Caron Carlson

In one of the most aggressive lobbying campaigns in recent Washington memory, the major local telephone companies succeeded late last month in securing a victory in the U.S. House of Representatives with the passage of the Internet Freedom and Deployment Act, known as the Tauzin-Dingell bill. The RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies)—Verizon Communications Inc., SBC […]

WASHINGTON–Legislation is in the works to expand protections for system operators that voluntarily disclose e-mail to the government without a court order. But while the measure is intended to encourage private-sector information-sharing for the war on terrorism, some network operators question its underlying logic. “We dont monitor e-mail. We dont filter e-mail. We only filter […]

Adding a new chapter to its story of escalating layoffs begun one year ago, 3Com Corp. this week let go approximately 350 employees, primarily from its Business Connectivity Co. 3Com is “simplifying the structure of its global connectivity unit,” said Robert Glazier, company spokesman. The elimination of the BCC workers will bring the companys global […]

Round one in the battle of the broadband titans goes to the Bell Operating Companies, whose mammoth lobbying effort over the past year secured them a victory on the House floor yesterday with the passage of the Internet Freedom and Deployment Act, also known as the Tauzin/Dingell bill. The opposing camp, led by long-distance carriers […]

After receiving an onslaught of negative public reaction to its proposed settlement with Microsoft Corp., the U.S. Department of Justice is recommending changes to the deal, which is set to go before a judge next Wednesday. The latest changes to the Revised Proposed Final Judgment in the protracted antitrust case were filed with the court […]

Do you want the Department of Motor Vehicles to be able to read the private e-mail that runs over your network? If a bill approved by the crime panel of the House Judiciary Committee becomes law, any government entity–not just law enforcement agencies–will be able to receive e-mail and other electronic communications without a court […]

Eighty to 100 ms may not sound like a lot of time, but when you shave that much off the time it takes each customer to do business on your Web site, it adds up. FreeMarkets Inc., a sponsor of business-to-business online auctions, is cutting its customers transaction time by 80 to 100 ms by […]

Cisco Systems Inc. this month beefed up its line of firewall products to improve network security and VPN performance. Two firewall upgrades, the Pix 506E and Pix 515E, provide improved performance over the Pix 506 and Pix 515 firewall platforms. The enhanced products are slated to provide performance increases of up to two and a […]

Despite several years of valiant marketing efforts to create a successful buzz around the notion of voice and data convergence, Internet Protocol networking has not taken off as well as the pioneer vendors had hoped. Many have found that before enterprises embark on a mass migration to IP, the gear must become more flexible, more […]

Apart from a hefty increase in federal IT security spending in the coming year, the single most important tool the Bush administration wants to create to promote a safer Internet is a Freedom of Information Act exemption for enterprises willing to share cyber- security data with the government. However, if such a carve-out to the […]