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Last week, the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform held hearings in Houston to discuss fixing the nation's voting system. New technologies help make most businesses more effective and efficient, so it only makes sense to upgrade America's ballot box as well ...

The United States Supreme Court this week ruled against Brand X, a small California company that sells Internet access. This ruling is good for consumers and marks the beginning of what could be much-needed reform in broadband policy ...

This month the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide MGM vs. Grokster, the case that could determine whether or not a peer-to-peer (P2P) company can be held liable for illegal activity on its network. The decision is key, but the future is also being shaped by the marketplace ...

California began a series of public hearings on the SBC/AT&T merger in Oakland, Calif., this week. While the purpose is to gather public input, in reality, special interests dominate, putting the real public interest at risk ...

British biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey spoke at Stanford University this week about the prospects for curing aging. His reasoned presentation proved a stark contrast to authors like James Hughes, Executive Director of the World Transhumanist Association, who seek to prolong the life of worn-out political ideas ...

Broadband experts gathered in Washington, D.C. this week to discuss the future of high-speed Internet access. Much of the talk centered on Texas, where a major battle recently took place between telecom companies and cable firms ...

Last weekend, hundreds of libertarians and conservatives descended upon Las Vegas to discuss and celebrate freedom. One topic that drew a great deal of interest was the question of whether innovators and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are really as libertarian as everyone thinks ...

R. Hewitt Pate, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, said this week that he is leaving his post. This gives the Bush administration an opportunity to appoint someone who will ignore empty political grandstanding and make forward-looking decisions on two recent telecom mergers ...

Late last month, the British House of Lords approved a so-called "designer baby," escalating the debate over genetic engineering and other body enhancements. Fortunately, the new book More Than Human helps to calm hysterics and explain the issues ...

It's not a bird or plane, it's the "stratellite," a huge broadband blimp announced this month. It will make high-speed Internet junkies gleeful, leave broadband competitors fearful, and tell policymakers to ignore warnings of an imminent broadband monopoly ...

SBC and AT&T announced plans to merge in February, but some states are hesitating to approve the marriage and some advocates want the relationship to end. This uncertainty is bad for consumers because if technology companies can't control their business plans, freedom and choice will suffer ...

Today is tax day, but those who think this expensive event only comes once a year should examine monthly phone bills and beware of recent actions by greedy bureaucrats ...

At the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco this week, technology entrepreneurs gathered to discuss "open source capitalism." This conference theme demonstrates how the Open Source (OS) community is beginning to replace its corporate-hating mindset with a profit-loving meme, aiming to create jobs and value ...

Following a trend burning across the nation, San Francisco's Public Utility Commission (PUC) recently approved US$300,000 for a feasibility study on whether the city should add broadband to its utility services. This move toward government-run communications systems is dangerous for a number of reasons ...

The high-profile battle over the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is about more than one woman's life. It is the beginning of an important dialogue on American views about life while science and technology progress at rapid speed ...

Earlier this month, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his intentions to support a bill outlawing the sale of junk food in schools. Science shows the governor is right to worry about an obesity crisis, but banning candy is schools is like putting a Band-Aid on a third-degree burn ...

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the REAL ID Act of 2005. Privacy advocates decry the act as a move towards a national identification card while others back it as a key national security measure. Both sides miss important points, including the fact that Americans already have a national ID card ...

This week, a Congressional committee held hearings on the mergers of SBC with AT&T and Verizon with MCI. While some might worry about consolidation, the mergers are a sign that the telcos are preparing for a new wave of competition from businesses previously confined to other parts of the economy ...

This week, the California Telephone Association met in Monterey, Calif., to think about the future of advanced communications. The topics that these small telecom companies discussed will affect consumers across the country ...

Every year, the RSA security conference convenes in San Francisco to discuss the latest technology and issues involved in information security. The event still feels a bit like pre-tech bubble days, with free gizmos galore, but the topics, such as identity management, looked to the future. One of the more contentious issues involved the use of RFID, or radio frequency identification tags...