Roy Mark

U.S. Senators Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced their long-awaited anti-spyware legislation today, calling for prohibitions and penalties on a variety of practices that result in unwanted software being placed on consumers’ computers. Burns and Wyden, the principal authors of the 2003 CAN SPAM Act, said their bill, known as the Spy Block […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has until Tuesday to decide if Level 3 must pay negotiated reciprocal compensation rates or higher, government-mandated access charges for IP traffic that interconnects with the public switched telephone network (PSTN). If the FCC does not rule by Tuesday on the issue, Voice over IP wholesaler Level 3 will by […]

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday cell phone makers could be sued in state court over claims that wireless equipment emits unsafe levels of radio frequency radiation. The decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court reverses a previous decision that the issue belongs in federal court and pre-empts state law. A spat of lawsuits over […]

Federal efforts to snuff out illegal online cigarette sales got a boost Thursday when major credit card companies agreed to refuse payment to Internet tobacco sites, almost all of which are violating one federal law or another. The joint public/private initiative was brokered by the attorney general offices of New York, California and Oregon, and […]

More than half of Internet-connected families with teenagers use some sort of filter or monitoring software to limit access to potentially harmful online content, according to a new Pew Internet & American Life Project report. According to the report, the filters tend to be used by parents who are frequent users of the Internet and […]

SAP AG submitted a new $629 million bid for Retek today in its escalating bidding war with Oracle for control of the retail software and services company. The Retek board of directors unanimously recommended stockholders accept the SAP bid. In late February, SAP offered $496 million for Retek, an offer that was quickly countered by […]

The eight-year-old federal E-Rate program, the nation’s $2.25 billion initiative to help schools and libraries connect to the Internet, remains plagued by mismanagement, waste, fraud and abuse, according to a new report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In addition, an ongoing federal investigation into the troubled problem has already resulted in several arrests […]

WASHINGTON — Internet telephony has often been called the killer app for broadband services. For Peter John, his wife Sosamma and their teenage daughter Joyce, it was almost literally true. Last month, intruders burst into the John’s southwest Houston home, robbing and shooting the couple while their daughter frantically used the upstairs Voice over IP […]

Kevin Martin, a four-year veteran of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has been named as the agency’s new chairman to replace outgoing head Michael Powell, the Bush administration announced Wednesday. Martin, who has close ties with the Bush White House, was considered a front-runner in the race to succeed Powell, who is stepping down at […]

WASHINGTON — The chief executives of ChoicePoint and LexisNexis told a House panel today they supported federal legislation requiring data collection companies to notify consumers in the case of a security breach. Currently, only California has such a law, but recent disclosures by ChoicePoint and LexisNexis that identity thieves gained access to their massive databases […]

Companies could be losing millions of dollars every year by not factoring tax considerations into IT purchases, according to a new report by IDC and Deloitte Consulting. The report says with the emergence of Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPPA regulations, new management groups focusing on compliance, risk management and taxes are increasingly joining the traditional IT, finance, […]

WASHINGTON — Trumped by a long series of bankruptcy reform floor votes, the Senate Banking Committee disappointed a jammed hearing room waiting to hear ChoicePoint and Bank of America executives testify about their embarrassing security gaffes. The inquiry was postponed Thursday, mid-meeting. With key votes coming at a rate of several an hour, the well- […]