eWEEK Editorial Board

One company makes the Blackberry, the most popular mobile device this side of the iPod. Another is a little-known Virginia holding company with a product line that begins and ends with its wireless e-mail patent portfolio. We think the former is a better example of “the progress of science and useful arts,” which is the […]

Despite the recent emergence of anti-phishing legislation, IT managers and consumers would be foolish not to continue implementing their own stringent technology measures against this persistent strain of online fraud. On the heels of similar legislation in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, and with federal legislation pending, Californias Anti-Phishing Act of 2005 criminalizes phishing, with […]

Theres a lot of work still to be done in defining the rules of stewardship for digital identities. We agree with the San Francisco Superior Court that it is not the duty of Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International to warn credit-card customers that their personal information may have been breached by third-party negligence; wed argue, […]

While much has been said about Microsofts recent corporate reorganization, we would rather turn our attention toward the open, albeit stormy, horizons that await the companys customers, rather than focus on Redmonds deck-chair rearrangements. The enterprise IT scene when Vista ships next year will differ greatly from the one that greeted Microsofts Windows XP upgrade […]

Skype, a company that almost no one had heard of barely two years ago, came out of nowhere to achieve immense popularity as a provider of tools for consumer Internet telephony. Skype makes voice over IP so easy to use that word-of-mouth marketing by satisfied users was all that was needed to make its software […]

When the commonwealth of Massachusetts recently announced its plan to mandate an open document policy for its records, some observers considered the move a gratuitous jab at Microsoft, noting that the state refused to drop its long-running antitrust litigation against the company until a little more than a year ago, long after other plaintiffs had […]

As machines evolve, they put more effort into protecting themselves against their users, not always to the individual users satisfaction. But the measures are necessary because our reliance on machines means that any malfunction can have consequences that go far beyond one persons inconvenience. Thats the dilemma facing builders and buyers of information systems as […]

Over the past several months, its hard to say which weve seen more of—new Google service announcements or proclamations from Steve Ballmer regarding Microsofts resolve to beat Google at the search-and-related-services game that Google is coming to dominate. At stake is not just Microsofts desktop dominance but also a potential redesigning of end-user computing on […]

With energy prices climbing to unprecedented heights, power and thermal efficiency should be rising in parallel to the top of the IT management agenda. Advances in semiconductor technology enable chip makers to pack ever-more heat-generating circuits onto chip surfaces. As these microprocessors find their way into new servers and storage systems, IT pros must invest […]

In a move that will likely spell the death of many independent ISPs, the Federal Communications Commission recently decided to free telephone companies from requirements to open their broadband lines to rival ISPs. After the U.S. Supreme Court freed cable companies from similar requirements in June, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin made it clear that he […]