Roy Mark

The birthplace of Big Blue is now the focal point of a massive lawsuit contending IBM released over decades toxic and hazardous contaminants into the environment of New Yorks Village of Endicott and the town of Union. IBM opened its first plant in the area in 1924. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 3 in Broome County, […]

The Japanese government is considering new Internet and mobile phone regulations in 2008, including banning downloads of copyrighted files for personal use and requiring mobile operators to filter Web content for users under the age of 18. According to the site Gyaku.jp, the government initiated a series of reports and recommendations throughout December aimed at […]

If nothing else, Rudy Giuliani is a savvy politician who knows how to play to the technology crowd. Whether from the stump or in the debates, the former New York City mayor and current Republican presidential candidate invokes technology as the magic bullet to solve the country’s problems. In a September keynote address to the […]

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo agreed Dec. 19 to pay a combined $31.5 million to resolve government claims that they promoted illegal gambling by receiving advertising payments from online sports books, casinos and poker sites between 1997 and June 2007. All three online giants neither contested nor admitted to the charges, but Microsoft agreed to pay […]

The land rush that is online advertising is getting more competitive with each passing day, as top-tier technology vendors grapple to find ways to get a larger share of the pie. It also is getting the attention of lawmakers, particularly those being asked to give their OK to Google’s plans to spend $3.1 billion to […]

Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick cleared U.S. regulators Dec. 20 with a 4-1 vote of the Federal Trade Commission. After an eight-month review of the merger, the FTC concluded the deal is “unlikely to substantially lessen competition.” The deal still needs the approval of the European Commission, which opened an extensive investigation into the […]

Five U.S. senators urged the Federal Communications Commission Dec. 20 to approve the unlicensed use of the interference buffer spectrum—known as white space—between television channels. Although broadcasters are allocated hundreds of megahertz of spectrum in every U.S. television market, significant chunks go unused, serving as interference zones from other channels. The unused spectrum is considered […]

Although the Federal Trade Commission did not discuss privacy issues in its approval of the $3.1 billion Google-DoubleClick merger, the agency still has plenty to say to the advertising community about data collection and consumer privacy. In hopes of setting the pace for a self-regulatory privacy regime for companies that track consumer online activities, the […]

After hours of impassioned debate, the Senate decided late Dec. 17 to delay a vote on granting telecoms immunity for their alleged participation in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program. Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate would next deal with the bill in January. The immunity issue is tied to a renewal of FISA (the […]

Unlike other candidates, Mitt Romney brings an extensive business background to the race for the White House. In fact, Romney says he is the only candidate-Republican or Democrat-who has the chops to lead the economy. As such, his positions reflect the traditional private-sector view of government: Stay out of business affairs unless the litigation helps […]