regulations

House bill aims to ban new cell phone taxes

A bipartisan bill introduced Tuesday in the House of Representatives would ban new state or local takes on mobile phone services for a period of five years. Sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and five co-sponsors, the bill is known as the Cell Tax Fairness Act (HR 5793 ).

In a statement, Lofgren said that between January 2003 and July 2007, the taxation rate on wireless services increased four times faster than the rate for other taxable goods and services. As a result, consumers pay 15.19 percent in federal, state, and local taxes on their cell phone bill, compared with … Read more

Just how targeted can that targeted ad be? Ad networks set new guidelines

Social media and Web-surfing habits have made it possible for advertisers to target their campaigns at the narrowest of niche audiences. But what happens when targeting goes beyond relevance and into insensitivity? That's something that a big digital-ad trade group has addressed in a new set of guidelines that effectively ban behavioral targeting pertaining to certain medical and psychological conditions.

The Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), which encompasses ad networks like AOL's Advertising.com and Tacoda, Yahoo's BlueLithium, and Google's DoubleClick, published the draft of its "Self-Regulatory Code of Conduct for Online Behavioral Advertising" guidelines … Read more

Green in the boardroom: the environment tops utilities execs' concerns

Energy utility executives say that the environment and greenhouse gas regulations top their worry list.

Researcher Platts and consulting firm Capgemini on Tuesday published the results of a survey that asked 100 executives from the utilities industry what their biggest concerns are.

Although there are no federal regulations to restrict greenhouse gas emissions, utility executives are already preparing.

Ninety-five percent of respondents said that the industry's focus on environment has increased from 2006. Global warming, climate change, and carbon emissions were the top environmental issues, according to 77 percent of the participants.

The reason that utilities are taking carbon … Read more

EU planning more fines for Microsoft?

I read this article on European Commission chief Neelie Kroes last night, and Tuesday morning woke up to news that the European Union is set to levy even more fines against Microsoft. Why? According to Bloomberg News:

European Union regulators may fine Microsoft Corp. for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust order to charge "reasonable" fees for patent licenses on operating system software, three people familiar with the matter said. The fine may be announced as soon as February 27, said the people, who declined to be identified because the decision isn't public. Microsoft said in … Read more

The EU turns up its nose at Microsoft's openness pledge

Red Hat wasn't impressed by Microsoft's pledge to open up its APIs and protocols. This isn't surprising. More surprising, however, is the EU's dismissal of Microsoft's announcement:

The commission would welcome any move towards genuine interoperability. Nonetheless, the commission notes that today's announcement follows at least four similar statements by Microsoft in the past on the importance of interoperability.

The devil is always in the details, but it is the European Commission and the open-source community pushes Microsoft to live up to its pledge that it will do so...kicking and screaming at times, … Read more

ConocoPhillips CEO: The U.S. needs carbon regulations

The CEO of ConocoPhillips, Jim Mulva, on Tuesday made a pitch for regulations to restrict carbon emissions. His comments came at CERAWeek, a confab of the energy industry's giants.

In his speech, Mulva argued that the incumbent energy companies need to be involved in the creation of rules that favor low-carbon technologies.

Like its competitors BP and Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips is developing some alternative-fuel technologies such as synthetic natural gas made from coal, which Mulva said is cleaner.

He said right now the U.S. is lagging other countries in establishing regulatory frameworks, a dynamic that "risks … Read more

Microsoft under the EU gun again, this time for abusing its IE and Office positions

Microsoft desperately needs some European friends. Fresh from its first defeat in Europe, the American software giant is under the gun again from the European Commission. The stakes are much higher this time around, and the focus much more pertinent to true Microsoft monopoly power.

Microsoft got hit by a $734 million fine the last time around for preventing interoperability with Sun's computers and for bundling its media player. This time, Microsoft's Office file formats and its bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows are under fire. The EU's favorite whipping boy is almost certain to end up coughing up a lot more cash this time:… Read more

China: You would not like a bag with that

It's a fact of life in China that just about anything comes in a little plastic bag. That's all about to change: In what all reports are calling a surprise move, the central government has banned (translated) ultra-thin plastic bags and will require regular bags to be sold with a clearly marked price starting June 1.

This demonstrates the way the government can simply declare an end to a technology for environmental reasons, even a 1950s technology like plastic bags. Whether enforcement will actually end plastic bags is not something I care to guess about.

The key here … Read more

Investor: Carbon dioxide regulation will mean more coal

After two years of studying the economic impact of climate change, asset management firm AllianceBernstein has come to a seemingly paradoxical conclusion: one of the dirtiest fuels around--coal--has a bright future.

Its findings, released Friday, are one of several reports issued by investment firms over the past two years which explore how industries can benefit or be harmed by climate change.

Apart from growing consumer demand for clean energy and green products, one of the most significant economic drivers is regulation over greenhouse gases.

Like many people following regulatory activity, AllianceBernstein analysts figure mandatory limits on emissions will happen--it's … Read more