Roy Mark

The White House has until Dec. 10 to produce lobbying records involving the telecommunications industrys efforts to win retroactive immunity for its participation in President Bushs domestic spying program. The decision late Nov. 11 by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco will allow the records to be released in time for the Senate […]

An online advertiser touting free electronics products agreed Nov. 28 to pay a $650,000 civil fine for misleading consumers. A Federal Trade Commission complaint charged that Adteractive failed to disclose that consumers have to spend money to receive the so-called “free” gifts it offers. According to the FTC, Adteractive—doing business as FreeGiftWorld.com and SamplePromotionsGroup.com—used deceptive […]

Rep. Ed Markey plans to introduce a network neutrality bill within the next two weeks, according to a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Democrat. The bill will be “very similar” to the unsuccessful network neutrality legislation introduced by Markey in 2006, the spokesperson said Nov. 28. Markeys 2006 bill would have prohibited broadband carriers such as […]

When the year began, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the nations leading wireless carriers would continue to operate in a business-as-usual mode, with closed networks that limit consumer choice over devices and applications. Even the prospect of a public spectrum auction to sell the analog airwaves being vacated by television broadcasters as part of […]

Verizon Wireless is surprisingly embracing open networks. The nations second largest cell phone carrier said Nov. 27 that customers will have the option of connecting hardware and software not sold by the company to its network. Verizon Wireless said the initiative will be available nationwide by the end of next year. Large carriers have traditionally […]

More than 8 million American adults were victims of identity theft in 2005, the Federal Trade Commission said Nov. 27. Of the victims, 3.2 million experienced unauthorized use of their existing credit card accounts, according to an FTC survey. Another 3.3 million reported misuse of non-credit card accounts and 1.8 million victims said that new […]

With French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chinese President Hu Jintao in attendance, French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent signed $1.11 billion in deals with China Mobile and China Unicom on Nov. 26. The transactions were secured through Alcatel-Lucents Chinese company, Alcatel Shanghai Bell. Under the terms of the deal with China Mobile, Alcatel-Lucent will provide mobile […]

In a proposal designed to increase broadband in rural and high-cost areas, the $7 billion Universal Service Fund would be split into three new pools with $300 million annually dedicated to high-speed networks. The other two pools would be used for wireless services and traditional telephone service. The proposal by the Federal-State Joint Board, which […]

E-voting vendor Election Systems & Software is facing a $15 million lawsuit for allegedly selling uncertified voting machines in five California counties. California Secretary of State Debra Bowen filed the action after a four-month investigation. According to the lawsuit, ES&S sold 972 AutoMark machines without authorized hardware changes to San Francisco, Colusa, Marin, Solano and […]

Campaign promises are one thing, a proven track record is another matter entirely. Unlike any other candidate in the race for the White House—Republican or Democrat—John McCains long U.S. Senate career leaves little doubt about the technology direction of a McCain presidency. With 20 years of service in the Senate, the 70-year-old Arizona Republican has […]

More than 5,000 Facebook members have signed a petition protesting the social networks decision to allow businesses to reach users in the companys social network of 52 million users. Known as Beacon, Facebooks new online ad network lets advertisers target audiences through friends referrals. Facebook encourages companies to get “word-of-mouth promotion for your business” to […]

The chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights is urging the Federal Trade Commission to be wary of Googles proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick. The acquisition would combine two of the biggest players in online advertising. Googles text-based AdSense business is based on clickable links, while DoubleClicks technology places […]