Roy Mark

Early adopters, it appears, are late acknowledgers. If they don’t change their ways, they may also be without any E911 services if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has its way. Citing public safety concerns, the FCC ruled in May that all Internet telephony companies that use the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to either begin […]

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) mandate to force Voice over IP companies to provide E911 services to all customers by the end of the year is a decision wrapped in good intentions but tied to outdated concepts. At least that’s the opinion of several of several major VoIP providers in the wake of a lawsuit […]

A Web site claiming to offer free credit reports agreed today to settle deceptive practices allegations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Consumerinfo.com agreed to pay a $950,000 fine and to make restitution to deceived customers. According to the FTC complaint, the Consumerinfo, doing business as Experian Consumer Direct, drove consumers to their Web sites […]

Six weeks before the 2006 federal budget year even begins, the allotment of H-1B visas for next year is already exhausted. The visas are limited to workers with graduate degrees from U.S. universities and are a favorite with U.S. technology firms. The early run on the visas that allow foreign nationals with advanced degrees in science, engineering and technology to […]

Challenges continue to mount for the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) mandate that Voice over IP providers make enhanced 911 (E911) services available to their customers nationwide by Nov. 28. Monday, wholesale VoIP provider Nuvio appealed the order and asked the court to expedite the decision no later than Nov. 7. T-Mobile and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), along with […]

Federal agencies are failing at implementing effective information security policies and practices and Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) wants something done about it. Lieberman is the author of the E-Gov Act requiring annual reports on federal agencies’ security practices. His comments come in the wake of the most recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finding pervasive […]

The saga of the Kutztown 13 reads like a screenplay for one of those bad teenage movies where the kids outsmart the adults. Only in this instance, the kids end up facing felony charges. This sorry tale (like most sorry tales) began with good intentions. The taxpayers of Kutztown, about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, […]

India-based IT and outsourcing companies are poised to overtake EDS , Computer Sciences Corp. , Perot Systems and BearingPoint . That’s the conclusion of consulting firm Katzenbach Partners. In a new report, researchers said corporate customers who believe the legacy players’ size and reach will translate to higher efficiency, quality and savings are probably mistaken. […]

Verizon and SBC finally got their way in Texas on Wednesday morning. After months of behind-the-scenes wrangling, the state legislature approved a bill to simplify video franchising. The legislation is expected to accelerate the TV-over-fiber rollouts in Texas by allowing the Baby Bells to petition the public utilities commission for a statewide video franchise license, […]

Remember the dreaded “walled gardens,” where closed-system broadband providers would decide what content would be delivered over their high-speed pipes? The end of the Internet as we know it? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certainly does. After voting Friday to allow phone companies to close their DSL lines, the agency also issued a new policy statement supporting open […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expanding the reach of U.S. wiretapping laws to wireline broadband providers and Internet telephone companies. In an order issued Friday, the FCC gave the providers 18 months to comply with the network wiretap accessibility rules of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). Previously, CALEA applied only to […]

The Baby Bells can pop the cork on the chilled champagne. In a significant policy victory for the incumbent carriers, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously voted today to eliminate DSL line-sharing rules. The vote came just 39 days after the Supreme Court upheld the FCC’s authority to declare cable modem broadband an information service […]