Telecommunications

  • April 24, 2024

    'Net Neutrality' Timeline: From Brand X To Biden-Era Brawl

    The legal fight over how to treat broadband service hits a new milestone Thursday in Washington, the latest in a dispute that started a generation ago, soon after consumers began widely using the internet in the 1990s.

  • April 24, 2024

    Congress Didn't OK FCC's 'Disparate Impact' Ban, Critics Say

    Business groups told the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission's new rules against discrimination in broadband deployment should be overturned because Congress never intended that the agency use a sweeping "disparate impact" liability standard.

  • April 24, 2024

    Group Fights SpaceX's FCC Grants After Musk's Actions In War

    A pro-Ukraine nonprofit is urging the Federal Communications Commission to halt spectrum assignments to Elon Musk's SpaceX and launch an investigation into the CEO's "erratic" behavior, arguing that his alleged meddling in U.S. foreign policy could disqualify him from exercising control over the company's Starlink satellite network system.

  • April 24, 2024

    Noteholders Say Chilean Telecom Lacks US Ties For Ch. 11

    A group of WOM SA noteholders asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to dismiss the Chilean cellphone network operator's Chapter 11 case, saying the company has no connections with the United States and courts here don't have jurisdiction over the company's assets.

  • April 23, 2024

    10th Circ. Orders Redo Of $96M Award After Top Court Ruling

    The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday ordered an Oklahoma federal court to recalculate a $96 million trademark infringement award won by a radio control maker against its European former partners after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the Lanham Act applies only to domestic conduct in commerce.

  • April 23, 2024

    New Ga. Law Restricts Social Media Use For Youth Under 16

    A bill signed into law Tuesday by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp imposes new restrictions on minors' internet usage, including requiring social media companies to verify that users are 16 or older unless they receive approval from an individual's parents to use the service.

  • April 23, 2024

    TikTok Divestment Bill Heads To Biden's Desk

    The Senate voted 79-18 on Tuesday night to pass a bill requiring ByteDance Ltd. to divest the popular social media app TikTok or face a ban in the U.S., which now goes to the president's desk.

  • April 23, 2024

    Small Providers Can't Meet 'Vague' Title II Rules, FCC Hears

    Small broadband providers will need at least a six-month buffer before they have to start complying with certain net neutrality mandates, should the Federal Communications Commission vote to restore open internet rules on Thursday, according to a communications industry trade group.

  • April 23, 2024

    ACLU Backs States' Power To Preempt Feds' Net Neutrality

    The ACLU is a supporter of the Federal Communications Commission's plans to usher in a new era of net neutrality later this month, but the civil rights organization is also pressing the agency to make sure that states are free to enact stricter open internet protections if they see fit.

  • April 23, 2024

    Nexstar Calls FCC's Floated $1.2M Fine Over WPIX 'Unlawful'

    Broadcast giant Nexstar slammed the Federal Communications Commission's proposed $1.2 million penalty over its "de facto control" of New York station WPIX, saying the fine is unconstitutional and that the agency is running afoul of both the Communications Act and procedural law.

  • April 23, 2024

    Hot Spot Co. Investors' Revised $2.4M Deal Gets Initial OK

    Investors in mobile hotspot-maker Franklin Wireless Corp. have received an initial green light for their $2.4 million deal to end claims the company knowingly sold devices with defective batteries that could burst into flames after a federal judge rejected an earlier iteration of the proposal.

  • April 23, 2024

    Broadcasters Support Bill To Revive Diversity Tax Certificate

    Broadcasters are supporting the recent reintroduction of a bill that seeks to increase diversity in the broadcasting industry by requiring the Federal Communications Commission to bring back a tax incentive program to facilitate the sale of broadcast stations to people of color and women.

  • April 22, 2024

    T-Mobile Can't Dodge Stolen Nude Photos Suit

    T-Mobile can't dodge most of a suit seeking to hold the mobile behemoth liable for allegations that one of its employees stole nude photos from a customer's phone, which she turned in as part of a trade-in offer, a Washington federal court has ruled.

  • April 22, 2024

    FCC Fines AT&T, Internet Co. For Discussing Auction Bids

    AT&T Services Inc. and AMG Technology Investment Group LLC have not been able to convince the Federal Communications Commission to kibosh a combined $175,000 in fines for talking to each other during the bidding process for an auction of funds to subsidize infrastructure build-out.

  • April 22, 2024

    FCC Eyes Rule Changes For Independent Video Programmers

    The Federal Communications Commission plans to explore how federal rules can better help independent video programmers thrive in a competitive media landscape and may prohibit a pair of provisions that affect their contracts with distributors.

  • April 22, 2024

    Group Backs Net Neutrality, But Not Fees On Broadband

    Despite supporting a planned net neutrality regime, media advocacy group Free Press has argued against using the new rules to impose fees on the broadband industry to support telecommunications subsidies, saying the idea would only harm consumers.

  • April 22, 2024

    Mich. Panel Drains $1.3M 1-800-Bathtub Arbitration Award

    A Michigan appellate court affirmed slashing most of a $1.3 million arbitration award for the owner of the toll-free number 1-800-BATHTUB, pulling the plug on the owner's claim that a bathroom remodeling company stole the number.

  • April 22, 2024

    Mueller Industries To Buy Nehring Electrical For Up To $600M

    Machinery industry company Mueller Industries Inc., advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, on Monday unveiled plans to buy Nehring Electrical Works Co. and some of its affiliates for up to $600 million in a deal that will provide Mueller with a platform for long-term growth in the electrical and power infrastructure space.

  • April 22, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week, Delaware's Chancery Court news included a Tesla announcement about moving to Texas, a midcase appeal of Tripadvisor's move to Nevada, and United Airlines' escape from a stockholder suit. Disputes about board entrenchment, squeeze-out mergers, co-founder fallouts and deadly ice cream moved ahead.

  • April 20, 2024

    House Passes Another Bill To Force TikTok Divestment

    The House voted 360-58 on Saturday to pass a bill requiring ByteDance Ltd. to divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. and giving the parent company a longer runway to sell the app than a version the House previously passed in March.

  • April 20, 2024

    Power To Spy Without Warrants Renewed For 2 Years

    President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill reauthorizing a controversial program to spy on foreigners, hours after the Senate passed it while rejecting a push for warrants to search U.S. citizens' data inadvertently collected while surveilling foreign targets.

  • April 19, 2024

    TCPA Only Protects Consumers, Fax Co. Worker Says

    One fax services company can't sue another for carrying out what it says is "possibly the largest junk fax operation in the United States" because it doesn't count as a consumer under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, an employee of the company being sued has told a Colorado federal court.

  • April 19, 2024

    SpaceX Wants 'Flexible' Net Neutrality Rules For Satellites

    SpaceX is continuing its push for the rights of broadband providers to manage their networks, asking the Federal Communications Commission in a meeting this week to allow for a "flexible standard" as the commission's vote to reinstate net neutrality regulations approaches.

  • April 19, 2024

    DOJ Can't Coordinate Google Ad Tech Discovery With Texas

    A Virginia magistrate judge on Friday denied a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to coordinate discovery in its suit accusing Google of monopolizing key digital advertising technology with a similar case from state enforcers pending in Texas.

  • April 19, 2024

    NY Scraps Proposal Impacting Local Broadband Networks

    Public broadband advocates are applauding a budget bill approved by New York's state Legislature that lacks previously proposed language they say would have weakened the state's rollout of locally owned wireless networks.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council

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    The Gulf Cooperation Council is in the early stages of ESG policy implementation, but recent commitments by both states and corporations — including increases in sustainable finance transactions, environmental commitments, female representation on boards and human rights enforcement — show continuing progress toward broader ESG goals, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Using Arbitration And Class Waivers As Privacy Suit Tools

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    Amid a surge in data breach class actions over the last few years, several federal court decisions indicate that arbitration clauses and class action waiver provisions can be possible alternatives to public court battles and potentially reduce the costs of privacy litigation, say Mark Olthoff and Courtney Klaus at Polsinelli.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Opinion

    Exxon Court Should Clarify Shareholder Proposal Exclusion

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    ExxonMobil last month took the unusual action of asking a Texas federal judge whether a proposal from climate activists seeking to limit oil and gas sales could be excluded from its 2024 proxy statement, and the court should use this opportunity to reevaluate SEC policy and set clear limits on when shareholder proposals can be included, says Stephen Bainbridge at UCLA School of Law.

  • What's On The Horizon In Attorney General Enforcement

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    A look at recent attorney general actions, especially in the areas of antitrust and artificial intelligence, can help inform businesses on what they should expect in terms of enforcement trends as 10 attorney general races play out in 2024, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • How High Court SEC Case Could Affect The ITC

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy will likely spare the U.S. International Trade Commission from major operative changes, the ITC’s ability to issue penalties for violations of its orders may change, say Gwendolyn Tawresey and Ryan Deck at Troutman Pepper.

  • Navigating The FCC's Rules On AI-Generated Robocall Voices

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    The Federal Communications Commission's declaratory ruling issued last week extends the agency's regulatory reach under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to calls that use artificial intelligence technology to generate voices, laying out a compliance roadmap, but not making AI-cloned voices in robocalls illegal per se, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.

  • Vodafone Decision Highlights Wide Scope Of UK's FDI Rules

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    The U.K. government’s recently imposed conditions required for its approval of Vodafone and Etisalat’s strategic relationship agreement under its National Security and Investment Act jurisdiction, illustrating the significance of the act as an important factor for transactions with a U.K. link, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.

  • Is Compulsory Copyright Licensing Needed For AI Tech?

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    The U.S. Copyright Office's inquiry into whether Congress should establish a compulsory licensing regime for artificial intelligence technologies that are trained on copyrighted works has received relatively little attention — but commenters recently opposed the regime under three key themes, say Michael Kientzle and Ryan White at Arnold & Porter.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

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