Roy Mark

The U.S. House plunged ahead today in its anti-spyware campaign, passing two different bills targeting unfair or deceptive practices related to spyware. Just six months ago, similar legislation failed to capture the Senate’s imagination. “It is time we not only pass this in the House but also make it the law of the land,” Rep. […]

Lawmakers want to trump the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Thursday call for mandatory 911 Voice over IP service with legislation of their own. While seemingly a redundant step, lawmakers felt compelled to act because of the FCC’s recent track record in court and some emerging early criticism of the agency’s plan. After the predictable, early […]

Spyware vendors are targeted with tougher criminal penalties under legislation approved by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee this week. The bill also authorizes $10 million for the Department of Justice to fight spyware and phishing scams. The Internet Spyware (I-SPY) Prevention Act of 2005 is one of two major anti-spyware measures pending in the House. […]

The U.S. House again expressed concern Wednesday night that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not paying enough attention to the nation’s networks. As part of the $34.2 billion DHS budget package approved by the House, lawmakers voted to create an assistant secretary for cybersecurity within the massive DHS bureaucracy. If ultimately approved, the […]

UPDATED: WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously voted today to require Internet telephone companies to provide emergency 911 service to all their customers. The FCC also ordered incumbent carriers to provide access to their 911 networks to Internet telephone companies, including access to trunk lines, selective routers and 911 databases. The order does […]

UPDATED: WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) told a Congressional subcommittee today it makes sense to pass a national data breach disclosure law. The more difficult issue, though, is when to send the notice. In the wake of widespread, highly publicized data breaches by ChoicePoint, LexisNexis, Bank of America and a handful of universities, […]

WASHINGTON — Corporate America is acting irresponsibly in protecting consumer data, Orson Swindle of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said today. The payback for that irresponsibility, he predicted, will be painful. In impromptu comments made during a think-tank panel discussion on international cyber crime, Swindle, a Republican FTC commissioner, took broad swipes at both private […]

In a decision loaded with implications for e-commerce, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that states cannot prohibit their citizens from buying wine from out-of-state vintners. In a 5-4 decision opening the door for online wine sales, the court said the 23 states that currently ban direct wine sales from other states constitutionally discriminate against […]

Big Blue is encouraging its 320,000 worldwide employee to join the blogosphere. They are also being warned to be careful. In a post to the company’s intranet site today, IBM posted draft rules for employees when they write on IBM-related topics, whether at work or on their time. On official IBM blog sites, employees are […]

WASHINGTON — Beijing’s proposed government procurement policies are threatening U.S. software sales in China, and Congress wants something done about it. Just exactly what, however, remains to be seen. Although China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, it is not a member of the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. In order to gain […]

The only people testifying more than ChoicePoint on Capitol Hill these days seems to be state telecom regulators losing their Internet taxing powers. The inherent interstate nature of the Web undermines their entire model. Worse, official Washington seems to be embracing the notion. Conceived as the states’ stake in the federal government’s quasi-monopoly arrangement with […]

UPDATED: U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) wants the federal government to seize the profits of companies and individuals secretly installing spyware on computers. He’s also seeking significantly higher civil and criminal penalties for those trafficking spyware. Unlike other anti-spyware bills before Congress that focus on creating new laws to combat spyware, Allen’s new bill beefs […]