Roy Mark

Unabated Internet piracy has earned China a spot on an United States’ Priority Watch List that could lead to trade sanctions. Beijing joins Russia and 12 other trading partners that Washington says are not effectively promoting, protecting or enforcing intellectual property rights (IPR). Ultimate failure to comply with World Trade Organization IPR agreements could lead […]

It was a slow day for the Internet at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In the first post-Michael Powell FCC public meeting, not a single IP-related issue was on new Chairman Kevin Martin’s agenda. That, however, is very likely to change on May 19 when the FCC next meets. In testimony before Congress earlier this […]

WASHINGTON — For Bill Gates, it’s just another week: Host Bono over the weekend, give an almost two-hour keynote at WinHEC on Monday and tweak Congress today. What’s politically eating at Microsoft’s chairman and chief software architect? H1B visas. Gates was on Capitol Hill to promote science education, research and development funding and to participate […]

Tech executives lined up today to support legislation forcing TV broadcasters out of the 700 MHz band by the end of 2006. The executives want the beachfront spectrum for wireless broadband services. In a letter to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, the leaders of Intel, HP, Dell, IBM […]

Intel’s top patent attorney urged a Senate panel Monday to crack down on “trolls” who manipulate the patent system for large profits. The problem, according to David Simon, is greatly exacerbated by the very large number of patents in the software and computer industry. “Their leverage is the threat of obtaining monetary damages that are […]

Korean chipmaker Hynix agreed today to a guilty plea and a $185 million fine for conspiring to fix prices in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) market. The fine is the third-largest criminal antitrust fine in U.S. history. Hynix is the second DRAM manufacturer to be caught in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ongoing investigation […]

A House subcommittee did something about cybersecurity Wednesday: it issued a new organizational chart. On it, responsibility for protecting the nation’s electronic infrastructure gets a promotion at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The panel also said there wasn’t a lot it could do beyond that. “The majority of our nation’s critical technology infrastructure is […]

Impatient with the efforts of Congress to deal with spyware, states are increasingly taking matters into their own hands. The home turf of Microsoft and Amazon is the latest to join the battle. Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire is expected to soon sign the nation’s third anti-spyware law, following the lead of Utah and California. For […]

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported technology over Hollywood Tuesday afternoon. On a voice vote, the lawmakers approved legislation allowing companies to sell filtering technology that skips ads, violence and obscene content in movies. Motion picture studios fought the measure, claiming the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act (S. 167) violates copyright protections and infringes […]

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. George Allen continued his assault on Internet taxes today, proposing legislation to permanently ban taxes on Internet connections. Allen’s proposal would keep in place the current grandfather clause but will strip away that exemption in 2007 and make the ban permanent, a move that is likely to force another Senate confrontation […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again delayed the implementation of rules requiring the expensing of stock options. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) thinks that’s a good idea but doesn’t go far enough. He wants to eliminate the whole notion. “I will continue to explore legislative options in an effort to preserve broad-based employee stock […]

U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling isn’t interested in waiting on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to eliminate possible restrictions on political blogging. The Texas Republican wants Congress to do it now. Hensarling’s Help Protect Online Freedom of Speech bill would, in effect, relieve political bloggers from any provisions of campaign finance reporting laws, no matter the […]