Roy Mark

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to grant a temporary stay of a lower court decision striking down rules forcing incumbent telephone companies to provide discounted access to their competitors. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist’s decision not to grant the stay request by AT&T and other long distance providers, along with a number of competitive […]

Long distance provider AT&T is leading the charge in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that tossed out rules forcing Baby Bells to provide discounted access to their copper phone lines. In a stay request to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, AT&T, representing competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and Public […]

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Thursday to make more spectrum available for wireless broadband by revamping the 2495-2690 MHz band and allowing schools and religious groups to lease excess spectrum they control. The new rules restructure the band currently used by Multipoint Distribution Services (MDS) — commercial operators who send data and […]

A U.S. House of Representatives committee overwhelmingly voted Wednesday afternoon to strip Accenture from a potential $10 billion federal contract based on the IT consulting firm’s corporate parent location. The decision comes barely a week after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded the Bermuda-based Accenture Ltd. one of the largest federal contracts in history. […]

WASHINGTON — Recognizing that humans are the weakest link in any security chain is a staple of any IT security gathering, and the issue is as relevant today as ever, a Gartner analyst said Tuesday afternoon at the research firm’s 10th Annual IT Security Summit. In fact, according to Rich Mogull, Gartner’s director of information […]

WASHINGTON — The digital revolution has degenerated into an underworld of organized crime, dirty tactics, black ops and terrorism, said science fiction writer and cyberpunk pioneer Bruce Sterling Tuesday. Keynoting a morning session of Gartner’s 10th Annual IT Security Summit here, Sterling said, “This is the birth of a genuine, no kidding, for-profit, electronic, multi-national […]

WASHINGTON — Filters and sender authentication protocols are not likely to do much to stem the spam flood around the world, at least for the time being, according to Gartner analysts. Maurene Caplan-Grey, Gartner’s research director, told attendees at the company’s 10th annual IT Security Summit here that filters are in the “embryonic stage” and […]

WASHINGTON — While Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael K. Powell touted the future of wireless broadband, two floors below, wireless industry leaders concluded the future of WiMAX won’t happen anytime soon. Market leaders discussed the here and now of the metro-area wireless technology formally known as IEEE standard 802.16a at the Wireless Communications Association’s […]

WASHINGTON — Cellular pioneer Craig McCaw plans to launch a wireless plug-and-play broadband service as a competitive option to cable modems and DSL. Delivering the keynote address at the annual Wireless Communications Association (WCA) convention, McCaw said his new company, Clearwire, is ready to offer service in Jacksonville, Fla., this summer and is currently testing […]

Accenture will serve as the prime contractor on the Department of Homeland Defense’s (DHS) complex and ambitious virtual border project that could be worth as much as $10 billion for the technology firm and its subcontractors. Under the contract announced Tuesday, the Reston, Va.-based Accenture will help develop and implement a new entry/exit system to […]

A subsidiary of NEC America agreed Thursday afternoon to pay $20.6 million to settle criminal charges involving the company’s participation in the federal E-Rate program, the nation’s $2.25 billion initiative to help schools and libraries connect to the Internet. Under the agreement reached in San Francisco, NEC Business Network Solutions (BNS) pleaded guilty to one […]

Yahoo! joined the anti-spyware campaign Thursday with the addition of a beta spyware detector for its downloadable toolbar. The application, known as Anti-Spy, allows users to scan their computers for unwanted software that often surreptitiously piggybacks on downloaded files and secretly monitors the user’s browsing habits. Developed by marketers to gather personal data for use […]