Roy Mark

Lawmaker Seeks Small Business SarbOx Relief

The Small Business SOX Compliance Relief Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Oct. 8 to permanently exempt small businesses from Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Section 404 contains internal reporting requirements that many small businesses complain are costly and time consuming to implement.In an acknowledgment of continued concern about […]

Lufthansa Gives Broadband Another Shot

Lufthansa plans to revive its in-flight Internet service next year. While Lufthansa was once a pioneer in airline Wi-Fi-it offered the world’s first scheduled flight providing broadband Internet in 2003-it dropped the service after service provider Boeing discontinued its Connexion service in 2006.Lufthansa is now partnering with Panasonic’s new broadband service, exConnect. Passengers will not […]

Google Voice Muddies Network Neutrality Debate

In the high-stakes political game of network neutrality currently under way in Washington, Google is spending a lot of time and money trying to convince the Federal Communications Commission that the agency’s network neutrality principles should be expanded for wireline carriers and extended to wireless carriers such as AT&T and Verizon. The carriers, in turn, […]

Spectrum Issues Loom over Wireless Broadband

Both the Federal Communications Commission and the wireless industry agree on at least thing: There’s not enough available spectrum to sustain the anticipated growth in wireless broadband services. Smartphones, for instance, may represent the future, but it becomes almost a moot point if the wireless carriers can’t obtain more spectrum to run the airwaves-hungry devices.The […]

Bombing the Moon: Spectacularly Unspectacular

The sizzle turned to fizzle for NASA Oct. 9 as it slammed two probes traveling more than 5,000 miles per hour into the moon’s surface in a search for lunar water. While jubilant NASA scientists called the precision strike a success, they are initially puzzled about what happened to an expected 6-mile-high plume of dirt […]

Microsoft Launches Swine Flu Response Site

Microsoft Oct. 7 announced a new Website, the H1N1 Response Center, which provides users with relevant content and allows consumers to gauge symptoms and receive guidance using an H1N1 self-assessment service. The site offers consumers a self-assessment licensed from medical and public health experts at Emory University.The service assists people in deciding whether their symptoms […]

NASA Set for Moon Smashup

NASA plans to literally shoot the moon Oct. 9 when the space agency smashes not one, but two spacecrafts traveling more than 5,000 miles per hour into a crater on the lunar surface. The resulting six-mile-high dust plume will be photographed by NASA as it explores the possibility of water under the moon’s surface.NASA launched […]

Dell Plans Android Smartphone on ATandT

In what would be Dell’s first foray into the hypercompetitive smartphone market, the Texas-based computer maker is reportedly teaming with AT&T for a 2010 device running Google’s Android. According to the Wall Street Journal, Dell is also pursuing deals with other carriers.Rumors about Dell entering the cellphone market have periodically surfaced over the last year […]

Genachowski Pitches Open Networks to Wireless Carriers

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachwoski praised wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon Oct. 7 for increasing their efforts to open their networks, but warned mobile carriers gathered in San Diego for a CTIA show that “we shouldn’t have uncertainty about whether we’ll have an open Internet.” The day before the show opened and two weeks […]

ATandT Opens Network to iPhone, Skype Internet Calls

AT&T changed its network policy Oct. 6 to permit VOIP iPhone applications-most notably Skype-that bypass AT&T’s own voice service. Previously, the Skype Internet phone service for the iPhone was limited to Wi-Fi connectivity. The decision does not enable the Google Voice service application for the iPhone, which AT&T told the Federal Communications Commission in August […]