Caron Carlson

WASHINGTON—Trying to tie up loose ends before heading home for the year, Congress this week passed legislation dedicating nearly $3.7 billion for nanotechnology research and development. Following Senate approval earlier in the week, the House of Representatives Thursday approved the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which names The National Science Foundation as the […]

WASHINGTON—Two years after granting the FBI a series of new electronic surveillance and search powers to combat terrorism, Congress is taking a closer look at the impact of those powers and of other provisions in the USA Patriot Act. What makes the matter particular pressing for politicians is that the acts critics span the entire […]

If negotiating with your telecommunications provider has become more like dealing with a used-car salesman, the time is right to take a new look at the leverage the customer wields in todays networking environment, according to experts in hammering out telecom deals. While larger enterprises are apt to wield more power at the outset, size […]

The federal appeals court reviewing the governments antitrust settlement with Microsoft Corp. reopened questions at the core of the historic case. Should the software company be allowed to commingle middleware with its operating system? To what extent must it disclose technical information? And what, exactly, did it gain by the illegal steps it took to […]

When policy-makers overhauled the telecommunications landscape in 1996 and opened the local telephone market to competition for the first time, technology professionals asked what would happen to phone regulation once voice services are delivered over the Internet. Now, almost eight years later, Washington is ready to begin answering that question. The issue forces lawmakers and […]

WASHINGTON—In a project dubbed Electra, Verisign Inc. plans to expand its proprietary DNS server platform—called Atlas—into a grid-like infrastructure to support more-sophisticated traffic analysis and pattern recognition. Electra, which will be unveiled next year, will help support an early warning system for Internet attacks. The Mountain View, Calif., company will combine data streams obtained through […]

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The federal appeals court reviewing the governments antitrust settlement with Microsoft Corp. today reopened questions that lie at the very core of the historic case: Should the software giant be allowed to co-mingle middleware with its operating system; to what extent must Microsoft disclose technical information; and what, exactly, did the company gain by […]

WASHINGTON—”Carriers lie like addicts in withdrawal,” observes Hank Levine, a lawyer who has spent the last 10 years negotiating telecommunications contracts for large enterprises. Its not that telecom carriers are evil, he said, its just that they are highly motivated to clinch large contracts, and enterprises often misjudge their own bargaining power. So before entering […]

WASHINGTON—WorldCom Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in the aftermath of its mammoth accounting scandal last year, won court approval this afternoon of its corporate reorganization. Company chairman and CEO Michael Capellas said WorldCom, which has been doing business as MCI, will “drive harder” to win greater market share, particularly in the area of converged […]

Discuss This in the eWEEK Forum WASHINGTON—Despite waging a fierce and costly lobbying battle in Washington for nearly a decade, the Regional Bell Operating Companies have achieved relatively little success in loosening their regulatory obligations. Now, the Bells are trying to enlist network equipment manufacturers in their campaign, but competing carriers are crying foul. On […]

WASHINGTON—E-commerce is a boon to many veteran Main Street retailers, but in the policy debates over online sales, the veterans increasingly pit themselves against startup online merchants. In the fight for every last sale, particularly in the tight economy, traditional and online merchants are turning to the courts and to legislators for help. In the […]

Microsoft Corp.s long journey through antitrust litigation—and the $1.55 billion that the company has agreed to pay out so far—has taught it to build better relationships with competitors and with the government. Also, the software giant must be more active in standards initiatives, such as those under way for Web services, Brad Smith, company general […]