Roy Mark

WASHINGTON — The race is on in both the courts and Congress to kill a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order that all Internet telephone companies provide E911 service by Nov. 28. The VoIP industry says the order is impossible to meet and will be financially ruinous. After that date, the FCC ruled this summer, VoIP […]

The U.S. House of Representatives defeated a Republican bill Wednesday night that would have exempted political bloggers from campaign finance laws. Although a majority of lawmakers voted for the bill, 225-182, House special rules required a two-thirds majority to pass the legislation. Democrats argued that Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling’s Online Freedom of Speech Act would […]

UPDATED: The U.S. House of Representatives delayed until at least Thursday a vote on whether the Internet and, in particular, political bloggers should be exempt from campaign finance laws. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) introduced his Online Freedom of Speech Act shortly after 3 p.m. After a brief debate, the House put off voting on the […]

WASHINGTON – Verizon and SBC won Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval today for their mega mergers with long distance providers MCI and AT&T, but not before the FCC imposed several Internet-related mandates on the deals. In order to clear the final federal hurdle to the mergers, the nation’s two largest incumbent telephone companies agreed to […]

UPDATED: The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) Thursday afternoon approved the SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI mergers, requiring only that Verizon and SBC divest portions of certain local fiber-optic network facilities. The mega-mergers of Baby Bells with the dominate long-distance carriers also require the regulatory approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is meeting Friday to […]

WASHINGTON –- Though a U.S. House panel joined its Senate counterpart Wednesday in agreeing to flip a 2009 switch on digital broadcasting, much remains in question. The precise date, the exact cost and the absolute certainty of the digital television transition are issues that stand between the two entities as they search for a resolution. […]

VoIP provider Nuvio says it will go to court no later than Nov. 14 to halt a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order that Internet telephone companies provide E911 calling ability by Nov. 28. Citing public safety concerns, the FCC ruled in May that all IP phone firms’ systems that interconnect with the public switched telephone […]

Civil liberties, privacy and high-tech industry advocates went to court today to block the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) pending rule to impose wiretapping standards on Voice over IP systems. Groups, including Pulver.com, Sun, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) […]

The U.S. House and Senate are $2 billion and four months apart in their legislative efforts to finally wean Americans off analog broadcasting. Both, however, seem intent on making 2009 the final transition year for broadcasters. Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee agreed to a hard deadline of April 7, 2009, for television stations to […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) won a temporary court order earlier this week to rein in the advertising practices of an Internet operation claiming “file-sharing is 100 percent legal.” The FTC says the 100 percent legal claim is 100 percent false. According to the FTC, MP3DownloadCity.com markets and sells a $24.95 “tutorial and referral service” […]

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) asked a South Carolina federal court Thursday to stop a disbarred attorney from selling alleged tax-fraud schemes over the Internet. According to the DoJ, Robert Clarkson, who has twice been convicted of federal tax-related crimes, uses the Internet to sell materials containing instructions and tactics to help customers illegally […]

WASHINGTON — The Senate Commerce Committee voted today to boot broadcasters out of their analog spectrum by no later than April 7, 2009. After that date, broadcasters would air programs only in digital signals. Lawmakers plan to dedicate part of the vacated analog spectrum for public safety purposes and auction off the rest to wireless […]