Day: April 21, 2007

House vote targets false IRS Web sites, e-mails

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to punish commercial Web sites and e-mail senders that falsely portray themselves as having ties with the Internal Revenue Service. The regulation is part of the so-called Taxpayer Protection Act, which passed by a 407-7 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. “It is an important first step in standing up, really standing up, for the American taxpayer,” Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), one of the bill’s chief sponsors, said on the House floor Tuesday afternoon. For more info click here

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Is the IRS putting your private data at risk?

The Internal Revenue Service already takes your money. As if that weren’t painful enough, it also seems that the IRS doesn’t adequately protect your private information, according to a recent report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. For more info click here

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TurboTax e-filing woes draw customer ire

Frustrated TurboTax customers who were barred from filing their returns electronically on Tuesday night won’t face any penalties for the problems caused by overloaded servers at Intuit. But the 48-hour reprieve granted by the IRS on Wednesday has not quelled customer ire over how the nation’s leading tax-preparation software company could have erred so badly in designing its computer systems. For more info click here 

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Microsoft aims to reach next billion PC users

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is using a speech in Beijing to unveil a new low-cost bundle of Office and Windows, one of several new initiatives aimed at getting PCs into the hands of more people in emerging markets. The software maker will offer the $3 Student Innovation Suite to governments that agree to directly purchase PCs for students to use in their schoolwork and at home. Gates plans to announce the program at a company-sponsored forum for government leaders. For more info click here 

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U.S. joins whistleblower case against IT companies

U.S. authorities said on Thursday the government has joined in a whistleblower case filed against Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Accenture, alleging the companies “solicited and provided improper payments” on government contracts. For More info click here 

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Cyberattacks at federal agencies draw House scrutiny

WASHINGTON–As new details emerged about cyberattacks against networks at the State and Commerce departments last year, politicians on Thursday said they’re concerned many federal agencies are ill-prepared to fend off such intrusions. Members of a U.S. House of Representatives cybersecurity subcommittee said they weren’t confident that the computer systems at bureaus within the State and Commerce departments were adequately secured and scrubbed of backdoors that could allow cybercrooks to re-enter. They also questioned agency representatives on whether they could truly guarantee that sensitive information hadn’t been accessed or copied. For more info click here 

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