Attract, Retain and Delight More Customers
Close more deals in less time, track your sales activities and access customer data from your mobile device. Grow your business with Zoho CRM.
Sign up now for a free 15-day trial.

'The Politics of Abundance:' Lessons From the Last Era of Prosperity December 10, 2012 The duo that led the Clinton-era FCC, Reed Hundt and Blair Levin, recently published a new e-book titled "The Politics of Abundance." It looks to the success of the 1990's for solutions to today's problems. They lay out a framework and a path to regenerate the kind of growth and innovation we saw during their tenure. Hundt was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997.

Is Something Rotten in the State of Freiburg? December 10, 2012 You win some, you lose some," as the old saying goes, but rarely do the two occur nearly simultaneously. Sure enough, however, that's just what happened to open source software in Germany recently: It was being celebrated in Munich even as it was dumped in Freiburg.

Report: Iran Uses Huawei Gear to Snoop on Citizens December 06, 2012 Foreign telecommunications companies, including China-based Huawei, have helped Iran collect incredibly detailed data on its citizens' telephone and Internet use, Reuters reported. According to an investigative report, a partner of Huawei offered to sell the Huawei-developed "Lawful Interception Solution" to MobinNet, Iran's first wireless broadband provider.

US May Not Have the Muscle to Stop Internet Rule-Making December 05, 2012 The United States and Canada faced a setback on Wednesday as a joint proposal from the two nations, which was also backed by some European countries, failed to win approval at an international meeting. The proposal aimed to protect the Internet from international regulation, and its rejection could mean tough negotiations will follow in the rewriting of the telecoms treaty.

Swiss IT Guy Goes Rogue With US, UK Intelligence Data December 04, 2012 American and British intelligence agencies on Tuesday were warned by the NDB, Switzerland's federal intelligence service, that some shared information related to counterterrorism had been stolen. Last summer, an NDB IT technician reportedly downloaded terabytes of data that had been shared between the NDB, the CIA and Britain's MI6. The man may have looked to sell it.

IT Savings Could Help Narrow Federal Deficit December 04, 2012 The meat-cleaver approach to reducing costs in business or government always has the virtue of at least being simple to apply -- although frequently painful in the execution. For the U.S. government, an across-the-board cut of roughly 9 percent in discretionary civilian and defense outlays is, in fact, the default scenario of the fiscal cliff sequestration requirement.

Fears Rise Among Free Net Advocates as UN Meeting Kicks Off December 03, 2012 The UN-sponsored World Conference on International Telecommunications, which will feature government regulators from 193 countries, opened Monday, prompting fears that the meeting could ultimately damage Internet freedom. The UN's International Telecommunications Union reportedly is trying to allay concerns that the conference will result in restrictions to free speech and the flow of information.

Bill Closing Email Privacy Loophole Clears Committee December 03, 2012 A bill to protect email privacy cleared a key U.S. Senate committee last week, buoying the spirits of privacy advocates. The proposed law would close a loophole in the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which allows the government to peep on email more than 180 days old without a warrant. "We're very happy about it. It's a very good first step," said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

A New FCC Rule Might Change How You Watch TV November 30, 2012 The Federal Communications Commission passed a little-publicized order last month that changes how cable television providers can deliver basic broadcast channels. This rule change has far-reaching implications for those who legally grab their basic broadcast channels for free from cable, but don't buy a cable subscription. It also affects television streaming device set-top box makers, like Boxee and Roku.

Knockoff Sellers Knocked Offline on Cyber Monday November 27, 2012 On Cyber Money -- the Super Bowl, if you will, of online shopping -- U.S. authorities seized some 130 domain names in several countries to prevent them from selling counterfeit merchandise. This is the third straight year authorities have launched a Cyber Monday counterfeit crackdown.

Google Stirs Up Resistance to UN Internet Regulation November 26, 2012 Google is adding its voice to a chorus of opposition to a proposal to update the International Telecommunication Union treaty in a way that could give governments more power to restrict the flow of information online. Next week, members of the ITU -- the UN organization that oversees international communication policy -- will gather in Dubai for the World Conference on International Telecommunications.

Feds' Cloud Migration Percolates With Agency Deals November 21, 2012 Adoption of cloud technology at the federal level is still far from routine -- but cloud transactions continue to emerge on a regular basis. The deals range in value, demonstrating that cloud migration can be applied for relatively small deployments or for huge networks. In the latest major deal, HP Enterprise Services will provide a cloud-based email system for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Post-Election Congressional Shuffling Could Impact Feds' IT, Cybersecurity Plans November 16, 2012 One of the overriding issues in the federal elections was the need to get the government's financial house in order. In the post-election period, Republicans and Democrats have offered conciliatory comments as a deadline for resolving the issue of the fiscal cliff draws near, but positions on the issue remain very much in conflict.

Obama's Re-election Means IT Plans Can Be Executed November 13, 2012 One of the conventional views of political pundits after the Nov. 6 Presidential election was that both parties spent billions of dollars on the campaign for a result that did not change the political landscape all that much. Below the broad trends that keep political pundits in business, however, are the myriad federal issues that have a more direct impact on business.

Open Source Could Clean Up US Elections November 13, 2012 It's obvious from the latest U.S. election that our voting system could use some improvement in terms of both enabling and supporting voters and efficiently tallying and verifying a trusted result. Open source offers the technology, as well as the culture and community, to address these challenges, and it may be among the best solutions.

BlackBerry 10's US Security Clearance Is a Lock November 08, 2012 While Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 won't be released until the first quarter of 2013, the platform has already received a highly prized U.S. government security clearance, the company announced Thursday. BlackBerry 10 won the FIPS 140-2 certification that will allow government agencies to deploy devices that run the OS.

Feds, US Businesses to Link Arms on Cybersecurity November 07, 2012 The ever-changing and ever-expanding quest to keep information technology systems secure requires collaboration and coordination among government and business enterprises. To foster such joint efforts, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has put out the word to U.S. businesses to propose ideas and literally work side by side with federal counterparts to develop effective cybersecurity programs.

FCC Draws mHealth Road Map, Part 2 November 02, 2012 The U.S. government's efforts to advance health technology include work taking place at two obvious agencies: the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, an unlikely player in the healthcare arena has emerged -- the Federal Communications Commission, which finds itself at the center of the mobile health, or mHealth, sector.

FCC Draws mHealth Road Map, Part 1 October 30, 2012 Smartphones can perform all kinds of neat tasks, such as instantly directing owners to the nearest sushi bar, or providing inning-by-inning updates of the World Series. Beyond these eye-catching consumer conveniences, the potential for more substantive uses for mobile telecom is enormous. One such area is healthcare, including a wide range of services.

Cisco Routed From Chinese Telecom Network October 29, 2012 So you wanna play that game, huh? China Unicom will take over one of China's main networks from Cisco Systems because of -- what else? -- security reasons. China Unicom reportedly will operate China169, a backbone network router in Jiangsu currently operated by Cisco.