Roy Mark

The U.S. House fell into line with the Senate Oct. 30 voting 402-0 to extend the ban on Internet connection taxes for another seven years. The legislation now heads to President Bushs desk. The current three-year moratorium is due to expire Thursday. The Internet Tax Freedom Act (H.R. 3678) passed the House Oct. 16 with […]

A U.S. House proposal to increase taxes on venture capitalists will result in lost jobs and economic opportunities, according to an Oct. 29 letter from the National Venture Capital Association to federal lawmakers. House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, introduced legislation last week that would more than double the tax rate on carried interest, […]

Business broadband provider Covad Communications Group agreed Oct. 28 to accept a $304 million cash takeover offer from Platinum Equity, a private equity firm with headquarters in Beverly Hills, Calif. Under the terms of the agreement unanimously approved by Covads Board of Directors, an affiliate of Platinum Equity will acquire Covad for $1.02 per share. […]

The Federal Communications Commission is approving the $24.7 billion private equity buyout of Alltel, the nations fifth-largest cellular carrier. With the approval handed down Oct. 26, Alltel expects to close the $71.50 per share deal by the end of November. The FCC ruling determined that the acquisition would not result in competitive harm and that […]

Embattled Internet telephone company Vonage settled its contentious patent dispute with Verizon Oct. 25, agreeing to pay as much as $120 million for infringing on Verizons patents. The terms of the resolution depend on how the Court of Appeals decides Vonages pending petition for rehearing regarding two of the Verizon patents. If Vonage wins a […]

Motorola posted another disappointing quarter Oct. 25 but gave investors some hope that a series of job cuts and a new line of handheld devices may revive the troubled U.S. mobile giant. Third-quarter net income fell to $60 million from $968 million a year earlier. The Schaumburg, Ill.-based company posted sales of $8.81 billion, also […]

U.S. Internet companies would face criminal penalties for turning over personal data to governments that use the information to suppress political dissent under legislation approved Oct. 23 by a U.S. House committee. The Global Online Freedom Act of 2007, approved in a unanimous voice vote by the Foreign Affairs Committee, comes two weeks before the […]

Research In Motion expects to begin distributing its popular BlackBerry handheld devices in China by the end of the year under a partnership with Alcatel-Lucent. The first smart phone offered to Chinese enterprise customers will be the 8700. Alcatel-Lucent achieved certification of the 8700 model for the Chinese market through a partnership with TCL Communications, […]

It turns out that Verizon Wireless $59.99 broadband plan wasnt so unlimited after all. Admitting the plan actually only covered Web browsing, e-mail and intranet access, the nations second-largest wireless carrier agreed Oct. 23 to pay $1 million to customers for wrongful account termination and to halt the deceptive marketing of its Internet usage plans. […]

Verizon Wireless dropped its legal opposition Oct. 22 to the rules for Januarys highly anticipated 700MHz auction, rules Google has fought to preserve. Verizon, the nations second-largest wireless carrier, called the auction rules “arbitrary, capacious and … contrary to law” in a September appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, […]

Having failed to stop patent reform in the U.S. House of Representatives, opponents are now focusing on the Senate. In an Oct. 23 letter to Senate leaders, more than 400 organizations ranging from biotech to grocers urged lawmakers to make significant changes to legislation approved on Sept. 7 by the House. With a similar version […]

Oracles takeover bid for BEA Systems—successful or not—is just the latest example of what is shaping up as a historic stretch of mergers and acquisitions in the technology industry. Despite a recent slowdown in the credit markets that left private equity firms on the sidelines during the third quarter, M&A analysts still expect 2007 to […]