Roy Mark

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 March 24. The legislation attempts to address the nation’s well-documented flagging cyber-security efforts.“The legislation is the culmination of a year’s worth of consultation and input from cyber-security experts in the private sector, government and civil liberties community,” committee said in […]

Google earned lavish praise from a congressional panel for its March 22 decision to discontinue censoring search results in China, while lawmakers harshly condemned Microsoft for continuing the practice. In an unexpected development for the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Internet domain host site GoDaddy.com announced that it will not be offering new .cn domain registrations […]

Legislation that would protect the nation’s electricity grid from attacks passed passed the Energy and Environment Subcommittee March 24. The GRID Act (Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense Act) passed on a unanimous voice vote by the subcommittee.The GRID Act would direct the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to take measures to protect the electricity grid […]

WiMax mobile broadband provider Clearwire Communications used the annual CTIA show March 23 to announce a slew of announcements that it hopes will amount to 120 new customers by the end of the year. In addition to adding new markets for expansion, Clearwire announced the launch of the 30th 4G-embedded computer and 4G service for […]

Verizon Wireless and Skype announced at CTIA Wireless March 23 that Skype Mobile will become available March 25, “starting with nine Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones.” The deal allows Skype Mobile customers to “make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype contact around the globe; send and receive unlimited instant messages with [and from] […]

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Vonage Holdings a second patent for virtual telephone numbers. Vonage’s first patent involving virtual phone numbers-No. 7,386,111-was granted on June 10, 2008.Virtual phone numbers allow people outside a Vonage customer’s local calling area to call for the price of a local call, allowing customers to establish a […]

After months of revisions, Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) released their latest Cybersecurity Act 2010, which would address the nation’s flagging cyber-security efforts. The Senate Commerce is expected to mark up the legislation March 24.The legislation is the culmination of nearly a year’s worth of consultation and input from cyber-security experts in […]

LifeLock, which has extensively advertised its identity theft protection services on television, agreed to pay $11 million Feb. 10 as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over claims that LifeLock used false claims to promote its services. LifeLock also agreed to pay another $1 million to a group of 35 state attorneys […]

The smartphone patent lawsuit derby continues with a company named SmartPhone Technologies suing Apple, AT&T, Research In Motion, Samsung, Sanyo, LG Electronics and Motorola, accusing them of violating patents owned by the company. Filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, the suit claims that primarily Apple with its iPhone but […]

NASA scientists have launched a new experiment on the ISS (International Space Station) in hopes of producing alternative energy crops on Earth. Cell cultures of the jatropha curcas plant were sent to the space station in February in special flasks containing nutrients and vitamins.The cells will be exposed to microgravity until they return to Earth […]

Whatever the fate of NASA’s manned spaceflight program, the space agency’s weather satellite program is continuing unabated.NASA’s latest launch was March 4 when the GOES-P (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) rode a Delta IV rocket into space. The GOES-P is “the latest in a series of meteorological satellites designed to watch for storm development and weather […]

The concept of meaningful use “appears to be spurring an increase in health care information technology (IT) spending along with a brightening economy,” according to the results of the 21st Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Leadership Survey. HIMSS said in a news release: ““Asked to identify their single IT priority during the next […]