Roy Mark

The full impact of ChoicePoint’s data breach of two years ago is still being felt. This week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is mailing another 2,400 reimbursement forms to consumers who may be victims of the breach. Tuesday’s mailing follows FTC notices to 1,500 consumers in April and an initial mailing to 1,400 consumers in […]

Organizers of the latest online political initiative hope to trump the early primary season by holding a nationwide presidential caucus on Dec. 7. The plan is to build on the more than five million people who used the Internet in the 2004 election to organize political meetups, town hall meetings and house parties. Described as […]

The federal government can no longer seize and read e-mail without a search warrant, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. Americans, the court said, have the same reasonable expectation of privacy for e-mail as they do telephone calls and snail mail. The unanimous decision of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a district […]

Wall Street investment firms that helped bankroll the high-tech IPO boom of the 1990s are immune from antitrust suits, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday. The case focused on disgruntled investors who claimed investment houses created syndicates to promote and market the then high-flying IPOs. In a case dismissed by a lower court but reinstated […]

Microsoft said today at NXTcomm it is releasing a new upgrade of its Internet Protocol television (IPTV) software and rebranding the platform as Mediaroom. The new Mediaroom platform features in-home personal music and photo sharing, allowing consumers to listen to music and view photographs stored on their computers on television screens. The upgrade also includes […]

For years, one of the real bogeymen of bloggers and rumor mongers has been the Internet sales tax. The screams, moans and anguish can be heard from coast to coast. It’s unfair. It’s not right. It’ll kill e-commerce. It’s coming any day now. It’s not. Despite a bill recently introduced in by Sen. Mike Enzi […]

Network neutrality is working its way back into the Washington public-policy debate. This time wirelessly. And, as usual, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is dead in the crosshairs. Network neutrality is an annoying thorn in the sides of the incumbent telephone and cable broadband providers, who would like to charge Internet companies by bandwidth consumption. […]

WASHINGTON — A controversial plan to use a public/private partnership to build a nationwide interoperable network for first responders received both support and criticism today at an often-contentious Senate Commerce Committee hearing. “Without question, the concept of a partnership between public safety and a commercial operator — as some have suggested — would represent a […]

Two days before a scheduled Senate Judiciary Committee markup of the Patent Reform Act of 2007, four Republican members of the panel are seeking a delay in the vote. The lawmakers said the controversial measure deserves further hearings. In a Monday letter to Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and ranking member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Senators […]

Nokia filed a counter-infringement lawsuit today against Qualcomm, adding yet another twist to the complicated legal maneuvering between the two companies. Nokia is seeking damages and injunctive relief. The lawsuit accuses Qualcomm of infringing six patents in Nokia’s MediaFlo mobile TV and Brew mobile data portfolio. The lawsuit is in response to a Qualcomm lawsuit […]

Qualcomm moved quickly today to stop an International Trade Commission (ITC) order banning the import of future models of 3G mobile broadband handsets containing Qualcomm chipsets and software. The San Diego-based Qualcomm said it would ask President Bush to veto the ITC order while also seeking an emergency stay of the ban from the U.S. […]

The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday endorsed its second anti-spyware bill in less than a month. Both bills target unauthorized downloads but take significantly different approaches. Approved on a 368-48 vote, the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act (SPY Act) requires an opt-in, notice and consent regime for legal software — often known as […]