Tag archive: District of Columbia

Americans who have eagerly awaited President Obama’s selection of a Chief Information Officer – the government’s equivalent of a minister of technology – finally have a name for the office. On Thursday morning, the White House announced that Vivek Kundra had been selected for the job. The 34-year-old gained experience working for District of Columbia mayor Adrian Fenty as Chief Technology Officer, and will now step… Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld a ruling that prevents Verizon Communications from using competitors' proprietary information in marketing efforts designed to prevent customers from leaving Verizon services to switch to services offered by the likes of Comcast, Bright House, or Time Warner Inc. Verizon had appealed the initial injunction, arguing it should be allowed to offer its existing customers… Read More

Popular social networking site Facebook has, after reportedly long negotiations, reached an agreement with attorneys general from 49 states and the District of Columbia to implement policies and technology designed to shield underage users from sexual predators. The deal is similar to an agreement with 49 states (and Washington DC) reached earlier this year with social networking site MySpace—and, once again, the single state not… Read More

Back in 2002, Microsoft agreed to a landmark settlement in its huge antitrust case with the federal government. Part of the settlement was that Microsoft agreed to oversight of its business activities to ensure the company did not abuse its monopoly position in the computer operating system market. Most of those restrictions were set to lapse on November 12, 2007, but Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is responsible for overseeing the… Read More

Verizon Wireless has filed a notice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that it is dropping its challenge to the open-access rules established by the FCC for the upcoming 700 Mhz spectrum auction. Verizon had sought to have the FCC drop open-access requirements it has set up for roughly one-third of the spectrum rights eligible to be sold via auction this January. Companies that win the 11MHz-wide C blocks in the 700… Read More

Qualcomm is going to have to pay a licensing fee to its competitor Broadcom for a patent.   For several weeksQualcomm had been hoping that the Bush administration would come to its rescue and reverse a decision that would mean it had to pay the licensing fee. But the administration has let the decision,made in June by the United States International Trade Commission, stand.   It was felt that the decision could have a major impact on… Read More

Webcaster's Royalty Rate Appeal Denied Hundreds of U.S.-based net radio station may go silent Monday, as an appeals court denies a motion to delay the onset of new, significantly higher royalty rates. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit has denied a motion to postpone the implementation of new music royalty rates to be levied on U.S.-based Webcasters and online radio stations. In a brief statement, the… Read More

Once the giant among Internet portals, yesterday AOL averted a possible lawsuit by coming to a $3 million settle with the District of Columbia and 48 states thatmakes it easier for customers to leave.   The furore arose after complaints from customers attempting to leave the service who found themselves still being billed for services they believedalready canceled, or faced with aggressive customer service representatives who received… Read More

A panel of judges on the U.S.'s Copyright Royalty Board have upheld (PDF) a previous ruling which substantially increases the amount of royalties Internet broadcasters and Webcasters would have pay for the use of music in online radio and other streaming media. Under the new royalty structure many Internet broadcasters and terrestrial stations offering online feeds of their programming may be forced to shut down operations. National… Read More

Following immediately on its settlements with Texas and California, music label Sony BMG has agreed to pay some $4.25 million as part of settlement agreements with 39 U.S. states and the District of Columbia regarding copy protection software included on some of the labels music CDs which caused computers to malfunction and exposed users to security threats. The terms of the agreement are similar to earlier settlements with Texas and… Read More

“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the FCC had “exceeded the scope of its delegated authority” with the 2003 rule, which would have required TV set manufacturers to start using new technology by July 1. “We can find nothing in the statute, its legislative history, the applicable case law, or agency practice indicating that Congress meant to provide the sweeping authority the FCC now claims… Read More

TruBrite screen technology gives users a wider viewing angle and brighter screen to share presentations and more easily work on projects. Designed with the value conscious business shopper in mind,the Satellite A60 Series is affordable and includes all the computing functions a business needs to be competitive. Both the Satellite A70 and A60 Series of notebook PCs feature a convenient TV-out port to easily show multi-media presentations on a… Read More

Verizon's new DSL service offers a maximum connection speed of 3 Mbps (megabits per second) downstream and 768 Kbps (kilobits per second) upstream and is available today in 12 New England and mid-Atlantic states and in the District of Columbia. The company plans to offer 3Mbps DSL service later this year in the remaining 11 states where it now offers up to 1.5 Mbps DSL service. "Today's broadband customers are looking for… Read More

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., today announced availability of MyConnect Internet Access Service Plans to customers via www.toshibamyconnect.com, priced at $39.95 per month for unlimited access. The access plans provide notebook users with a single, cost-effective solution for unlimited monthly access at more than 20,000 Internet access points in the 50 United States… Read More

From AOL's press release: Think spammers are in the driver's seat in the war on spam? Think again! America Online today announced it has seized a luxury Porsche sports car from a major spammer who AOL caught thanks to members reporting spam. The spammer purchased the car with profits derived from sending junk email to online consumers – including AOL members. AOL seized the car at the successful conclusion of a legal… Read More