Caron Carlson

Outrage on Capitol Hill over recent high-profile data breaches is leading to almost-certain passage of information protection legislation by this Congress. Not coincidentally, the measure most likely to pass—a notification requirement for victims of identity theft—already has the approval of the data brokerage industry. However, broader privacy legislation faces a tougher battle in Congress, where […]

Ex-WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was convicted last week on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ebbers, who faces up to 85 years in prison, is scheduled for sentencing in June. Ebbers is among several WorldCom executives who committed the largest accounting fraud in U.S. history, mainly by […]

The White House last week named Kevin Martin to succeed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell in overseeing the countrys communications and media industries. An FCC commissioner since 2001, Martin does not require Senate confirmation. A Republican with strong ties to the administration, Martin worked on George W. Bushs first presidential campaign. Martins wife, Catherine, […]

Verizon Communications Inc. and SBC Communications Inc. had an easy time convincing U.S. House members that their plans to buy the countrys two largest long-distance carriers are a good idea. The two companies face a different response in the Senate, however, where lawmakers are mulling ways to promote competition following the transactions. Saying the deals […]

The chief executives of the nations two largest Bell companies have come to Capitol Hill twice in two weeks with the self-assurance of individuals confident of sealing their deals. But their plans to absorb the long-distance industry through the acquisitions of AT&T Corp. and MCI Inc. have begun to attract rumblings of doubt, even among […]

The White House has named Kevin Martin to succeed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell in overseeing the countrys communications and media industries. A commissioner at the agency since 2001, Martin will not require confirmation by the Senate. A Republican with strong ties to the administration, Martin worked on George W. Bushs first presidential campaign, […]

The CEOs from the nations largest phone companies went to Washington last week to convince Congress that merging their businesses will be good for America. Fortunately for them, much of the leadership on Capitol Hill appears to have reached the same conclusion. Calling the planned acquisition of AT&T Corp. by SBC Communications Inc. and of […]

The stream of high-profile data thefts this winter has turned a trickle of concern over information protection and privacy into a torrent of action on Capitol Hill. Congress will hear a second round of testimony this week from ChoicePoint Inc. executives—and thats just a small part of whats on tap. Over the next few months, […]

Having heard from the midsize-business market that voice-over-IP systems are not always as simple as advertised, VOIP vendors are striving to make their products more manageable without making them more expensive. VOIP application software maker BroadSoft Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., is launching an entry-level hosted call center application for businesses that depend on contact centers. […]

Despite the latest efforts by Microsoft Corp. and other tech companies to fight spyware, U.S. lawmakers are more determined than ever to pass a legislative fix. Two opposing anti-spyware bills are battling it out in the House as senators draft their own bill. The technology industry has lobbied diligently against the anti-spyware legislation, arguing that […]

U.S. lawmakers are contemplating new enforcement tools and financial incentives to spur better security practices after a report card on federal information security showed government CIOs managed a barely passing D+ average. The rating for 2004, released earlier this month, is a half-grade up from the previous years D. The notoriously low performance has called […]

Efforts to slow falling prices are behind the rash of recent telecommunications mergers, and the fallout will likely have business customers—large and small—digging deeper for services offered by a smaller pool of providers. Verizon Communications Inc.s $5.3 billion bid for MCI Inc. last week, if approved by regulators, would knock the second-largest competitive carrier out […]