2009 March IT & Telecom News: Amazon Tax Challenge Rejected (PDF)

The March 2009 issue of IT & Telecom News leads with a New York judge’s rejection of a legal challenge to a law requiring out-of-state companies to collect sales taxes for the state. Seattle-based Amazon.com filed the suit, joined by Utah-based Overstock.com.

Also in this issue:

* California regulators are taking aim at power-hungry television sets, preparing rules that would rquire retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models starting in 2011.

* A new report suggests the best way to increase the spread of high-speed broadband is not federal investment of taxpayer dollars but local efforts to encourage private ownership of fiber-optic lines to individual homes.

* An Oregon law forbidding teenagers from talking on phones while driving may not be as effective as legislators had hoped, as has proven true of such bans across the nation.

* President Barack Obama’s pick to head the Federal Communications Commission is being called on to institute reforms removing unnecessary mandates.

* Experts say the market, not government mandates, is the best way to meet rural Montana’s broadband needs.

* An aggressive new law in Georgia requiring sex offenders to turn over the passwords they use on the Internet has raised concerns among privacy advocates.

* Compliance with the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act is expensive and time-consuming, discouraging tech-sector startups and capitalization through IPOs.

* Thirteen states have passed laws again cyber-bullying, and others are considering similar legislation. Child-advocacy groups say parents should be more involved in helping their children deal with bullying online and in the real world.