How many ski-related email lists are you on? Between ski reports direct from some ski areas and various blogs, I have lost count. In addition, there are websites I use regularly to locate information to pass along here. From ski areas, I receive different kinds of email blasts. Some send daily ski reports, which often […]
Internet
New York suit claims Time Warner Cable cheated customers on internet speed
NEW YORK — New York State sued Charter Communications Inc. claiming it ripped off millions of customers with promises of faster Internet speed than the company knew it could possibly deliver. Subscribers to the company’s premium plan received Internet speed as much as 70 percent slower than guaranteed in advertisements by Time Warner Cable, which […]
LePage budget would expand sales tax to many digital services
PORTLAND — Gov. Paul LePage’s latest budget proposal seeks to expand Maine’s sales tax to a range of in-person services from haircuts to movie tickets. It’s also extending the state’s ongoing tax fight into the digital realm. In a move that mirrors past efforts to apply Maine’s sales tax to online retailers such as Amazon, […]
What happened to the internet Friday morning
Dyn Inc., a significant Domain Name Server that facilitates the loading of web pages, said service was restored at 9:20 a.m. New York time after a DDoS, or distributed denial of service, attack that left people without access to Twitter, Spotify, Reddit and the New York Times, among other sites. Separately, Amazon Web Services said […]
Wireless home Internet service launches in Auburn
AUBURN — A Camden-based company focused on bringing household Internet to most of Maine within three years expanded into Auburn on Thursday. “Today, we will cover 25 percent of Maine households and that’s just this year alone,” Redzone Wireless President and Chief Executive Officer Jim McKenna said. “We really just started our effort in May […]
SCORE column: Be prepared for Internet threats
It seems as though every day brings another headline story of Internet hacking into businesses, large and small. Many business owners assume that firewalls and antivirus software are enough to protect their computers and valuable data, causing them to overlook their Internet security and putting their business at risk. The fact is that as the […]
Franklin County discusses communications, dead-zones, Internet access
FARMINGTON — Emergency responders using radios or cellphones to communicate with dispatchers or others in the field are hitting dead zones in Franklin County, officials at Wednesday’s communications meeting said. Other problems cited included visitors leaving the area early because they cannot work with the slow Internet, limited broadband and associated services, and the owner […]
Froma Harrop: Be aware; the Internet knows you
Federal Trade Commission head Edith Ramirez put the matter plainly: “If I’m wearing a fitness band that tracks how many calories I consume, I wouldn’t want to share that data with an insurance company.” In a study last year, the FTC found that 12 mobile fitness apps shared information with 76 enterprises. Face it; personal […]
Lawmakers dial-in to Internet needs for fast Internet speed
PORTLAND — At Maine’s State House and in pioneering communities around the state, 2015 could be the year of broadband. President Barack Obama has thrown support behind expanding broadband and regulators are considering treating it as a utility like electricity. Lawmakers in Maine submitted 35 bills that the state’s broadband development agency identified as dealing […]
Democrats hope to push FCC to ban fast lanes online
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers unveiled bicameral legislation Tuesday that would force the Federal Communications Commission to ban fast lanes on the Internet. The proposal, put forward by Senate Judiciary Committee chair Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., requires the FCC to use whatever authority it sees fit to make sure that Internet providers […]