Roy Mark

Microsoft came out firing July 15 at a Senate hearing looking into the proposed Google-Yahoo advertising deal, claiming Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang told Microsoft officials that the Google-Yahoo partnership would eliminate both Yahoo and Microsoft as serious players in the online advertising market. Google and Yahoo announced June 12 they had reached a nonexclusive deal […]

No matter the FCC’s final decision on Comcast’s blocking of peer to peer traffic, litigation is sure to follow. Just for starters, Comcast doesn’t believe the FCC’s network neutrality principles are even legal in the first place. In a March filing with the FCC, Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen wrote, “It is settled […]

Comcast is guilty of blocking consumers’ access to the Internet and faces federal sanctions, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said July 10. If Martin’s fellow commissioners agree with his verdict, Comcast would become the first major broadband provider judged to be violating the FCC’s network neutrality principles. “The commission has adopted a set of principles that […]

Gail from Oldwick, N.J., was an ardent supporter of Barack Obama before his July 9 vote supporting legal immunity for telephone carriers that participated in President Bush’s domestic spying program. After the vote, she said she is “ashamed” she taught her parrot to squawk, “Obama Yes We Can!” Ditto for Robert from Hampden, Maine, who […]

Congress has proved once again the joke is on us when it comes to lawmakers protecting the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens. After years of telephone companies turning over our phone calls and e-mails without a proper warrant for government surveillance, Congress has patted the telcos on the head, praised them as patriots and shielded […]

After a morning of fiery debate, the U.S. Senate voted July 9 to grant retroactive immunity to telephone companies that participated in the White House’s warrantless domestic spying program. The 69-28 vote came after the Senate defeated three amendments all aimed at either removing or modifying the immunity provision in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. […]

On the eve of a Senate hearing on behavioral advertising, the Center for Democracy and Technology has published a report everyone should read. Your Internet service provider doesn’t want you to read it, nor do companies like NebuAd, which is all the more reason to check out the CDT research. NebuAd, you may recall, is […]

Rumors are circulating in the blogosphere that T-Mobile USA plans to introduce an Android handset this fall along with the company’s rollout of 3G services. If true, T-Mobile would be the first to the commercial market with a phone powered by Google’s new open-source mobile operating system. TmoNews got the rumor mill churning July 5 […]

The Bush administration July 7 threatened to veto the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act bill if lawmakers approve an amendment to the legislation that would delay immunity for telephone carriers until the Department of Justice conducts a study about the carriers’ role in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program. The current bill before the Senate grants the […]

The folks at Internet Tablet Talk have created an Android installer for the Nokia N810, allowing developers to sidestep what has been a tedious process to port Google’s new open-source mobile operating system. Since Android is not currently available on any cell phone, the installer is considered a significant step forward for Android developers. Nokia’s […]

It took a month, but Google finally relented to pressure from privacy groups to add a link on its homepage to the company’s privacy policy. Google had resisted the addition of a privacy link, saying it did not want to clutter its homepage. “We’re making a homepage change by adding a link to our privacy […]

After this week’s Independence Day celebration in Washington, Google and Yahoo can expect even more fireworks as their proposed advertising deal goes before Congress and the Department of Justice. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation plans to jump in with a July 9 hearing on the privacy implications of online behavioral advertising that […]