Telecommunications

  • September 05, 2024

    Lumen Sued Over $1.4B Pension Swap With 'Risky' Provider

    Two retired employees of Lumen Technologies are suing the internet service provider and an investment adviser over the transfer of $1.4 billion in pension obligations to a "highly risky private equity-controlled" insurance company, arguing in a Colorado class action that the move puts their retirement benefits at risk despite safer options available.

  • September 05, 2024

    Mayors Say No To FCC Bulk Billing Proposal

    Dozens of mayors from across the country have teamed up to tell the Federal Communications Commission that they are against its plans to enact stricter regulations against bulk billing arrangements, saying the agency's "intervention would be detrimental."

  • September 05, 2024

    FCC Says Telecom Needn't Cover Already Funded Tribes

    A pair of tribes in Oklahoma and Arizona already have plans to use federal funding to get broadband to their people, so the FCC has agreed to remove the tribal lands from the area one telecom was required by its federal grant commitments to provide service to.

  • September 05, 2024

    Liberty Global Urges 10th Circ. To Grant $248M Tax Credit

    The U.S. Tax Court improperly applied an Internal Revenue Code provision to some of the $2.8 billion gain from Liberty Global's sale of a Japanese entity, the telecommunications company said in urging the Tenth Circuit to overturn the resulting rejection of a $248 million tax credit.

  • September 05, 2024

    Google Wants To Know Now What Search Fixes DOJ Will Seek

    The U.S. Department of Justice and Google are offering a D.C. federal judge opposing views about how the remedy phase should go in the search monopolization case, with Google pressing to know as soon as possible what enforcers will be asking for.

  • September 05, 2024

    Industry Presses House To Clear Broadband Permit Hurdles

    Nearly a dozen industry groups on Thursday called for U.S. House leaders to finally pass a bill that would help clear various permitting hurdles for broadband network projects.

  • September 05, 2024

    Biden To Block US Steel-Nippon, And More Deal Rumors

    President Joe Biden is reportedly preparing to block the $14.9 billion merger of U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners may team up to buy Smartsheet, and Springer Nature is planning an initial public offering. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors reported over the past week.

  • September 05, 2024

    DOJ And Google Set For Trial, Again, This Time Over Ad Tech

    The U.S. Department of Justice is up Monday for its second high-stakes trial against Google in a year, going after the alleged monopolization of key digital advertising technology in Virginia federal court.

  • September 05, 2024

    Debevoise, Cravath Steer Verizon's $20B Frontier Takeover

    Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is guiding Verizon Communications Inc. on a deal disclosed Thursday that will see the telecommunications giant absorb Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP-advised Frontier Communications at a $20 billion enterprise value. 

  • September 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Told To Skip Dish's Review Bid Of $3M Fee Ruling

    A patent litigation company and its former counsel have shot back at an attempt to get the full Federal Circuit to weigh in on whether Dish Network LLC can collect more than $3 million in legal fees directly from the lawyers who filed the failed patent case.

  • September 04, 2024

    Universal Service Fund's End Called Crushing For Broadband

    A rural telecom trade association is warning of skyrocketing rates and provider loan defaults if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a Fifth Circuit decision to end the Universal Service Fund as it's currently constructed, citing internal survey findings that 68% of responding telecoms would cancel broadband deployment projects next year.

  • September 04, 2024

    CommScope Must Pay $5.4M Atop $11M IP Verdict

    A Texas federal judge has ordered North Carolina network infrastructure business CommScope Holding Co. Inc. and its related companies to pay $5.4 million in addition to the $11 million in patent infringement damages CommScope already must pay to a licensing company that prevailed in its claims asserting six patents.

  • September 04, 2024

    FCC Plans To Tighten Vise On Scam Calls, Texts

    The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote this month on additional rules intended to further its fight against unwanted and scam robocalls and texts.

  • September 04, 2024

    FCC Sued In 5th Circ. Over Wi-Fi Plan For Schools, Libraries

    A couple who run an anti-cyberbullying nonprofit are suing the Federal Communications Commission in the Fifth Circuit over its new rules to subsidize Wi-Fi service for school and library users off campus, saying the subsidy violates limits built into the law that created the E-Rate program.

  • September 04, 2024

    Market Realities On, Merger Reviews Off Table In Ad Tech Trial

    A Virginia federal judge put slight limits Wednesday on the evidence the U.S. Justice Department and Google LLC can present in next week's advertising technology monopolization suit, allowing Google to push its own views of the market but limiting its ability to bring up past merger reviews.

  • September 04, 2024

    Samsung Says It Doesn't Access Face-App Scans

    Samsung told an Illinois federal judge on Wednesday it is time to dismiss for good a proposed class action alleging the company unlawfully collects biometric data from smartphone and tablet users, arguing facial-recognition technology data is locally stored and not accessible to, or stored by, the company.

  • September 04, 2024

    2 Media Workers Indicted In Russian Influence Probe

    Two employees of Russian state-controlled media channel RT were indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of engaging in a $10 million scheme to distribute Kremlin propaganda to U.S. audiences, part of a series of actions announced by the Biden administration Wednesday to crack down on Russian misinformation ahead of the November election.

  • September 04, 2024

    1st Circ. Unsure If Texts In Pot Bribe Case Crossed State Lines

    A First Circuit panel on Wednesday expressed skepticism that the simple sending of an iMessage through an Apple cellphone satisfies the element of wire fraud requiring interstate communication, entertaining a Massachusetts attorney's challenge to his convictions for seeking to bribe a police chief to win a local marijuana license.

  • September 03, 2024

    Phone Co. Sued In Del. For CEO Spending, Crypto Asset Docs

    An OSOM Products Inc. stockholder has sued the crypto-focused former cellphone-maker for books and records access, citing allegations that CEO and controlling stockholder Jason Keats has diverted company assets for personal use and other undisclosed dealings involving OSOM and Solana cryptocurrency.

  • September 03, 2024

    FCC Moves Ahead On Indie Video Competition, Congress Told

    The Federal Communications Commission could soon advance new rules that would make it easier for independent video programmers to gain a foothold in the market, the FCC's chief has told a key Democratic senator on communications policy.

  • September 03, 2024

    Amazon Prevails In Targeted Programming IP Fight At Fed. Circ.

    A patent licensing outfit trying to assert patents related to developing "video-on-demand" programming for cable companies was told Tuesday by the Federal Circuit that they cover abstract ideas.

  • September 03, 2024

    Diamond Sports Gets OK For NBA, NHL, Ch. 11 Lender Deals

    A Texas bankruptcy judge Tuesday approved a revised Chapter 11 financing deal and new NBA and NHL broadcast deals for Bally Sports Network's parent company.

  • September 03, 2024

    NBA Star's Marketing Co. Settles Dish Payment Fight

    A Colorado magistrate judge has dismissed a lawsuit between an NBA player's marketing company and Dish subsidiaries after the parties said they settled the $1.4 million dispute.

  • September 03, 2024

    FCC Urged To Trim Rule Proposal For Blocking Spam Texts

    Wireless carriers want the Federal Communications Commission to scale back a proposed rule for blocking spam texts to ensure legitimate messages can still go through despite tighter standards.

  • September 03, 2024

    FCC Bans Kaspersky Software In Authorized Equipment

    The Federal Communications Commission is banning the use of certain Russian-made cybersecurity and antivirus software from Kaspersky Labs in agency-authorized telecommunications equipment, months after the U.S. Department of Commerce said the software could pose national security risks.

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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