Roy Mark

Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActive Corp is acquiring catalog and online retailer Cornerstone Brands in a deal valued at $720 million, the e-commerce company announced today. Cornerstone Brands includes the Web sites and catalogs of retailers Frontgate, Ballard Designs, Garnet Hill, Smith and Noble, The Territory Ahead and TravelSmith. Cornerstone will join IAC’s electronic retailing unit and […]

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez issued new standards Friday for government-issued smart cards specifying the technical and operational requirements to meet President Bush’s mandate for standard federal ID credentials. The standards call for all federal agencies and their contractors to be issued a credit card sized ID that contains a PIN number, digital photograph […]

The ChoicePoint ID theft scandal resonated through Congress this week with calls for hearings, investigations and new legislation to better protect the information collected by private data brokers. Last week, ChoicePoint said it had been a victim of a criminal fraud in which the company was duped into releasing personal data on approximately 145,000 U.S. […]

Broadband over power line (BPL) technology is quickly emerging as a workable alternative, third-pipe competitor to cable and telephone companies, but it still needs a plan, according to a new report released today. Prepared by the New Millennium Research Council (NMRC), a Washington-based policy group, the report notes that trials, as well as actual commercial […]

Nine months after announcing it would create a privacy advisory committee, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Wednesday finally appointed 20 private sector members to the panel, including D. Reed Freeman, Jr., the chief privacy officer for adware firm Claria, which has come under fire over privacy issues online. The Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory […]

Internet telephony companies Vonage and Nuvio have turned to federal authorities with their complaints that some broadband providers are blocking or degrading their Voice over IP services. Last week, the Edison, N.J.-based Vonage confirmed it had met with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about the problem, but stressed today it had filed no formal complaint. […]

An upstate New York teenager became the first person arrested in the United States for sending spim, or unsolicited instant messages, last week following a sting operation at Los Angeles International Airport. Anthony Greco, 18, of Cheektowaga, N.Y., was charged with violating the CAN-SPAM Act, threatening to cause damage to computers with the intent to […]

WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) said today he would introduce legislation to bring the digital television (DTV) transition to an expeditious end in order to clear broadcasters’ beachfront analog spectrum to usher in advanced wireless services. Under current law, broadcasters are required to vacate their analog spectrum by Dec. 31, 2006, or when 85 […]

A week after forcing CEO Carly Fiorina to resign, HP said today it has hired New York-based Russell Reynolds Associates to head the search for her replacement. HP did not announce a timetable to hire a new leader. Fiorina quit Feb. 9 following weeks of rumors that she and the board of directors were at […]

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) plans to appeal a recent district court ruling throwing out obscenity charges against a Los Angeles adult video production company that distributes its materials over the Internet. In the first major U.S. obscenity trial in 10 years, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Lancaster of Pittsburgh dismissed on Jan. 20 […]

With little fuss and no debate, a House subcommittee today amended an anti-spyware bill to clarify that the legislation does not cover third-party cookies. H.R. 29, the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act (SPY ACT), prohibits unfair or deceptive practices related to spyware and requires an opt-in notice and consent regime for legal software […]

Jupitermedia announced today it is acquiring Creatas, the parent company of Dynamic Graphics and PictureQuest, for $38.1 million and 1.4 million restricted shares of Jupitermedia . The deal is expected to close in March and make Jupitermedia, the parent company of internetnews.com, the third-largest company in the world in the field of selling and distributing […]