Tag archive: Iowa

As reported by Reuters this week, 36-year-old Billy Payne Jr. and his 23-year-old girlfriend, Billie Jean Hayworth, were both murdered after removing and blocking a woman previously on their Facebook friend's list named Jenelle Potter. The parents of an 8-month-old baby boy named Tyler where allegedly shot and killed within their own home by Marvin Enoch “Buddy” Potter Jr., the 60-year-old father of the blocked woman, as well… Read More

Microsoft isn’t making its vast profits any more, it’s shedding 5,000 jobs, and, according to a new company blog posting, it’s also going to delay its plans for a new data center in Des Moines, Iowa. The center was set to host Hotmail, Live Search and Windows Live services. In the posting, from Arne Josefsberg, general manager of infrastructure services, Global Foundation Services, and Michael Manos, general manager of… Read More

Computer maker Dell has agreed to pay some $3.35 million to settle 34 states' allegations that the company's warranty, financing, and rebate offers were deceptive and misled consumers. The agreement has Dell paying $1.5 million into a restitution account; impacted consumers will be able to submit claims for compensation. The other $1.85 million will go towards the states' legal costs. “More than the money, this… 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

The comScore figures for Web searches in January reveal no major surprises. It’s an election year, so politics dominates the scene everywhere, it’s early in the year, so people are thinking of taxes. And with the bottom dropping out of the housing market, it’s no wonder that real estate figures high in the numbers.   According to Vnunet, the tax category jumped 202% during January, with the IRS the big winner. In… 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

Boy, if you are going to make a gutsy move, there is nothing like taking out both your own product and your leading competitor’s product at the same time by rethinking the market. Palm just rethought the Smartphone, and in many ways, this new vision likely comes closer to the way most of us work now than the current generation of Smartphones do. The Problem  The problem most folks, including Apple, have… Read More

Judge Scott Rosenberg of Iowa's Poll County District Court has granted a preliminary approval to a settlement of antitrust charges against Microsoft in the state of Iowa. The settlement, originally announced in February, has Microsoft paying up to $179.5 million to businesses and individual computer users who purchased selected Microsoft applications and operating systems between May 18, 1994, and June 30, 2006. The class action… Read More

Pundits have been pondering just how much influence social networking sites like the ever-popular MySpace might be able to exert on U.S. election politics: declared presidential candidates from both major parties have assembled MySpace pages and are enthusiastically inviting the sites' online-savvy youth demographic to sign on as their friends, and organizers alternately quake in fear and glee as they ponder the potential… Read More

The case has already been to the Iowa Supreme Court three times, but today Microsoft agreed to settle an Iowa class action antitrust lawsuit against it for an undisclosed amount. Terms of the settlement could be released at a hearing in late April when the judge decides whether to accept the agreement, but for now all that has been disclosed is that Microsoft will contribute half of any unclaimed proceeds from the settlement to Iowa… 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

“Robert Kramer, whose company provides e-mail service for about 5,000 subscribers in eastern Iowa, filed suit against 300 spammers after his inbound mail servers received up to 10 million spam e-mails a day in 2000, according to court documents. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Wolle filed default judgments Friday against three of the defendants under the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and the Iowa Ongoing… Read More

The proliferation of Internet sites filled with pictures shot surreptitiously in public bathrooms, locker rooms and other places has prompted some schools to ban the phones (the most common deviceswith cameras). And lawmakers in such states as Iowa and Colorado are considering their own measures to protect against what you might call the candid camphone. “It's part of the next step of society. Almost everything you do,… Read More

Tweeter announced July 3 that its results would fall short of analysts' forecasts. The Canton, MA

Also today, T-Mobile USA and Cingular Wireless agreed to expand the roaming arrangement reached by the companies last year, and to extend it until 2006. For T-Mobile's customers, the roaming agreement with Western Wireless expands advanced GSM/GPRS 1900 voice and data service along more than 5,500 highway miles and across much of the Western UnitedStates including Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, North and South Dakota,… Read More