05/24, 10:10am
Obama order forces agencies to make two public apps each
President Barack Obama has ordered all major federal agencies to make more services available on mobile devices in the next year. The administration wants to increase governmental technology use, with agencies ordered to make services available for public access within 12 months. The news comes at the same time as reports that the US Navy will add LTE capabilities to three of its ships, allowing Android smartphones to be used out at sea.
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05/10, 2:34am
Apple 11th place among tech firms
Politico reports that Apple has spent only $500,000 on federal lobbying and associated governmental programs thus far in 2012. By contrast, political action committees (PAC) formed by Google have dropped $5 million, and a separate Microsoft PAC has doled out $1.8 million in the same time period. Sources within Washington suggest that Apple will have a rocky road with DC lawmakers unless they start building a "Washington brand."
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04/30, 12:50pm
Joint Cellcrypt and Verizon service by Fall
Verizon and Cellcrypt are collaborating to supply the US government with secure mobile calling capabilities. The government-grade encrypted voice calling service is aimed to be marketed to military, intelligence, and civilian agencies in the fall as a currently unnamed co-branded service.
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03/07, 7:10pm
Waits until after formal announcement
The government's regulatory body on telecommunications and computer equipment, the FCC, has officially approved the new products announced today at Apple's event in San Francisco. The updated, 1080p-capable Apple TV, and three versions of the new iPad (Wi-Fi only, AT&T LTE and Verizon LTE) have been cleared for sale in the US. The reports included teardown pictures of the Apple TV but not the new iPad models.
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02/22, 8:40pm
Move believed to be due to security concerns
The Air Force Special Operations Command has reportedly canceled its immediate plans to acquire several thousand iPads. The command is said to have removed its request from the Federal Business Opportunities website just days after Nextgov raised concerns over the government's inclusion of Russian-developed GoodReader software as part of the purchase.
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12/15, 10:40pm
Company still faces opponents
Just one week after a leaked draft of a government report pointed to ongoing interference problems with LightSquared's network, the US Department of Defense and Department of Transportation have issued a joint statement echoing the concerns. The agencies claim the network will not interfere with cellphones, however it has demonstrated "harmful interference to the majority of other tested general purpose GPS receivers."
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12/12, 11:45pm
Firm up to $1.8M in reported spending
Apple has spent around $1.8 million on lobbying the federal government through the third quarter of 2011, figures filed with the U.S. House of Representatives' clerk's office show. While third-quarter spending, at $460,000, was down significantly (42 percent) from the $790,000 it spent in the second quarter, it is up 35 percent from the year-ago third quarter of 2010.
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12/01, 8:15pm
Legislators to limit spyware distribution
Legislators are currently drafting a bill that aims to impose export restrictions on software that can be used by foreign governments to monitor citizens or censor Internet content. Republican Representative Chris Smith, the bill's sponsor, suggests such legislation is necessary to help prevent certain governments from using American-produced software to quash political dissent.
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11/17, 10:20pm
Brief order points to the Fourth Amendment
United States District Judge Lynn Hughes has issued an order that bars law enforcement agencies from obtaining cellphone tracking data without first obtaining a warrant. The judge argues that the government cannot use the Stored Communications Act as a legal justification to force cellular carriers to relinquish cellphone location data without probable cause.
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11/14, 9:55pm
Switching to tablets may save money
Two more US federal agencies -- the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Forest Service -- are evaluating iPads as replacements for notebook computers and other computer tasks, according to PDFs obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. While no final decision has been reached yet, the Forest Service appears to be planning to deploy iPads beyond the test program beginning in the middle of next year, while the BLM is currently at an earlier stage of evaluation.
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10/26, 10:15pm
Company discloses thousands of user accounts
Google claims to have refused government requests to remove videos showing police brutality, however the search giant complied with the vast majority of inquiries regarding user data. Law enforcement agencies in the US made a total of 5,950 requests for user data between January and June, involving more than 11,000 separate accounts, marking a significant year-over-year increase.
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08/24, 10:55pm
4G upgrades said to start with pilot groups
Motoroola and Verizon are reportedly set to begin LTE upgrades for the Xoom tablet, however the initial rollout is said to be limited to business and government accounts. Unnamed sources have told Droid-Life the companies will be providing LTE upgrades to the pilot groups over the next two weeks, ahead of availability for the general public.
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07/28, 11:00pm
Statistic used to highlight debt crisis
As pointed out by several publications, as of yesterday Apple -- the world's most valuable technology company -- has more cash and marketable securities on hand than the federal government does, according to the U.S. Treasury's own daily statement. At the end of June, the iPad and Mac maker had $76.2 billion on hand, while the government currently has $73.8 billion in operating cash balance.
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07/27, 9:40pm
Meets federal requirements for iOS management
Best known for their business-oriented iOS reader app GoodReader, iOS developer Good Technology have now released a more-secure device management and application-access app called Good for Government that enables federal agencies and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) more securely manage sensitive government data on current iOS devices running iOS 4 or higher. The app lets employees access encrypted e-mail, intranet content and more while obeying DoD and Homeland Security directives.
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05/11, 9:10pm
Meredith Baker to lobby for Comcast-NBC
Comcast has announced that it has hired Meredith Attwell Baker, an FCC Commissioner. The Republican Commissioner will join the cable provider as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for NBC Universal, a leadership position in the company's Washington DC-based lobbying division. The move has raised eyebrows, considering the Commissioners recent role in approving Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal.
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02/28, 5:50pm
Simplified version of enterprise ADmitMac PKI
Government and military employees and contractors who need to access secure U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) or civilian federal websites on a Mac - which usually requires a login with a Common Access Card (CAC) -- now have a simpler method of doing so. Thursby Software Systems has released PKard for Mac software. PKard is short for Public Key Card and pronounced P-card, and the software works with all current types of CACs and the hardware readers, including the next-generation "Oberthur" and "Gemalto" type cards.
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10/01, 12:50am
Broadband bill approval
A bill pertaining to accelerating growth of broadband service was recently passed through both the Senate and the House, and is currently undergoing its final approval at the Senate and the President. PC Mag writes that measure S. 1492 seeks to ensure underserved communities are provided with proper service, as well as updating the government's definition of what broadband service is. The FCC considers 200 Kilobits per second to be broadband, which is not concurrent with modern technology.
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08/15, 8:10pm
Apple spends to lobby
During the second quarter of 2008, Apple reportedly spend $450,000 on lobbying within the federal government, under a broad spectrum of interests in energy conservation, education, and intellectual property rights. Forbes writes that a disclosure form – which Apple filed July 21st – shows Apple dividing the aforementioned figure among patent reforms, consumer product safety, No Child Left Behind, and energy efficiency, as well as initiatives to quash spyware.
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06/12, 12:20am
Canadian Copyright Act
The Canadian government on Wednesday announced it would hold a press conference regarding pending amendments to the Copyright Act, a move said to resemble the DMCA measure in the US. The conference is set to transpire at 9:30 on Thursday, June 12th for press, with ministerial comments following at 10:45. Press have been advised that no wireless communications devices would be permitted at the assembly, including cell phones, modems, and wireless microphones.
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05/26, 5:45pm
RIM's Indian market woes
The latest update in the Indian government's ban of the BlackBerry cellular phone has the Canadian maker of the device, Research In Motion, telling the government it is not able to provide it with encrypted messages sent by its enterprise customers. RIM already had a 15-day ultimatum imposed on it by the government, which is demanding access to all wireless communications for security reasons.
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05/20, 4:00pm
UK looks to Comm Data Bill
A controversial bill may be passed in front of the UK legislature later on this year that would keep all text, e-mail, VoIP and phone messages as well as Internet history from cellular networks on file with the government for one year, alleges a report published on Tuesday. Unlike the current requirement outlined by the European Union, the bill would have cellular network providers surrender all information to the government, instead of keeping just phone and text logs themselves.
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