Roy Mark

Years ago in an early DTV (digital television transition) hearing in the U.S. House, a senior lawmaker told his colleagues, “Gentlemen, mess with the voters’ television and you won’t be coming back after the next election.” It’s a warning elected officials took to heart, allocating approximately $1.5 billion for digital converter box subsidies. Additionally, Congress […]

A U.S. district court has granted Verizon a $33.15 million judgment against domain registrar OnlineNIC for bad faith registrations of Verizon-related domains. OnlineNIC, based in San Francisco, registered 663 domain names that were identical or similar to Verizon trademarks. In a Dec. 24 decision, Judge Jeremy Fogel of the California Northern District Court ordered OnlineNIC […]

Outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin hopes to force a vote on his controversial proposal to impose a free wireless broadband mandate on the FCC’s next spectrum auction by dropping a requirement that the network filter out pornography and other objectionable material. Under Martin’s plan, the winning bidder of 25MHz in the 2,155 to […]

Serco Group, a British-based international service firm, has completed its $524 million purchase of SI International, a provider of information services, technology and network solutions to the U.S. government. Serco plans to combine SI International’s operations with Serco’s existing North American business. SI International, based in Reston, Va., ranked 44th in a 2008 ranking of […]

AT&T said Dec. 29 its wireless networks are back in service after a Dec. 28 power failure in Bloomfield, Mich., led to a massive voice and data outage throughout the Midwest. AT&T pinpointed the outage to a company facility. According to AT&T, the outage began at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 28 and resulted in “intermittent […]

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is seeking a court order preventing Motorola from blocking its former workers from working for RIM. In a complaint filed last week, RIM claims Motorola is engaging in improper competitive practices by unfairly enforcing a nondisclosure and nonsolicitation agreement signed by the two rival cell phone makers in February. RIM […]

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the Department of Homeland Security Dec. 23, challenging the legality of the agency’s E-Verify program. The Chamber contends the program, which requires federal contractors and subcontractors to use E-Verify to confirm prospective employees are legally eligible to work, is illegal under federal law. The Chamber’s lawsuit challenges the government’s […]

Almost a year after launching a cyber-security “Manhattan Project” and less than a month before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says the Bush administration is leaving Obama with “some momentum” on cyber-security. Speaking Dec. 18 at the conclusion of a two-day cyber-warfare exercise in Washington, Chertoff said, […]

Canadian security vendor Certicom went to court Dec. 22 seeking an injunction to block the $1.50 a share hostile takeover bid made by a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackBerry maker RIM (Research in Motion). Certicom, of Mississauga, Ontario, develops elliptic curve cryptography technology coveted by RIM. In its application to the court, Certicom said that RIM’s […]

The president of a Boulder, Colo., firm that develops software used in oil and gas exploration was sentenced Dec. 22 for hacking the computer system of a rival firm. Jay E. Leonard, 61, was sentenced to 12 months of supervised probation and fined $2,500. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Leonard used a wireless […]