Roy Mark

A Los Angeles District Court ordered three Web marketing companies to cease and desist an operation using the lure of free ringtones and browser updates to download spyware and adware to users’ computers. At the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the court also ordered a halt to the deceptive downloads of a marketing […]

Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn are among the latest Presidential Medal of Freedom winners. President Bush presented the medals, the nation’s highest civilian honors, Wednesday afternoon at a White House ceremony. Cerf and Kahn concentrated on developing the architecture and protocols for interconnecting different kinds of nets and the computers on them. “Vinton […]

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales proposed new legislation today that would strengthen penalties for copyright infringement, expand intellectual property protection and add critical enforcement tools. Speaking at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce summit on intellectual property protection, Gonzalez said the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2005 would implement broad forfeiture reforms to ensure the ability […]

President Bush plans to nominate Tennessee utility regulator Deborah Taylor Tate to fill one of the vacant Republican slots on the five-person Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Tate’s appointment, subject to Senate approval, will restore the 3-2 Republican majority. When Michael Powell resigned as chairman of the FCC in March, Republican Commissioner Kevin Martin was promoted […]

WASHINGTON — Telecom reform stuck a tentative head out of the back rooms of Congress Wednesday and got walloped on the issue of network neutrality. The draft bill, which Internet Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) stressed was only a working proposal, would allow broadband providers such as the Bells or the cable companies to segment […]

Internet telephone companies do not have to disconnect their existing customers by Nov. 28 even if the Voice over IP provider does not offer full E911 emergency calling. That’s the good news, according to a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order (PDF file) issued Monday night. The bad news: The companies can’t market their service […]

The United States has negotiated an agreement with four high-tech trading partners on applying zero duties on multi-chip-integrated circuits, also known as multi-chip packages or MCPs. MCPs are used in small computer products, such as cell phones, digital cameras and personal digital assistants (PDAs). In a deal signed late last week, the United States agreed […]

Two car thieves working a nationwide Internet scam are headed to jail and face restitution charges. According to federal authorities, Christopher Sean Justin, 31, of Fayetteville, N.C., and April Bates, 23, of Gulfport, Miss., were sentenced on charges they traveled around the country between November 2004 and February 2005 advertising cars on various auto-related Web […]

Grokster is no more, the final aftermath of the landmark Supreme Court decision that pitted Hollywood against peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharers. In June the Supreme Court ruled in favor of content owners who claimed Grokster operated an illegal business model. In a settlement filed in Los Angeles, Grokster agreed to immediately cease operating the Grokster system […]

With an eye on Congress’s newfound urge to end analog broadcasting by 2009, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Thursday ordered all television sets sold in the United States contain digital receivers by no later than March 1, 2007. The FCC is implementing the digital television (DTV) tuner requirement on a schedule that applies it first […]

Congress’ desperate scramble for revenue to reduce the deficit may turn out to be a bonanza for tech, clearing spectrum for wireless broadband deployment and increasing the visas for foreign workers with high-tech skills. Under the provisions of the U.S. Senate’s Deficit Reduction Act passed Thursday night, lawmakers approved an April 2009 hard deadline for […]

WASHINGTON — Ten months, three hearings and two bill drafts after widespread data breaches began to make headlines, House Republicans finally placed their legislative cards on the table Thursday. Democrats say they shouldn’t have bothered. The Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA), approved by a subcommittee after a contentious five-hour hearing, would require data brokers […]