Roy Mark

There was a tech boom in Washington this week as IT executives from around the country trekked to Capitol Hill, just as Congress is beginning to ponder the need for telecom reform, improved cyber security, intellectual property rights and consumer online privacy. The executives testified before Congress, met with White House and government agency officials, […]

The tech industry shifted political gears in 2004 and put its money behind Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry after backing Republican George Bush over Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 elections. According to numbers compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, the tech industry donated $2.6 million to Kerry in the recent elections while contributing […]

WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell warned his fellow commissioners today that they would eventually regret Thursday’s FCC decision to further study intercarrier compensation reform. After reviewing the issue for the last four years, the FCC is now seeking comment on seven reform proposals submitted to the agency by various telecom industry […]

Nevada lawmakers introduced legislation today to require a paper trail be used with all touch-screen voting machines. In the 2004 national elections, Nevada was the only state to require e-voting machines to produce a paper backup of votes. Under the Voting Integrity and Verification Act (VIVA) proposed by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) and co-sponsored by […]

Nextel made its controversial spectrum swap agreement official Monday, agreeing to the terms of the complicated deal hammered out with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Nextel occupies space in the 800-megahertz band, sharing the spectrum with police, firefighters and other public emergency agencies. Public safety officials have complained for years that Nextel’s cellular traffic interferes […]

SBC says Voice over IP provider Level 3 is attempting to gain an unfair regulatory advantage in its effort to avoid paying access fees for IP traffic that interconnects with the public switched telephone network (PSTN). In a letter sent Thursday to Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Michael Powell and obtained by internetnews.com, SBC Senior Vice […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will face another crucial Voice over IP decision next month when it will decide if IP-based carriers must pay the same access fees as long distance companies to interconnect with the public switched telephone network . Currently VoIP traffic is not subject to interstate or intrastate access charges, which are […]

Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada has been appointed chair of the Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness. Ted Stevens, the Republican Senate Commerce Committee Chairman out of Alaska, made the appointment as part of a committee reorganization. Sen. John Ensign Source: Senate.gov Ensign is one of the emerging technology leaders in the Senate, along […]

Microsoft cranked up its own search engine today and plans an advertising blitz expected to reach at least 90 percent of U.S. consumers in an effort to overtake Google’s narrowing lead in the search engine wars. At stake is the $2.6 billion search advertising market, expected to surge to $5.5 billion in the next four […]

Even as rumors and a new report swirled that U.S. regulators may take a harder look at the IBM/Lenovo PC deal, Lenovo Group’s stockholders have overwhelmingly supported the personal computer maker’s $1.75 billion ($1.25 billion in cash) deal to acquire IBM’s PC business. Meeting in Hong Kong Thursday, more than 99 percent of the shareholders […]

President Bush said today he wants every American to have an electronic medical record within the next 10 years, and so has pledged to increase funding next year to $125 million for demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of health information technology. “Most industries in America have used information technology to make their businesses more […]

IBM’s sale of its PC business to China’s Lenovo Group took a decidedly political turn earlier this week when three Republican Congressmen sent a letter to Treasury Secretary John W. Snow questioning a number of aspects of the $1.75 billion deal. U.S. Reps. Henry Hyde and Donald Manzullo of Illinois and Duncan Hunter of California […]