Roy Mark

U.S. Representative Diana DeGette lit a fire under the smoldering issue of data retention for Internet service providers (ISPs). In the House Commerce debate over a telecom reform bill last week, the Colorado Democrat offered an amendment to require ISPs to retain information about subscribers for at least one year. “The goal is to help […]

WASHINGTON — I wish I had written this: “Leave it to Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, who represents AT&T’s hometown, to leave the horse head on the bed.” Alas, I did not and credit should go to Art Brodsky of the Internet advocacy group Public Knowledge. Brodsky’s comments follow Columbia Law University’s Tim Wu’s comments on Tuesday […]

The music and movie industries are again targeting illegal file sharing through college and university local area networks (LANs). The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) sent letters Thursday to 40 universities in 25 states alerting the schools of LAN piracy problems on their campuses. The letters […]

Joseph J. Wunderler, the Virginia man identified in an NBC Dateline report on online predators, pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted sexual enticement of a minor. According to court documents, last summer Wunderler, 29, engaged in numerous sexually oriented Internet chat sessions with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. On Aug. 19, Wunderler […]

WASHINGTON — Sen. Gordon Smith introduced telecom reform legislation this week that completely ignores the issue of network neutrality. It would, however, expand the companies paying into the Universal Service Fund (USF). Under the Oregon Republican’s Broadband for America Act of 2006, the bill would expand contributors to the USF to include any company capable […]

Five more individuals are facing criminal copyright charges as part of the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) ongoing crackdown on warez dealers. Warez groups act as first providers of copyrighted works to Internet release groups. The release groups are the original sources for a majority of the pirated works distributed and downloaded via the Internet. Thursday’s […]

House Commerce Committee Republicans defeated an effort by Democrats today to strengthen network neutrality provisions in the panel’s telecom reform bill. With four Democrats breaking ranks and joining the Republicans, the panel voted 34-22 to turn back an amendment by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) that would prohibit broadband providers from charging content and service providers […]

WASHINGTON – Looking at possible antitrust implications of having telecoms and cable companies controlling 99 percent of U.S. broadband connections, a special task force of the House Judiciary Committee took up network neutrality. Like other committees that have heard testimony on network neutrality, the Judiciary panel heard conflicting interpretations on whether legislation is needed to […]

Memory chip designer Rambus won a $306.9 million patent infringement lawsuit against Hynix Semiconductor Monday. A San Jose, Calif., federal jury declared that all 10 Rambus patent claims in the case were valid and infringed upon. The damage award covered the Korean-based Hynix’s sales in the United States between June 2000 and the end of […]

Today is a busy day for network neutrality in the U.S. House. As one committee prepares to vote on a telecom reform bill that Democrats contend lacks effective network neutrality protections, another panel opens hearings on the antitrust implications of just such a scenario. After opening statements late this afternoon, the House Commerce Committee plans […]

With a key House vote on network neutrality set for Wednesday morning, a new coalition rallied Monday in hopes of derailing the fast track Republican-led initiative. According to the SaveTheInternet.com Coalition, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Efficiency Act of 2006 (COPE) does not guarantee network neutrality since telephone and cable companies will be able to […]

A Houston-based networking company agreed Friday to pay more than $4.6 million in fines and restitution to settle E-Rate fraud charges. The settlement is latest in a series of decisions related to the E-Rate, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-controlled federal fund that awards monies for Internet networking infrastructure, communications equipment and monthly connectivity service fees […]