Stories by Cara Garretson

Euro lawmakers discuss Net issues with Congress

A group of European Parliament members are in Washington, D.C., this week to discuss with U.S. regulators and lawmakers areas where the governments can come closer together on matters of Internet policy.

Report: FCC may allow a Baby Bell to accquire WorldCom

Faced with the possibility that 20 million customers in the U.S. could soon be left without telecommunications services, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may allow a Baby Bell telephone company to acquire ailing long-distance and Internet service provider WorldCom Inc.

Civil liberties group says cable could close Internet

The openness of the Internet is in danger of being compromised by cable companies that offer high-speed broadband services, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the U.S. government must act to protect the Internet's freedom of communication from these monopolies.

MS/DOJ: Allchin takes the stand, testifies about security

Microsoft Group Vice President for Platforms Jim Allchin took the stand at the remedy hearing in its ongoing antitrust case late Tuesday morning to testify about, among other things, the company's focus on providing users with computer security.

MS/DOJ - Microsoft likened Real's threat to Netscape's

A lawyer for the states suing Microsoft questioned a company executive's testimony that Microsoft does not view RealNetworks Inc.'s media player technology as a threat to Windows, making reference to internal messages by Microsoft executives that compared the battle between Microsoft and RealNetworks to the one between the software giant and Netscape Communications Corp.

MS/DOJ - Microsoft's witness dubious of 'unbound' Windows

It is "probably impossible" for Microsoft to provide an 'unbound' version of Windows, as the states suing Microsoft would require under their proposed remedies, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology testified during the company's remedy hearing Thursday.

MS/DOJ - Judge might not admit licensing evidence

The states suing Microsoft may not be able to use evidence that they say shows that Microsoft is forcing PC vendors into unfair Windows licensing terms, during the company's remedy trial currently under way.

Witness: 'Unbundled' Windows would harm users

Consumers would suffer from myriad hardware and software incompatibilities if third-party Windows licensees were allowed to remove pieces of the operating system, a Microsoft executive testified Tuesday morning at the company's remedy hearing.

Industry, observers debate open source's future

Is there room in the industry for both open source software, which lets users view and tinker with a program's source code, as well as proprietary software that does not? This question and related ones were asked at a conference held here Friday, where panelists discussed the pros and cons of different software licensing models and whether the U.S. government should get involved in the debate.

MS/DOJ - AOL executive favors customizable Windows

An AOL Time Warner (AOLTW) executive took the stand during the Microsoft remedy hearing Wednesday afternoon to support the litigating states' proposed remedy that Microsoft be forced to sell an "unbound" version of Windows, one free from software such as its browser and media player.

Red Hat exec points finger at Microsoft

Just before Microsoft's remedy hearing wrapped up for the week, an executive from Red Hat testified that he believed Linux's inability to grab a substantial portion of the desktop operating system market could be traced back to Microsoft's influence over PC makers.

MS/DOJ - Gateway, RealNetworks: Microsoft harmed us

After fiery opening statements and some strong words from a federal judge, the Microsoft remedy hearing got down to basics on Thursday as attorneys for the company and the litigating states worked to build support for their respective antitrust remedies.

MS/DOJ - Judge omits key testimony in states' case

In a potential blow to the litigating states' case in the Microsoft antitrust case, District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Wednesday took a hard line with the states' attorneys regarding what testimony she will and will not allow in the remedy hearing that began this week.

Cybersecurity bill passes House subcommittee

A cybersecurity bill that would protect ISPs (Internet service providers) from liability when reporting a potential threat was approved by a subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.

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