Roy Mark

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 […]

The ACLU and Electronic Freedom Foundation moved July 1 to force the Department of Justice to turn over records related to the government’s program of using cell phones as tracking devices. The groups claim the public has a right to know the extent of the government’s use of the technique. In documents filed in the […]

Telecommunications provider Televersa Online selected Proxim Wireless equipment June 1 to build a WiMax network covering an area of 12,400 square miles with a population of 2.5 million people. Televersa aims to reach 95 percent of the Bavarian region’s households and businesses, while wired DSL connections are available to only 60 percent. Televersa has already […]

With efforts at patent reform stymied in the U.S. Senate, the nation’s leading technology companies have formed a unique trust to buy valuable intellectual properties as a protective first strike against so-called patent trolls. The leading members of the trust include Cisco, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Sun Microsystems, Ericsson and Verizon Communications, according to a June […]

A year ago, U.S. Trade Rep. Susan Schwab hailed the free trade agreement her office had just negotiated with South Korea as the “most commercially significant free trade agreement the United States has concluded in nearly 20 years.” The tech industry couldn’t have agreed more and came forth with an orgy of support for the […]

Let the digital map wars commence. With Navteq already in global handset leader Nokia’s fold, Google and Navteq competitor Tele Atlas announced June 30 a five-year licensing agreement giving Google access to Tele Atlas maps and dynamic content in more than 200 countries. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal covers all […]

Microsoft continued to expand its mobile portfolio June 26 with its acquisition of MobiComp, an open-source cloud computing company that specializes in storage, backup and restoration of mobile data. Microsoft declined to reveal the financial terms of the deal. Microsoft also didn’t provide details on MobiComp’s role at Microsoft although Reuters reported Redmond plans to […]