Caron Carlson

Lucent Technologies Inc. reported revenues of $1.9 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2003, an 18 percent decline from revenues posted the previous quarter. The decline in revenues was largely credited to lower sales volume in the companys mobility division, driven by reduced spending by customers in North America and by an unexpected delay […]

IT security experts and policy-makers see a wide range of problems associated with the notion of a Do-Not-Spam list modeled after the wildly popular Do-Not-Call list, but the majority of Americans in a recent survey want to see just such an initiative to stop unwanted e-mail. Technological means of combating spam, such as filtering and […]

Who is the real victim in the worlds largest corporate scam, the $11 billion accounting fraud that drove WorldCom Inc. into bankruptcy last summer? Is it the investors? The employees who were laid off? Customers concerned about service quality? Rival companies forced to battle a corrupt competitor? Or, as representatives of WorldCom—recently renamed MCI—assert, the […]

The nations overwhelming response to the federal “do not call” lists promise of telemarketing relief has given Congress added impetus to act on another consumer nuisance: spam. Spam is not a partisan issue, but it is embroiled in politics. In the past, turf battles between the House judiciary and commerce committees ruined chances of a […]

Security executives from some of the countrys largest IT vendors and telecommunications carriers came to Capitol Hill last week to nip in the bud any plans federal lawmakers might be harboring for regulating private data networks. Having been caught off guard by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress is eager to avoid appearing unprepared […]

Cash-starved states throughout the country are looking to the Internet as a source of new tax revenue, but the U.S. Congress, fearing that taxes will cut Internet use, is trying to hold them back. States could reap revenue from the Internet in two ways: by taxing access and by taxing online retail sales. Access taxes […]

To simplify security efforts for enterprises that want to deploy IP communications across far-flung operations, Avaya Inc. this week is rolling out five security gateways with integrated VPN and firewall support. The security gateway technology from Avaya, based in Basking Ridge, N.J., allows a network administrator to manage all virtual private networks and firewalls with […]

Evidently unfazed by being the sole state still battling Microsoft Corp. on the antitrust front, Massachusetts insisted Wednesday that the software maker is getting off too easy when it comes to bundling middleware with the operating system and when it comes to being punished for trying to thwart Java distribution. Massachusetts filed a brief with […]

The federal government put its money where its mouth is on the matter of IT security and awarded a $90 million contract to Microsoft Corp. to provide the Department of Homeland Security with desktop and server software. The five-year contract, which the new department announced Tuesday, establishes Microsoft as the primary technology provider to DHS […]

Videoconferencing systems—hardly easy to use, even in well-appointed conference rooms—are often more trouble than theyre worth in cubicles, home offices or on the road. In an effort to make the experience less aggravating for the full panoply of enterprise workers, vendors are making incremental advances in video quality. Polycom Inc. has introduced ViaVideo II, a […]

Lawmakers are getting less subtle with their demands that vendors and network operators do everything possible to make the nations cyber-infrastructure secure. Even legislation dictating IT security requirements—regarded as a last resort—is in the works and slated for introduction by years end. Advising corporations to “get their house in order” and demonstrate that regulation is […]

The nations overwhelming response this month to the federal Do Not Call lists promise of telemarketing relief has given Congress added impetus to finally act on another unasked-for nuisance: spam. Spam is not a partisan issue, but it is nevertheless embroiled in politics. In past years, turf battles between the House judiciary and commerce committees […]