Telecommunications

  • January 27, 2025

    Feds' Madigan Informant Is A 'Malignant Tumor,' Jury Told

    An attorney for ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan took aim Monday at the former Chicago alderman called as the government's star witness in Madigan's criminal racketeering trial, calling him "a malignant tumor at the heart of this case" and urging jurors not to trust his testimony as they prepare to deliberate on his client's fate.

  • January 27, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says Class Cert. Won't Work In Junk Fax Suit

    Since Fox Rehabilitation Services used "highly individualized methods" to seek consent from the entities it sent faxes to, it would be too difficult for a lawsuit accusing the company of sending unsolicited ads to proceed as a class action, a split Third Circuit panel has ruled.

  • January 27, 2025

    Judge Orders Litigation Funder To Give Docs To Netflix

    A Virginia federal judge said AiPi LLC, an intellectual property strategy service, has to hand over certain documents that Netflix Inc. requested relating to patent litigation claims against the streaming giant.

  • January 27, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Rules Smartphone Camera Patent Claims Are Invalid

    The Federal Circuit ruled Monday that all the claims in a pair of patents relating to smartphone camera technology were invalid, backing most of various Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions involving tech giants like Apple, Google and LG.

  • January 27, 2025

    'Guesswork' Dooms Class Cert. In Meta Privacy Antitrust Suit

    A California federal judge has refused to certify a class of consumers who say Meta would have to pay users for their data if it didn't lie about privacy safeguards, finding that the motion was undone by the opinions of an economist who cannot get from general economics to market reality.

  • January 27, 2025

    Mo. Tax Commission Lowers T-Mobile Towers' Value

    Two T-Mobile cell towers in Missouri should have their value lowered after the company provided a thorough inspection that properly accounted for depreciation, the state's tax commission ruled.

  • January 24, 2025

    FTC Signals Unified Focus On Kids' Privacy With Rule Update

    The Federal Trade Commission's recent unanimous move to strengthen longstanding online privacy protections for children demonstrated that the agency won't be easing up on enforcement in this space as a new Republican regime takes over, despite lingering questions over whether further changes or expansions may be on the horizon. 

  • January 24, 2025

    11th Circ. Overturns FCC One-To-One Marketing Consent Rule

    The Eleventh Circuit late Friday overturned a Federal Communications Commission rule requiring individual consumer consent to receive contacts from companies through comparison shopping sites.

  • January 24, 2025

    Newly Appointed FCC Chair Names More Agency Leaders

    Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on Friday announced several staff appointments, including acting officials to lead international affairs, engineering, economics and media relations.

  • January 24, 2025

    Feds' Madigan Theory 'Doesn't Line Up,' His Atty Tells Jury

    Counsel for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan told an Illinois federal jury Friday that prosecutors attempting to convict him of racketeering have painted an "incomplete and misleading" picture of a crooked politician at trial, but have failed to meet their burden to prove he ever acted with corrupt intent or engaged in a "this for that" exchange for his official action.

  • January 24, 2025

    Lawmakers Want FCC Subsidy Fund Preserved At High Court

    Nearly 30 members of the U.S. House and Senate from both parties are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to keep in place the Federal Communications Commission's system of raising funds from telecom providers to pay for connectivity around the country.

  • January 24, 2025

    NC Gov. GC's Bio Boasts BigTech Battles, Merger Dustup

    Sarah Boyce has followed her boss from the North Carolina Attorney General's Office to the steps of the governor's mansion as his new general counsel, capping off more than four years of high-profile constitutional challenges that saw her arguing before the nation's highest court as well as multistate enforcement actions against industry giants like Google and TikTok.

  • January 24, 2025

    Norfolk Southern Can't Control Fiber Installation Under Tracks

    The Michigan Supreme Court left intact a ruling that Norfolk Southern Railway Co. can't force a fiber internet provider to obtain its permission before installing cable under railroad tracks at an intersection with a public road, turning down the railroad company's appeal after oral arguments.

  • January 24, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen Axa Insurance and Admiral face a claim from a former lawyer recently exposed for personal injury fraud, the owner of Reading Football Club sue a prospective buyer and mobile network Lycamobile tackle action by Spanish network Yogio. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • January 24, 2025

    Trump Treads Into Murky Waters With TikTok Gambit

    Nearly five years after he sought to kill the social media platform TikTok, President Donald Trump has opened his second term with a legally questionable bid to save it, cloaking the app's future in the U.S. market in even more uncertainty.

  • January 23, 2025

    Atty Hit With TCPA Class Action Over Camp Lejeune Calls

    A North Carolina plaintiffs firm was hit with a proposed class action accusing it of making unsolicited calls to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry in an effort to secure a client in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune toxic drinking water case — at least the fourth firm to face similar claims.

  • January 23, 2025

    Netflix, Litigation Funder Fight Over Docs In Subpoena Row

    Intellectual property strategy service AiPi LLC says it has been abiding by an order to produce documents relating to patent litigation against Netflix, while the streaming giant says "AiPi's attempt to appear reasonable is contrivance."

  • January 23, 2025

    AT&T, Dish Owe FCC $20.6M In Unverified Subsidy Payments

    AT&T and Dish Network will have to repay the Federal Communications Commission the more than $20 million it took in early pandemic broadband subsidy funds because they failed to verify that the people they used those funds for were eligible for the program.

  • January 23, 2025

    Madigan's Law Firm Profits Drove Corrupt Acts, Jury Told

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's ownership interest in his Chicago law firm and his entitlement to 50% of its profits was behind his efforts to extort property tax business from developers who needed approvals from state and local government for their projects, prosecutors told an Illinois federal jury Thursday.

  • January 23, 2025

    Section 702 Searches Require A Warrant, Judge Says

    Courts generally need a warrant to use the backdoor known as Section 702 to search through an American's communications, a New York federal judge has ruled in an opinion that the American Civil Liberties Union is calling the "first of its kind."

  • January 23, 2025

    Ex-Amazon Exec Will Oversee Google, Apple Probe In UK

    The U.K.'s competition enforcer said Thursday it will be looking into how Google and Apple's "mobile ecosystems" have been affecting competition for both consumers and businesses, an announcement that comes just days after the watchdog booted its leader for a former Amazon head honcho.

  • January 23, 2025

    Calif. Kids' Privacy Law Ignores 1st Amendment, Judge Says

    A California federal judge appeared open Thursday to preliminarily blocking for the second time a landmark California law requiring tech giants to bolster privacy protections for children, telling the state's counsel that nothing shows the Legislature "cared one whit about the Constitution," and "now you're trying to reverse engineer it."

  • January 23, 2025

    Federal Agencies Must Order Full Return To Office By Friday

    Federal agencies will order employees to return to the office by Friday at 5 p.m. to end the "national embarrassment" that remote work policies have fueled, the Office of Personnel Management said, following President Donald Trump's executive order.

  • January 23, 2025

    Meta Wants Mass. Justices To Intervene In AG's Suit

    Meta Platforms has urged Massachusetts' highest court to take up its challenge to a pending lawsuit brought by the state attorney general's office, which accused the social media company of intentionally designing Instagram to be addictive to children and teenagers.

  • January 23, 2025

    House Bill Filed To Renew FCC Auctions, Spectrum Pipeline

    A Republican lawmaker introduced a bill Thursday that would give the Federal Communications Commission authority to auction the airwaves and direct the government to turn over at least 2,500 megahertz for private sector or shared use in the next five years.

Expert Analysis

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • What Cos. Should Note In DOJ's New Whistleblower Pilot

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    After the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a new whistleblower pilot program last week — continuing its efforts to incentivize individual reporting of misconduct — companies should review the eligibility criteria, update their compliance programs and consider the risks and benefits of making their own self-disclosures, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

  • Pros And Cons Of 2025 NDAA's Space Contracting Proposal

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    The introduction of a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve fleet in the pending 2025 National Defense Authorization Act presents a significant opportunity for space and satellite companies — despite outstanding questions, and potential risks, for operators, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Considerations For Federal Right Of Publicity As AI Advances

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    Amid rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence technology, Congress should consider how a federal right of publicity would interact with the existing patchwork of state name, image and likeness laws, as well as other issues like scope, harm recognized and available relief, says Ross Bagley at Pryor Cashman.

  • What Patent Litigators Should Know About CHIPS Act Grants

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    With the U.S. Department of Commerce now actively awarding grants under the CHIPS and Science Act, recipients should ensure they understand the implications of promises to construct new semiconductor manufacturing facilities, especially in jurisdictions with active patent litigation dockets, say Gabriel Culver and Peter Hillegas at Norton Rose.

  • Opinion

    Data Breach Reporting Requirements Must Change In AI Age

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    Outdated data breach reporting laws are inadequate to protect consumers in the age of artificial intelligence, as AI’s ability to determine relationships coupled with its improvements to deepfake technology mean that the very definitions used in breach reporting laws are no longer sufficient, says Collin Walke at Hall Estill.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Recent Settlement Shows 'China Initiative' Has Life After Death

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    Though the U.S. Department of Justice shuttered its controversial China Initiative two years ago, its recent False Claims Act settlement with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation demonstrates that prosecutors are more than willing to civilly pursue research institutions whose employees were previously targeted, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • Questions Linger About DTSA's Scope After Motorola Ruling

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera, which held that the Defend Trade Secrets Act applies extraterritorially, does not address whether an act that furthers misappropriation must be committed by the defendant in order to satisfy the law's extraterritoriality requirement, say Ilissa Samplin and Grace Hart at Gibson Dunn.

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