The U.K. Office of Fair Trading (OFT) stopped a Wales- based businessman from using misleading statements to pressure other businesses into purchasing domain names, the agency said Wed. Adam Ripley, who ran several domain name registration companies, told businesses a 3rd party was trying to register a domain similar to theirs, OFT said. Ripley then offered the names to the businesses but gave them only a few minutes to decide. He also offered co.uk registrations for 10 years, when in fact only 2-year periods are available. When Ripley refused to halt his sales practices, OFT obtained a temporary injunction in High Court. However, the agency said, Ripley continues to contest the charges, meaning a full trial could take place.
Level 3 said it would provide E911-enabled VoIP service to about 60 million households nationwide through its wholesale partners. It said it planned to expand coverage throughout 2005.
An antispyware bill was introduced again by Rep. Mary Bono (R-Cal.). HR-29 passed the House last year but did not win Senate approval before adjournment of the 108th Congress. Critics contend legislating against spyware is pointless, since its perpetrators aren’t law abiding in the first place.
LAS VEGAS -- VoIP executives said Wed. they don’t tremble at the prospect of cable operators offering their own VoIP services. Speaking at the Pulver.com summit that opened the Consumer Electronics Show here, the officials said they view VoIP as offering advantages over wireless phones, which they said are unlikely to become the complete substitute for the public switched telephone network, given quality of service and other issues.
Broadband network sales are expected to surge in 2005, as businesses, particularly retail merchants, are increasingly turning to managed broadband networks to boost sales and cut expenses, New Edge Networks said. It said its managed network sales in the 4th quarter 2004 jumped almost 50% over the same period a year ago. Most of the new sales were to small and mid-sized retail businesses that used 56K dial-up connections, the company said. Large companies have begun to abandon traditional wide area networks in favor of more cost effective IP-based virtual private networks, it said. Citing In-Stat research, the company said the retail market segment alone would spend $30 billion on telecom services and equipment in 2005, up 11% from last year.
The US Chamber of Commerce will advance its “unprecedented” global initiative to fight intellectual property theft, CEO Thomas Donohue told a press gathering Wed. Under National Chamber Foundation leadership, the Chamber will build on efforts that began in 2004 to abate the rising tide of IP theft, Donohue said. “These crimes not only cost American business an estimated $250 billion a year, they threaten the health and safety of our people,” he said.
Commerce Secy. nominee Carlos Gutierrez was asked about broadband in the first question of his nomination hearing Wed. before the Senate Commerce Committee. New committee member Sen. Pryor (D-Ark.) asked Gutierrez what his plan was for deployment of broadband to rural areas. Gutierrez said he “hoped to have more knowledge” of the issue and would elaborate in the future. However, he said President Bush’s goal of affordable access to broadband for all America by 2007 was a “very powerful goal” that he “totally endorses and supports.” Gutierrez, the CEO of cereal manufacturer Kellogg Co., is not considered a controversial nominee and is expected to be approved.
Familiar legislation fencing off VoIP services from state oversight was set to be introduced Tues. by Rep. Stearns (R-Fla.). The language will be the same as HR- 4757, which didn’t pass during the 108th Congress. “Although the FCC decision in November to declare VoIP services interstate in nature, and thus subject to the Commission’s authority, represented a step in the right direction, legislation still is needed to change the current regulatory scheme to allow these technologies to flourish,” said Stearns in a statement: “The existing web of complex regulations discourages investments and innovations in these products and services.” Rep. Boucher (R-Va.) once again will co-sponsor the bill.
A man calling himself the “Spam King” will stop infecting computers with adware until a federal lawsuit against him is resolved, according to the FTC. The govt. alleged Sanford Wallace of Rochester, N.Y., used spyware to infiltrate computers and tried to sell programs he claimed would fix the problems his software had caused -- which the FTC alleged didn’t work. No trial date has been set, but presiding U.S. Dist. Judge Joseph DiClerico issued a temporary restraining order against Wallace in Oct. to prevent him from sending ads. Wallace told the AP he’s being persecuted “because of his past involvement” in spam. He headed a company called Cyber Promotions in the mid 1990s that the FTC said sent as many as 30 million spams daily, earning him the nicknames “Spam King” and “Spamford.”