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Telecommunications
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November 14, 2024
'The World Has Changed': Google's $700M Deal Gets 2nd Look
The California federal judge considering Google's $700 million antitrust deal with states and consumers told plaintiffs' counsel Thursday to review the settlement terms to ensure that they comport with Google Play store changes he ordered in Epic Games' separate lawsuit, saying "the world has changed" since they struck the deal.
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November 14, 2024
Judge Floats Musk Hypo As AT&T Exec Seeks Acquittal
An Illinois federal judge posed a hypothetical to federal prosecutors Thursday asking whether it would be a bribery violation if Elon Musk donated heavily to support a presidential candidate who would likely reward him if he wins, as he weighs a former AT&T executive's attempt to avoid a retrial on charges he bribed ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
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November 14, 2024
FCC Extends Freeze On Rate Of Return Carrier Cost Rules
A long-running freeze on a wireline cost allocation regime has been extended by the Federal Communications Commission for another six years, with the agency saying that it's finally time to explore making the fix permanent after nearly a quarter century of temporary freezes.
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November 14, 2024
AT&T Questions FCC's Legal Authority Over 'Unlocking' Rule
AT&T has told the Federal Communications Commission that its proposal requiring mobile providers to unlock a customer's device within 60 days of signing up won't stand up in court.
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November 14, 2024
Broadband Groups See Ally In Incoming GOP Leader Thune
Telecom industry groups view the Senate's next majority leader, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., as keenly interested in the sector's needs, but it's not yet clear what his selection could mean for specific critical issues like building out rural internet service and removing barriers to broadband deployment.
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November 14, 2024
Sports Media Co. Can't Sink SEC's $22M Fraud Suit
A New York federal judge said media technology company Icaro Media Group Inc. and its CEO must face the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit alleging they raised more than $22 million from investors on fake claims that the company was about to launch a sports content application in partnership with major telecommunications companies.
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November 14, 2024
47 AGs Support FCC's Robocall Database Reforms
A bipartisan coalition of 47 attorneys general encouraged the Federal Communications Commission to implement new rules aimed at improving the effectiveness of the Robocall Mitigation Database, or RMD, writing in a comment letter that the database is "currently one of the most important sources of information available for anti-robocall enforcement actions."
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November 13, 2024
Telecom Co. Lumen's Contract Breach Suit Survives, For Now
A Colorado federal judge on Tuesday ruled that an engineering consulting firm is liable to telecommunications company Lumen Technologies for damages caused by a subcontractor's faulty structural analysis, but said she couldn't yet rule on whether Florida law and a two-year statute of limitation barred Lumen's claims against the firm.
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November 13, 2024
Chinese Hackers Stole Call Data From Telecom Cos., Feds Say
The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced Wednesday that they have identified individuals associated with the Chinese government who have hacked into the networks of multiple telecommunications companies in search of private communications of people involved in government and political activity.
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November 13, 2024
Cox Eyes Federal Suit After RI Court Tosses BEAD Case
Cox Communications has signaled that it may sue in federal court after a Rhode Island state judge tossed on jurisdictional grounds its complaint accusing state officials of botching the rollout of federal broadband deployment dollars.
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November 13, 2024
Investors Ask FCC To Review $2.4B Paramount-Skydance Deal
The Federal Communications Commission should refuse to approve Paramount Global's request to merge with Skydance Media LLC until minority shareholders have a chance to finish their investigation into the financial details of the deal, the leader of those investors told the agency.
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November 13, 2024
TikTok Asks To Keep NC AG's Addiction Complaint Redacted
TikTok Inc. is asking a North Carolina state court to keep redacted portions of a complaint by the state alleging that it targets youth to make them compulsive and addicted users, saying parts of the complaint include information from confidential documents and trade secrets.
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November 13, 2024
Fed. Circ. Judges Frown On Custom Emoji Patent
A patent covering the development of customizable emojis died at the Federal Circuit on Wednesday, after judges there rejected an appeal of an administrative board ruling that knocked out all of the patent's claims.
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November 13, 2024
Mich. Justices Bore Into Railroad's Telecom Tunneling Dispute
Norfolk Southern emphasized its safety concerns Wednesday during oral arguments before the Michigan Supreme Court as it tried to persuade the justices to reverse a ruling finding a telecommunications company did not need the railway's permission to bury fiber-optic cable underneath its tracks.
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November 13, 2024
Space Activities Need Licensing Latitude, Chamber Says
The Federal Communications Commission could stifle in-space manufacturing growth if it decides to license new space stations only for individual services instead of broader, category-wide uses, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said.
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November 13, 2024
Madigan's Atty Seeks To Discredit Key Government Witness
The cross-examination of a former ComEd executive who wore a wire for the government as it built its corruption case against ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan veered Wednesday into the informant's messy divorce proceedings and his failure to disclose felony charges when trying to buy a gun to kill snakes, as Madigan's attorneys tried to call his credibility into question.
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November 13, 2024
Wachtell, O'Melveny Build Charter's Liberty Broadband Buy
Broadband connectivity giant Charter Communications Inc. on Wednesday unveiled plans to acquire Liberty Broadband Corp. in an all-stock transaction built by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
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November 13, 2024
DOD Issues Strategy For Military Base Private 5G Networks
The U.S. Department of Defense released its strategy for deploying private 5G networks that are upgraded and specifically tailored for needs that can't be met by public commercial networks.
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November 13, 2024
Apple Faces £3B UK Class Action Over ICloud Monopoly
Apple is facing another competition claim accusing the iPhone maker of unlawfully monopolizing the market for cloud storage after a campaign group announced plans on Thursday to spearhead a £3 billion ($3.8 billion) U.K. class action.
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November 13, 2024
Fed. Circ. Won't Send Microchip Patent Suit To NY
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday denied a bid from a Chicago tech manufacturer to transfer a Texas case brought by an ex-Microsoft executive's private equity-funded patent litigation outfit, saying the manufacturer didn't show that the lower court erred in refusing to ship the case to New York.
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November 13, 2024
Frontier Stockholders Vote In Favor Of $20B Verizon Deal
Frontier Communications stockholders approved the company's planned $20 billion sale to Verizon Communications Inc. on Wednesday, despite prior pushback from select investors and recommendations from top proxy advisory firms to abstain.
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November 13, 2024
Allow Robotexts And Calls To Customers, Verizon Urges FCC
Verizon is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to exempt wireless providers from new rules making it easier for consumers to back out of telemarketing robocall and text consent, saying that including the providers would lead to consumers opting out of communications they actually need.
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November 13, 2024
FTC Antitrust Case Against Meta Is Heading To Trial
A D.C. federal court ruled Wednesday that Meta will have to face trial on the Federal Trade Commission's claims that the Facebook parent company monopolized personal social networking through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
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November 13, 2024
Gibson Dunn 'Titan,' Ex-Solicitor General Theodore Olson Dies
Theodore B. Olson, the founder of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's appellate and constitutional law practice group and a former U.S. solicitor general, died Wednesday, the law firm announced.
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November 13, 2024
EU Court Upholds Vodafone's €18.4B Liberty Global Deal
The European Union's second-highest court has dismissed a challenge brought by three German telecommunications companies against Vodafone's €18.4 billion ($19.6 billion) acquisition of Liberty Global's activities in Germany, upholding on Wednesday the European Commission's backing of the deal in 2019.
Expert Analysis
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What To Know About Latest Calif. Auto-Renewal Law Update
While businesses have about nine months to prepare before the recently passed amendment to California's automatic renewal law takes effect, it’s not too early to begin working on compliance efforts, including sign-up flow reviews, record retention updates and marketing language revisions, say Gonzalo Mon and Beth Chun at Kelley Drye.
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Taking Stock Of FCC's New Spectrum Rule For Drones
While an order recently adopted by the Federal Communications Commission is intended to provide drones with rapid access to a limited amount of spectrum in the 5030-5091 megahertz band, the commission envisions an incremental approach to full usage that will play out over the course of the coming months and years, say attorneys at Wiley.
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3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim
The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.
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How Loper Bright Is Affecting Pending FCC Litigation
Pending challenges against Federal Communications Commission orders at the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright highlight that counsel must be familiar with the statutes, regulations and precedent relevant to the FCC to best navigate the rapidly changing compliance landscape, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Series
Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.
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Dealmaker Lessons From CFIUS' New Enforcement Webpage
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ recently launched webpage, which details the actions — and inactions — that led to enforcement activity, provides important insights for dealmakers about filing requirements, mitigation commitments and the cost of noncompliance, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Google And The Next Frontier Of Divestiture Antitrust Remedy
The possibility of a large-scale divestiture in the Google search case comes on the heels of recent requests of business breakups as remedies for anticompetitive conduct, and companies should prepare for the likelihood that courts may impose divestiture remedies in the event of a liability finding, say Lauren Weinstein and Nathaniel Rubin at MoloLamken.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Calif. Bill, NTIA Report Illustrate Open-Model AI Safety Debate
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s balanced recommendations for preventing misuse of open artificial intelligence models, contrasted with a more aggressive California bill, demonstrate an evolving regulatory debate about balancing democratic access to this powerful new technology against potential risks to the public, say Stuart Meyer and Fredrick Tsang at Fenwick.
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Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In July
The Federal Circuit’s July reversal of four cases, all of which were Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions, highlights lessons for patent practitioners regarding the scope of estoppel provisions, potential issues with obtaining certain substitute claims, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.
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Patent Owner Estoppel Questions In The Wake Of SoftView
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's seldom-litigated Rule 42.73(d)(3) on Patent Trial and Appeal Board estoppel was recently brought to the forefront in the Federal Circuit's SoftView v. Apple decision, highlighting uncertainties in this aspect of patent practice, say David Haars and Richard Crudo at Sterne Kessler.
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Opinion
A Fuzzy Label With Bite: FTC Must Define Surveillance Pricing
The Federal Trade Commission recently issued orders to eight companies — including Mastercard, McKinsey and Chase — seeking information on "surveillance pricing," but the order doesn't explain the term or make the distinction between legal and illegal practices, leaving any company that uses personalized pricing in the dark, says Chris Wlach at Huge.
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Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address
The petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas stands out for a number of reasons — including a deepening circuit split regarding the NRC's nuclear waste storage authority under the Atomic Energy Act, and broader administrative law implications, say attorneys at MoloLamken.