Roy Mark

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accused Dell today of engaging in “bait and switch” financing tactics and ignoring service and warranty contracts. In a lawsuit filed in Albany, N.Y., Cuomo also charged the Texas computer maker with deceptive business practices involving rebates, billing and collection. Dell  denied the accusations. Cuomo is seeking restitution to […]

Software piracy rates are falling in China and Russia, according to a new study published today by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The two countries have topped the list of nations with the highest piracy rates. According to the study, China’s piracy rate dropped four percentage points for the second consecutive year and has dropped […]

The legislative agenda for H1-B visa reform in Congress grew more crowded today with another proposal to increase the number of skilled foreign workers available to the U.S. workforce. Last month, the 2008 allotment of 85,000 H1-B visas was expended after only one day. Introduced by Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), the […]

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sent legislation to Capitol Hill Monday that would increase jail time for repeat offenders of copyright laws. The bill would also strengthen forfeiture penalties for those involved in intellectual property theft. Speaking before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Gonzales said the proposed law would “hit the criminals in their wallets.” The […]

Operation Fastlink, an ongoing federal government crackdown against organized online piracy groups, netted its 50th conviction today. Launched in 2004 by the Department of Justice (DoJ), the operation is one of the largest ever mounted against illegal online distribution of copyrighted material. In pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, Christoper […]

With the clock ticking down to what webcasters consider a July 15th doomsday deadline for a dramatic increase in Internet radio royalty rates, two U.S. senators introduced legislation Thursday to repeal the rates. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said the Internet Radio Equality Act of 2007 would reverse a “massive retroactive” royalty […]

The legal drama of 11th-hour stays of permanent injunctions is over in the patent-infringement battle between Vonage and Verizon. All that now remains are the actual facts of the case, as the two sides prepare for June 25 oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. According to an analyst whose […]

Vonage  is playing a Supreme Court card in its latest appeal to set aside Verizon’s $58 million patent infringement judgment against the Voice over IP provider. The company filed an appeal yesterday invoking a recent high court ruling on the obviousness of an invention as a primary basis for setting aside patent infringement decisions. In […]

WASHINGTON –- The REAL ID Act took some hard shots today in another round of congressional sparring over the controversial measure critics claim is the first step toward a national identification card. Approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2005, the law is based on one of the recommendations of 9/11 […]

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is missing a hard drive containing some 100,000 current and former employee payroll records. The missing data contains names, Social Security numbers, payroll information, bank account and routing information. The hard drive was discovered missing last Thursday from a TSA controlled security area. By Friday, the agency began notifying affected […]

CNN will make its video of the presidential debates available free to the public, the cable news network announced over the weekend. The footage will be released without restrictions at the conclusion of each live debate aired by CNN. The policy will apply to all of CNN’s presidential debates, beginning with the upcoming New Hampshire […]

UPDATED:* It was just 10 years ago that presidential candidates first put up Web sites, marking the Internet’s first major footprint on electoral politics. Four years later, candidates found a gold mine in online campaign contributions. In the most recent presidential campaign cycle, bloggers found voice and influence in the process. So what will 2008 […]