Telecommunications

  • June 24, 2024

    High Court Passes On Religious Webcasters' Royalty Hike Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review the federal Copyright Royalty Board's latest hike in royalty rates webcasters must pay to play audio recordings, turning away a radio trade group's appeal challenging one of the increases on religious freedom and administrative procedure grounds.

  • June 21, 2024

    Drug Cos., IP Attys Back Cellect In High Court Efforts

    A petition by patent litigation outfit Cellect that is looking to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to wade into a double patenting dispute has drawn support from even more lawyers as well as a handful of major drugmakers and small tech companies like Sonos.

  • June 21, 2024

    Google Ditches Wiretap Suit Over AI Customer Service Calls

    A California federal judge has tossed, for now, a proposed class action accusing Google LLC of using a "human-like" customer service product powered by generative artificial intelligence to illegally eavesdrop on Verizon users' calls, finding that Google was exempt from liability because it was acting as Verizon's agent.

  • June 21, 2024

    SC Agency Asks 4th Circ. To Rethink Google Ad Subpoena

    South Carolina's parks and tourism department wants the Fourth Circuit to reconsider its order mandating the agency turn over documents about its own online advertising efforts to Google to aid the tech behemoth in a fight against several states accusing it of monopolization.

  • June 21, 2024

    Ex-Trump Aide Must Face Hunter Biden's Data Hack Suit

    A California federal judge has refused to toss Hunter Biden's lawsuit accusing a former Trump White House aide of obtaining and publishing emails and photos purportedly taken from his laptop, finding Biden sufficiently alleged the aide illegally accessed a "protected computer" defined under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 

  • June 21, 2024

    Texas Fines Major Carriers $10.2M For Deceptive Advertising

    Some of the nation's biggest mobile carriers — including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon — have inked a $10 million deal with Texas to end the state's probe into what the Lonestar State says are the carriers' "deceptive and misleading" advertising practices.

  • June 21, 2024

    4th Circ. Revives TCPA Suit Over Fax Promoting Free Webinar

    A chiropractic office in Ohio on Friday succeeded in reviving its putative class action against a healthcare technology company accused of sending junk faxes, with the Fourth Circuit finding the communication counts as an unsolicited advertisement under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • June 21, 2024

    DC Better Match For Net Neutrality Suits, 6th Circ. Told

    A public interest group urged the Sixth Circuit to move lawsuits over the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules to the D.C. Circuit, saying the lottery that put the cases in Cincinnati was not enacted to keep litigation out of D.C.

  • June 21, 2024

    Zoom Latest Tech Giant Accused Of Infringing NM Co.'s Patent

    A New Mexico company has hit videoconferencing behemoth Zoom with a patent suit in Colorado federal court, alleging that Zoom is knowingly infringing a patent for identifying voices across multiple telephone networks.

  • June 21, 2024

    Off The Bench: ACC-FSU Rematch, Supreme Win For Fla. Tribe

    In this week's Off The Bench, the next round of venue tug-of-war begins between the Atlantic Coast Conference and Florida State University, the U.S. Supreme Court hands Florida and the Seminole Tribe a lucrative gaming win, and Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones defend the NFL's handling of its Sunday Ticket package.

  • June 21, 2024

    Rip And Replace 'Ruinous' Without Fed Funds, Carriers Say

    A rural telecoms trade group is warning the Federal Communications Commission of potentially "ruinous" financial predicaments for small carriers if the "rip and replace" program targeting Chinese-made telecommunications equipment isn't fully funded soon, saying in a new filing that carriers are considering reducing service because of the lack of funding.

  • June 21, 2024

    Apple Can't Challenge £853M IPhone Battery Class Action

    Apple failed in its bid to challenge an £853 million ($1 billion) proposed class action that accuses it of concealing problems with batteries in the phones of 24 million customers, after an appeals court found Friday the claim had prospects of success.

  • June 21, 2024

    Paul Hastings Bankruptcy Ace Joins Greenberg Traurig

    Greenberg Traurig LLP added a Houston-based veteran bankruptcy attorney from Paul Hastings as a new shareholder.

  • June 21, 2024

    Sens. Introduce 'Complementary' Bill To TikTok Ban

    A bipartisan bill introduced Thursday would require websites and apps to disclose to their users if they are owned wholly or partially by China, North Korea, Russia or Iran or if data collected through those sites or apps is accessible to those countries.

  • June 20, 2024

    TikTok Says Alternatives To 'Dangerous' Ban Were Ignored

    TikTok said Thursday that federal lawmakers likely didn't even consider its "exhaustive, multi-year efforts" to address national security concerns before deciding to ban the social media platform, slamming the law as "unprecedented" and warning that it sets "a dangerous precedent."

  • June 20, 2024

    NFL Sunday Ticket Is Procompetitive, Stanford Prof Tells Jury

    A Stanford University professor of economics on Thursday told a California federal jury considering multibillion-dollar antitrust claims against the NFL that the league's subscription deal with DirecTV and its method for distributing broadcast proceeds evenly to all its teams are procompetitive practices. 

  • June 20, 2024

    Calif. AG, City Atty Target SpongeBob App Over Kids' Privacy

    California's attorney general and the Los Angeles city attorney have teamed up to secure a deal that requires the operator of a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed app to pay $500,000 and overhaul its data-handling practices to resolve claims that the company gathered and shared children's personal information without consent. 

  • June 20, 2024

    'Jetflicks' Piracy Trial Results In 5 Convictions In Las Vegas

    Following a trial that stretched on for half a month, a federal jury in Las Vegas convicted a group of people who were accused of making more than $1 million running an illegal streaming website called "Jetflicks."

  • June 20, 2024

    Caltrans Tells FCC It's Against FirstNet Control Of 4.9 GHz

    California's Department of Transportation is adding its name to the list of public service entities lining up to tell the Federal Communications Commission that making AT&T's FirstNet the national manager of the 4.9 gigahertz safety band is a bad idea.

  • June 20, 2024

    FCC Slams Bid In 6th Circ. To Put Net Neutrality On Hold

    The Federal Communications Commission told the Sixth Circuit on Tuesday it should pay no heed to a collection of net neutrality challengers arguing that "dire consequences" will ensue if the appellate court doesn't stop the agency from reinstating open internet regulations while the two sides argue the matter out in court.

  • June 20, 2024

    FCC Allows Top-4 Exception So Gray Can Sell Station

    The Federal Communications Commission has granted an exception to its rule prohibiting ownership of stations carrying more than one top-four network in a local market, allowing Gray Television to sell a Cheyenne, Wyoming, station as part of a larger deal.

  • June 20, 2024

    Ex-Satellite Tech Drops Wage Suit Against Dish Retailer

    A satellite technician dropped his proposed collective action accusing his former employer of misclassifying him and his co-workers as independent contractors and depriving them of overtime wages, according to a dismissal notice filed in Georgia federal court.

  • June 20, 2024

    EchoStar Says Customers Can Skip Junk Fees With Right Info

    Dish Network parent company EchoStar is defending early termination fees to the Federal Communications Commission, telling the agency that Dish's 2009 settlement agreement over deceptive charges can serve as a model for FCC billing guidelines.

  • June 18, 2024

    Qualcomm Investors Ink $75M Deal Over Licensing Practices

    Qualcomm Inc. investors asked a California federal judge to greenlight a $75 million settlement that would resolve their claims that the chipmaker misled the market by stating it kept its licensing and chip-supply businesses separate when it regularly bundled the two in negotiations and agreements.

  • June 18, 2024

    Ex-CBS Sports Chair Denies Fixing NFL Sunday Ticket Price

    The recently retired chairman of CBS Sports on Tuesday told a California federal jury considering multibillion-dollar antitrust claims against the NFL that his network didn't collude with the league to fix the price of the DirecTV Sunday Ticket television package.

Expert Analysis

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • Takeaways From Groundbreaking Data Transfer Order

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    A recent first-of-its-kind executive order and related proposed rulemaking lay the groundwork for important outbound U.S. data protections, but they may have unintended consequences related to the types of data and the subjects within their scope, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • Infringement Policy Lessons From 4th Circ. Sony Music Ruling

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Sony Music v. Cox Communications, which in part held that the internet service provider was liable for contributing to music copyright infringement, highlights the importance of reasonable policies to terminate repeat infringers, and provides guidance for litigating claims of secondary liability, say Benjamin Marks and Alexandra Blankman at Weil.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • The Epic Antitrust Cases And Challenges Of Injunctive Relief

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    The Epic cases against Apple and Google offer a window into the courts' considerable challenges in Big Tech litigation and establishing injunctive relief that enhances competition and benefits consumers, say Kelly Lear Nordby and Jon Tomlin at Ankura Consulting.

  • Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • High Court Social Media Speech Ruling Could Implicate AI

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    In Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether certain state laws can restrict content moderation by social media platforms, but the eventual decision could also provide insight into whether the first amendment protects artificial intelligence speech, say Joseph Meadows and Quyen Dang at GRSM50.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • BT Case May Shape UK Class Action Landscape

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    The first opt-out collective action trial commenced in Le Patourel v. BT in the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal last month, regarding BT's abuse of dominance by overcharging millions of customers, will likely provide clarification on damages and funder returns in collective actions, which could significantly affect the class action regime, say lawyers at RPC.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • Regulatory Trends Offer 4 Lessons For Debt Relief Providers

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    A string of enforcement actions, including a New York lawsuit filed last month by seven states and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, underscore the regulatory scrutiny that debt relief and credit repair companies face and offer important lessons on telemarketing and deceptive practices compliance, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power

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    In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

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