Roy Mark

WASHINGTON — Thanks, but no thanks. We don’t need new laws to bag members of the growing Internet pedophile community. That’s what the FBI told the Senate Commerce Committee four months ago, pointing to its impressive arrest book for support. “We have … arrested thousands of predators who would use the Internet to entice children […]

A former South Carolina school technology director is facing charges she committed mail and wire fraud in a scheme to defraud the federal E-rate program that helps schools and libraries connect to the Internet. According to a 12-count indictment returned by a Columbia, S.C., federal grand jury, Cynthia K. Ayer used her position as the […]

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales rolled out a series of proposals today aimed at cracking down on Internet child pornography. Speaking at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va., Gonzales said the Department of Justice (DoJ) is sending legislation to Congress calling for commercial Web sites to include warning labels on […]

Reporter’s Notebook: Testing of biometric passports and e-passport readers is complete, and the United States plans to implement the readers for processing Visa Waiver Program (VWP) visitors by the end of October. E-Passports contain an individual’s biographic information and a digital photograph on a contactless chip embedded in the document. The Department of Homeland Security […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) joined 29 other countries today in calling for increased cooperation between nations in combating spam. The FTC signed off on a set of anti-spam recommendations by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a coalition of 30 countries organized to promote economic growth and trade. Among the top OECD […]

With Congress stumbling down the final stretch for a 2007 federal budget, President Bush renewed his call Tuesday for a competitiveness initiative in the United States. In particular, he urged lawmakers to pass a permanent extension of the R&D tax credit. The latest R&D tax extension expired on December 31. Congress passed the first R&D […]

The first Earth Day in 1970 was the birth of the modern day environmental movement. Promoters of an Earth Day-related event this Friday hope to set an equivalent milestone for IPTV. In what its backers are calling the single largest application of two-way IPTV technology ever attempted, more than 16,000 high school and college science […]

Major League Baseball (MLB) plans to debut a new interactive broadband TV service this week that allows viewers to watch six live games simultaneously on one screen with selectable audio and statistics, as well as the ability to click to any one game on a full screen. MLB.TV Mosaic, which was developed by MLB Advanced […]

RealNetworks continued its strong April run Friday by prevailing in a patent lawsuit brought by Ethos Technology. A Massachusetts jury unanimously ruled that the Seattle-based RealNetworks did not infringe on any of Ethos’s 10 claims. Ethos contended that two RealNetworks downloading products — RealDownload Express and RealDownload — were based on Ethos technology. Ethos was […]

It’s beginning to look as if one of the first returns SBC is getting from its $16 billion acquisition of AT&T is a legal and public relations nightmare. The old Ma Bell, it seems, has no problem with turning over your e-mail to the National Security Agency (NSA). No warrant? No problem. According to a […]

AOL denied today that it blocked customer e-mail that includes links to a group opposing the company’s proposal to begin charging a voluntary fee for certain e-mail. Thursday, the DearAOL.com Coalition issued a press release charging AOL with blocking all e-mails with links to the coalition. “Over 150 people who signed a petition to AOL […]

WASHINGTON – In hopes of short circuiting attempts to game the system, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted today to change key rules for a June 29 spectrum auction for advanced wireless services (AWS). Amid allegations that some carriers may have colluded in past spectrum auctions, the FCC decided to change its rules and keep […]