internet access

Taking aim at the many Americans who don't have a credit card or checking account but are inclined to shop online, Walmart is now allowing customers to pay in cash for online orders.

Recently, companies have begun to ask potential employees to hand over their Facebook passwords, and the backlash has been loud, widespread and angry. Too bad we hardly have any online privacy left to save.

United Online's NetZero business is making headlines this week with a free 4G connectivity deal that isn't as free as it looks.

There is no shortage of winners when it comes to the surprising ascent of basketball star Jeremy Lin: the Knicks; Madison Square Garden Inc.; the fans; the NBA; Linsanity T-shirt sellers. But the loser has been Time Warner Cable, and its losing streak could last awhile.

The gradual addition of extra fees to your cellphone bill can be a bit like gaining weight -- you don't keep track of your habits, until one day you open your bill and experience "bill shock." The FCC thinks you deserve advanced warning, and starting soon, your cell provider will have to give it to you.

Amid a fierce clash over the Net's next era, tech titans Google and Verizon crafted their own broadband policy plan and shined a light on what might be Washington's most ineffectual regulator -- the FCC. Unknown to many, Google and Verizon worked on that plan since fall of 2008.

Federal regulators are shooting down a proposal by a startup called M2Z Networks to build a free, nationwide wireless broadband network using a spare slice of airwaves.

The two companies were on opposite sides of the net neutrality debate. So they initiated talks aimed at coming up with a compromise where some progress could be achieved in the face of FCC and congressional inaction. For Google, it's a lesson in growing up.

Sam's Club, the discount warehouse owned by Wal-Mart, becomes the latest big retail chain to offer free wireless Internet at all of its U.S. stores.

Google and Verizon drew lots of criticism last week with a Web-traffic pact rumored to favor higher-paying providers. Now, the companies have unveiled a proposal that pays homage to the concept of net neutrality, at least in the short term.