Tech Buzz

As the recent BlackBerry case focused the world's eyes on the arcane field of patents, I was reminded of the 1999 Amazon.com "one click" case, which caused so many to condemn the U.S. patent system. At that time, critics called the system "broken" and a "disincentive to innovation." Now, the system ...

This week, the Federal Election Commission voted to exempt much political communication on the Internet from the provisions of the McCain-Feingold finance law. This action is a partial win on free-speech rights, but bad news on government control of the Internet. A few years ago, the FEC issued reg...

Former Credit Suisse First Boston banker Frank Quattrone -- who became a poster boy for all of the excesses of the dot-com era on Wall Street -- recently had his conviction for obstruction of justice overturned by a U.S. Appeals Court in New York City. Now, speculation is growing that Quattrone, fam...

Could Apple's troubles in Europe get any worse? It's on the wrong end of a lawsuit from The Beatles in the UK, who say iTunes breaks a $26 million settlement under which Apple Computer agreed to stay away from the music business; there's a distinct possibility Apple's digital rights management techn...

In the midst of the Game Developer's conference in San Jose, Calif., last week, Microsoft announced that Windows Vista would miss its do-not-miss date. Then, Dell, which does not typically do acquisitions, bought the premier gaming PC builder Alienware. Each event has within it the potential to in...

French legislators approved a bill this week that will force technology companies such as Apple Computer to share proprietary technology with rivals. Such a move is not only a recipe for disaster but completely unnecessary. The digital music market has always been a tumultuous place. For a long ti...

Back in 1996, I was fortunate enough to be one of the first journalists to cover a national political convention online. This was the Democratic National Convention in Chicago -- where Bill Clinton was nominated for President for a second time. In those days, not so long ago, really, we were excited...

Blogs are providing an unprecedented look inside organizations in the Internet age. Via blogs run by current and former employees and associates we can now see aspects of major technology companies that otherwise would only be visible to a few insiders. While it is fun to position these companies...

About a month ago, a bi-partisan group of senators released a statement supporting cable franchise reform. Now key members of the House of Representatives appear to agree. At this rate, consumers might actually see national reform that will slash cable bills and make video service more innovative ...

For more than a decade, marketers have promised that the Internet was going to be a key way that consumers would experience their brands -- someday. Someday has finally arrived. The potential of Internet advertising is truly starting to be realized, experts tell me. "The media landscape has clearly ...