Telecommunications

  • July 29, 2024

    Charter Pays $15M To End FCC's Network Outage Probe

    Charter has agreed to shell out $15 million and create a novel cybersecurity program meant to resolve issues raised during a Federal Communications Commission probe of major network outages affecting 911 service, the FCC said Monday.

  • July 29, 2024

    DirecTV Calls Bundled Service Exemption For Fee Regs Unfair

    If the Federal Communication Commission decides to exclude bundled services from new rules it plans to put in place banning cable and satellite providers from charging early termination fees, satellite providers will be the only ones actually bound by the rules, DirecTV has told the agency.

  • July 29, 2024

    Tenn. Republican Seeks To Block Net Neutrality In Senate

    Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is trying to gut the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules, mirroring an ongoing effort by House Republicans.

  • July 29, 2024

    Senate To Vote On Bills To Protect Kids Online

    The Senate is poised to vote on Tuesday on a package of two major bipartisan bills to protect children online that could represent a watershed moment in technology regulation.

  • July 29, 2024

    Ga. Auto Salvage Chain Hit With Suit Over Harassing Texts

    Pull-A-Part LLC on Friday was slapped with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court that accuses the Atlanta-based junkyard and auto salvage chain of sending unsolicited promotional text messages to consumers even after they asked to stop receiving them in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • July 29, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Litigation linked to Elon Musk sparked several filings in Delaware's Court of Chancery last week, including a call for sanctions and hand-wringing about a proposed multibillion-dollar attorney fee. Here, Law360 looks at this and other highlights from last week in Delaware's Chancery Court.

  • July 29, 2024

    5th Circ. Takedown Prompts Call To Reform Universal Service

    A major telecom trade association is telling Congress to get started reforming the Universal Service Fund quickly, saying that the Fifth Circuit's recent holding that the program's current setup is unconstitutional should bring an urgency to restructuring efforts.

  • July 26, 2024

    DOJ Whistleblower Pilot On Deck As Cos. Boost Compliance

    Corporations are making their compliance programs more proactive amid an ongoing push from the Biden administration for firms to come forward with information as the U.S. Department of Justice prepares to roll out a pilot program to reward whistleblowers who alert prosecutors to significant corporate misconduct.

  • July 26, 2024

    Off The Bench: NBA Signs Mega Deals, Jerry Jones Settles

    In this week's Off The Bench, the NBA signed $77 billion worth of telecast and streaming deals while longtime league broadcaster TNT challenged the decision, Jerry Jones' suit against his alleged daughter settled while jurors were at lunch, and Pennsylvania's high court agreed to hear an appeal relating to Pittsburgh's jock tax, a fee applied to nonresident professional athletes.

  • July 26, 2024

    ESPN, Fox, Hulu Oppose Bid To Block Sports Streaming JV

    Streaming service Fubo has told a New York federal court that ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up with others to knock down its "sports-first streaming business," but what Fubo calls anticompetitive behavior, the trio of companies on the other side of a lawsuit call fair competition.

  • July 26, 2024

    More Airwaves Needed To Support Drones, FCC Told

    Several utility companies have come together to tell the Federal Communications Commission that they need more room in the 5 gigahertz and 4.9 GHz bands for drone operations, which they say make their employees' jobs safer and easier.

  • July 26, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Upholds PTAB Estoppel Rule, But Limits Its Reach

    The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rule that can lead to Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions rendering patent claims invalid in later office proceedings, but found in a case involving Apple and Motorola that the rule doesn't apply to issued claims.

  • July 26, 2024

    Calif. Community Org Opposes FCC Bulk Billing Clampdown

    A technology-focused community group in California has joined a chorus of advocates calling for the Federal Communications Commission to hit the brakes on a proposal to tighten rules for bulk billing in multitenant environments.

  • July 26, 2024

    FCC Kicks Off Rapid Response Team To Zap Pole Disputes

    The Federal Communications Commission has launched a rapid response team to clear up disputes between utility pole owners and internet service providers over the cost of upgrading or replacing poles to allow for new broadband equipment.

  • July 26, 2024

    'Worthless' Insurance Scam Gets Telemarketing CEO 25 Years

    An Illinois federal judge has sentenced the owner of a telemarketing company to 25 years in federal prison for scheming with another former executive to sell consumers health insurance plans with low coverage caps.

  • July 26, 2024

    Data Co. Told To Turn Over Contracts In Kochava Case

    A D.C. federal judge plans to order TargetSmart to turn over supplier contracts to the Federal Trade Commission in the agency's case against TargetSmart client Kochava on Friday, after TargetSmart's attorney said she was "99% sure that there was no due diligence done by Kochava" regarding the data's provenance.

  • July 26, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Wachtell, Polsinelli, Kirkland

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, T-Mobile partners with KKR to acquire Metronet, Exclusive Networks gets a takeover offer, KKR buys Instructure Holdings Inc., and Bally's Corp. merges with The Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc.

  • July 26, 2024

    HP Calls Dolby, Philips, Mitsubishi Patent Fees A 'Money Grab'

    Computer maker HP Inc. has claimed Dolby Laboratories, Mitsubishi and Philips are attempting a "money grab" by attempting to overcharge on licensing fees for ultra-high-definition streaming patents, according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts state court.

  • July 26, 2024

    Telecom Worker Data Breach Deal Gets Final Approval

    A North Carolina federal judge gave his final sign-off on a class action settlement between telecommunications provider CommScope and its current and former employees who said it failed to protect their personal information and then took months to tell them about a data breach.

  • July 26, 2024

    Illinois Cases To Watch In 2024: Midyear Report

    Illinois attorneys say they are considering the path forward for Springfield corruption prosecutions following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, as well as paying attention to what comes next in Motorola Solutions' trade secret contempt fight and potential new guidelines for music copyright cases. Here are the cases to watch in Illinois for the rest of 2024.

  • July 25, 2024

    Meta, Snap Can't Ignore Murder Case Subpoenas, Court Says

    Social media companies' ability to access and use their customers' information means they fall outside the scope of the Stored Communications Act, a California appellate court has ruled, rejecting Meta Platforms Inc. and Snap Inc.'s argument that the SCA's disclosure limitations mean they can't comply with subpoenas in a murder case.

  • July 25, 2024

    Google Wants To Keep 'Monopolistic Status Quo,' Epic Says

    Epic Games assailed Google on Wednesday for overcomplicating and overpricing changes to the Play Store required by the gaming giant's antitrust jury win, arguing that what Google says are needed security and maintenance protocols are just the latest effort to relitigate the case and "weaken the remedy."

  • July 25, 2024

    Feds Unseal Indictment Against Fla. IT Worker in Spying Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice has unsealed an indictment charging a Chinese-born American citizen with conspiring to act as an agent of the People's Republic of China, saying the PRC used the Florida information technology worker as a "cooperative contact" to support its intelligence goals.

  • July 25, 2024

    FCC Keeps Chin Up, But Chevron Woes Won't Soon Fade

    After the U.S. Supreme Court term stampeded over long-established elements of administrative law this summer, the future of several major Federal Communications Commission initiatives was cast into doubt, but the agency says it's still optimistic it can navigate the new challenges.

  • July 25, 2024

    Cable Group Says Funds May Cover Less Under BEAD Rules

    The funds the Biden administration has put into the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program should be enough to get most eligible locations connected if the National Telecommunications and Information Administration doesn't set any mandates on how much that service will cost after it's there, a cable trade group says.

Expert Analysis

  • The Effects Of New 10-Year Limitation On Key Sanctions Laws

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    Recently enacted emergency appropriations legislation, doubling the statute of limitations for civil and criminal economic sanctions violations, has significant implications for internal records retention, corporate transaction due diligence and government investigations, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Compliance Considerations For New Data Protection Law

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    Sam Castic at Hintze Law discusses how to determine if your organization is covered by the newly enacted Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, the scope of the law's restrictions, and how to go about compliance as its June 23 effective date approaches.

  • What The FTC Report On AG Collabs Means For Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's April report on working with state attorneys general shows collaboration can increase efficiency and consistency in how statutes are interpreted and enforced, which can minimize the likelihood of requests for inconsistent injunctive relief that can create operational problems for businesses, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate

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    With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.

  • Car Apps, Abuse Survivor Safety And The FCC: Key Questions

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    A recent request for comment from the Federal Communications Commission, concerning how to protect the privacy of domestic violence survivors who use connected car services, raises key questions, including whether the FCC has the legal authority to limit access to a vehicle's connected features to survivors only, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • 4 Sectors Will Likely Bear Initial Brunt Of FTC 'Junk Fees' Rule

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    If the Federal Trade Commission adopts its comprehensive proposed rule to ban unfair or deceptive fees across the U.S. economy, many businesses — including those in the lodging, event ticketing, dining and transportation sectors — will need to reexamine the way they market and price their products and services, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data

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    Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes

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    Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.

  • Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

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    Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.

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