Articles by Keith Regan

Putting its own anti-spam technology to work -- and possibly hoping to highlight its effectiveness -- Microsoft has begun to use Sender ID to divert questionable messages away from the e-mail inboxes of Hotmail account holders Microsoft has begun verifying e-mail origins with its Sender ID framework, a technology the company developed and hopes to ...

An ambitious project launched by Google to scan millions of pages of widely read books to create a digital library open to all is drawing flack from the publishing industry and raising anew questions about how the Internet interacts with traditional copyright laws The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has reportedly written to Google asking ...

Microsoft's MSN has launched its own version of local search, joining both Yahoo and Google in seeking to make search more useful while opening marketing opportunities for smaller businesses, just the latest in a series of moves that suggest no let up in the rollout of new services and features from search leaders The launch of MSN Local Search bet...

Seeing potential to merge entertainment with e-commerce, MTV Networks today said it would buy the parent company of the wildly popular youth Web site Neopets.com Financial terms were not disclosed, but published reports suggested the purchase price was around US$160 million....

In a move already sending shockwaves through the e-commerce industry even though it is still unconfirmed, Google is said to be considering an online payment service that would go head-to-head with eBay's PayPal EBay shares were down nearly 4 percent on published reports that Google was preparing a service, tentatively called Google Wallet, meant to...

Chief risk officers aren't just for banks anymore, but analysts say the position still is only necessary for certain companies A position that first appeared in the financial services industry to deal with a bundle of compliance and security issues, chief risk officers, or CROs, are now spreading to other large corporations faced with regulations s...

Millions of former newspaper readers now get their news from the Web, but the majority remain loyal to their favorite print news outlets A study by Nielsen//NetRatings said that 21 percent of online users who read newspapers now rely primarily on Web editions, while 7 percent say they split their news consumption between the Web and print. That lea...

Bidding to secure a strong foothold in the rapidly emerging mobile-search marketplace, Google has begun testing of a wireless search service that returns results based in part on how well-suited content is to be viewed on hand-held devices Google Mobile Web Search focuses on sites that employ XHTML, or extensible HTML, which can be customized to di...

Long after they became fixtures in the hands of businesspeople and teenagers alike, mobile phones still hold a unique and unenviable position in the world of technology, a device that's loved and hated as intensely as any Anyone who's ever been forced to listen to half a conversation held on a phone in public, or had a peaceful moment or a business...

Linux vendor Mandriva today said it would buy North American Linux distributor Lycoris in a deal that could open up new markets to a top Linux reseller, especially in the home personal computer space Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. It was the second acquisition this year for France-based Mandriva, which had previously been known as ...

Intermix Media said it has struck a tentative agreement with New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to settle charges that the company used its network of Web sites and freeware downloads to distribute adware and spyware programs to unknowing consumers Intermix said it agreed to pay US$7.5 million to the state of New York over the next three...

A California appeals court ruling clearing the way for tax collectors in that state to pursue sales taxes from online sales from out-of-state merchants could have wide-ranging impacts for the e-commerce industry For now, observers say it's too soon to tell how important the ruling, which the First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco issued l...

Adding yet another wrinkle to the emerging music-on-mobile-phones trend, satellite radio provider Sirius has announced a partnership to provide some of its streaming programming directly to Sprint users Sirius and Sprint said they struck a deal to make select programming available to certain phones, with channels that stream new hits, classic rock,...

In what could be a glimpse into the future of mobile-driven commerce and a preview of how hand-held devices might enable a range of consumer purchases, a Japanese carrier has launched a service that uses mobile phones to identify, locate and purchase music heard on the radio or elsewhere The service, which uses technology developed in part by Emery...

Taking a page from other rivals of the market-leading iTunes Music Store from Apple, Microsoft's MSN Music is close to adding a subscription-style offering to its existing pay-per-download model MSN Music is expected to add the monthly subscription option made popular by RealNetworks, Napster and others by the end of the year....

A major shareholder advisory firm is urging stock owners to vote against Symantec's US$11 billion purchase of Veritas Software Glass, Lewis & Co. recommended Symantec shareholders oppose the acquisition of Mountain View, Calif.-based Veritas when they vote on June 24, saying the deal appears to lack clear strategic benefit....

VeriSign has won the right to operate the .net domain registry for another six years, securing a new contract from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) after a lengthy and sometimes controversial process ICANN's Board of Directors chose VeriSign to continue running the registry, which is now populated with more than 5 mil...

A bid to use converged technologies to greatly expand the options for connecting via mobile devices and help carriers keep customers happy has gotten a boost Alcatel used the Superdome 2005 telecom conference to announce that it will offer a version of what's known as Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) that works with both WiFi technology and the propr...

In a forecast that will be music to the ears of technology firms and investors alike, a leading trade group has predicted continued sales growth for semiconductors for the next three years, with the industry on track this year to break previous sales records The Semiconductor Industry Association said the emergence of a broad range of consumer devi...

Bidding to offer a low-cost alternative to the dominant mobile e-mail platform, Yahoo has teamed with mobile carrier Sprint Communications to offer mobile messaging for around US$3 per month The two companies said the service would be available immediately in all markets where Sprint offers coverage. Yahoo's Web-based e-mail will be pushed to subsc...