American online gamblers’ funds it is holding as part of a plea deal for violating U.S. gambling laws. The publicly traded, British-based Netseller’s principal business is transferring funds to offshore gambling sites. The deal, which includes 18 months of monitoring by […]

A House panel today unanimously approved legislation to limit the sale, purchase or public display of Social Security numbers (SSN). The bill would apply to both the government and private sector in hopes of stemming the occurrence of identity theft. Under The Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act, the federal government would […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should expand the focus of its network neutrality inquiry to include the impact of carrier practices on content providers, U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said Monday. Dorgan and Snowe, who have introduced network neutrality legislation in the Senate, also expressed disappointment that the FCC chose to […]

Webcasters remained on the air Monday, a likely indication that negotiations over streaming royalty rates between Internet radio stations and the music industry are moving into high gear. Webcasters originally claimed the July 15 deadline for paying new rates would force them off the air, but Jake Ward, a spokesman for SaveNetRadio, said Monday he […]

All is not as gloomy as the forecast often is about U.S. broadband adoption rates, according to a new report released today by the Phoenix Center. The Washington think tank’s new Broadband Performance Index (BPI) shows the U.S. is “performing where one would expect.” The U.S. has a BPI of essentially zero, indicating its broadband […]

With a Saturday midnight deadline looming for controversial new Internet royalty rates to take effect, webcasters and the music industry continued to negotiate Friday afternoon to reduce the fee hike webcasters claim will be ruinous. Having already extended new offers to small and independent webcasters, SoundExchange, which negotiates and collects royalties on behalf of music […]

It was not the best of weeks for the telephone and cable companies who control 98 percent of the U.S. broadband market. First, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin floated the notion that if they don’t want to open their networks to all legal devices and applications, they won’t be welcome at the January […]

Webcasters suffered a major blow in their effort to rollback new royalty rates late Wednesday when the U.S. District Court of Appeals denied their appeal for an emergency stay of relief. The stay would have delayed the July 15 due date for the new royalties, which triple the rates for streaming music over the next […]

WASHINGTON – Verizon Wireless told Congress today consumers would suffer if open access requirements are imposed on the January spectrum auction that is expected to open a new era in wireless broadband services. The nation’s second largest wireless carrier hopes to be a major bidder for the spectrum being vacated by television broadcasters converting to […]

A possible Google entry into the wireless broadband market received a boost today with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin endorsing dedicating a portion of the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction to open access requirements. According to an FCC source, Martin has finished a draft set of rules for the January auction that would […]

Data breaches are frequent, but evidence of actual identity theft resulting from the breaches is limited, according to a new report by the General Accountability Office (GAO). The report, issued late last week, found more than 570 data breaches were reported in the news media from January 2005 through December 2006. The incidents occurred across […]

The Washington saga over Internet radio royalty rates will reach a crescendo this week with the new fees set to take effect on Sunday. Webcasters say the hike in royalties will wreck the industry. Since a March 1 ruling by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board tripling the royalty rates for Internet radio stations, webcasters have […]