Telecommunications

  • April 08, 2024

    DirecTV Questions FCC Legal Authority For New Rules

    DirecTV said the Federal Communications Commission is relying on a faulty interpretation of the Communications Act to justify imposing rules that would block early termination fees for satellite service and require rebates for TV program blackouts during carriage disputes.

  • April 08, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week, a much-watched Chancery Court Match.com decision got reversed, a Philip Morris motion got stubbed out, and a long-frozen Blue Bell Creameries suit started churning again. Delaware's Court of Chancery also saw new suits filed for legal fees, arguments over multibillion-dollar pay packages, and a judge flummoxed over Truth Social.

  • April 08, 2024

    AT&T Seeks Justices' Review Of 9th Circ. 401(k) Suit Revival

    AT&T has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision reviving retirement plan mismanagement claims against the telecom giant, arguing that a panel defied court precedent and deepened a circuit split with its ruling knocking out AT&T's summary judgment win.

  • April 08, 2024

    Key Congressional Leaders Float Sweeping Data Privacy Bill

    The heads of the U.S. Senate and House commerce committees have taken a major step toward enacting a comprehensive federal consumer data privacy framework, reaching a long-awaited deal on proposed legislation that would minimize the personal data companies can gather, allow consumers to bring lawsuits and eliminate a growing patchwork of state laws.

  • April 05, 2024

    COVID App Takes Another Shot At Apple With Justices

    App developers are again seeking U.S. Supreme Court intervention against the Ninth Circuit's refusal to revive antitrust allegations over Apple's rejection of COVID-19-tracking and bitcoin apps, decrying "fundamental error" lower courts made misreading pleading requirements, proffered market definition and more.

  • April 05, 2024

    Top 3 Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from policy advocates more than 200 times in March, as the agency fielded concerns on net neutrality rules, bulk billing for internet service, broadband deployment, school connectivity and more.

  • April 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Won't Save Hytera From 'Self-Inflicted' Wounds

    A Seventh Circuit panel this weekend said Hytera Communications could not be trusted after it filed a Chinese lawsuit behind an Illinois court's back and brought a $1 million daily fine upon itself, as a federal judge said she needed written proof that a Chinese court had really dismissed the suit.

  • April 05, 2024

    Where Will 10 Private IPhone Suits Call Home, Calif. or NJ?

    Two different groups of consumers are pushing competing visions for where they want to pursue claims that Apple tried to lock in iPhone users, with one case first filed in California seeking transfer to New Jersey while a second group sought consolidation of all private lawsuits in the Golden State.

  • April 05, 2024

    Meta Looks To Nix FTC's Antitrust Case Over Acquisitions

    Meta Platforms urged a D.C. federal court on Friday to toss the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust case against it, saying the agency has found no evidence showing its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp hurt competition or consumers.

  • April 05, 2024

    Alabama Station Wins Carriage Fight With Dish At FCC

    An Alabama TV station won a Federal Communications Commission ruling against Dish Network, forcing Dish to carry the station throughout the Columbus, Georgia, and Opelika, Alabama, markets after the satellite provider initially refused.

  • April 05, 2024

    CEO Of Chilean Telecom Co. WOM Leaves Days After Ch. 11

    One of Chile's largest cellphone operators WOM SA has replaced its CEO days after it filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, the company announced, with the ousted executive alleging shareholders at the company failed to deliver on new sources of funding promised last fall.

  • April 05, 2024

    FCC Says Carrier Must Kill Tax Relief Scam Robocalls

    The Federal Communications Commission says it's doing some spring-cleaning and will be clearing out entities supporting clients that make illegal robocalls, starting with a company that has been allowing a client to send out some 15 million calls about a fake tax relief program.

  • April 05, 2024

    NC County School Board Joins Chorus Saying Apps Harm Youth

    The Board of Education in Wake County, North Carolina, on Friday joined the ranks of school systems suing Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and other social media companies, accusing them of stoking addiction in young users and saddling taxpayers with the cost.

  • April 05, 2024

    Microsoft, Others Can Weigh In On Epic, Apple App Store Row

    A California federal judge allowed Microsoft, X Corp., Meta Platforms, Spotify and other major app developers to file amicus briefs in Epic Games' effort to convince the court that Apple is not complying with an order barring it from using anti-steering rules in its App Store.

  • April 05, 2024

    Solar Company Hit With TCPA Suit After $13.8M FTC Fine

    Months after the Federal Trade Commission slapped lead generation firm Solar Xchange with a $13.8 million fine for sending out millions of pestering calls to people on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, one recipient of those calls has filed suit in Massachusetts federal court to seek his own recompense.

  • April 05, 2024

    Sprint's $4.5M Nextel Trademark Win Upheld At 11th Circ.

    Sprint Communications Inc. maintained a trademark on its line of walkie-talkie devices and deserved a $4.5 million jury award against an imitator for its unlawful use of the device name and distinctive "chirp" noise, according to an Eleventh Circuit panel ruling.

  • April 05, 2024

    Judicial Nominees On Schumer's Post-Recess To-Do List

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., laid out on Friday a busy agenda for when Congress returns next week, which includes confirming the president's judicial nominees.

  • April 05, 2024

    National Association Of Broadcasters Hires New Deputy GC

    The National Association of Broadcasters has hired a former Baker McKenzie partner and Federal Trade Commission attorney to serve as its new deputy general counsel, the group announced Thursday.

  • April 04, 2024

    Charter Says Nonprofit's Fight Over Sealed Docs Is Too Late

    Charter Communications Inc. is disputing the Electronic Frontier Foundation's attempt to persuade a Texas federal court to unseal filings in a patent suit against the cable company over data transmission that settled late last year.

  • April 04, 2024

    FCC Refuses To Restore Pa. Felon's FM Radio License

    The Federal Communications Commission has denied a Pennsylvania man's request to restore his radio license after he pled guilty to using a hidden camera to take and send nude photos of a woman.

  • April 04, 2024

    'Halfhearted' Hytera Filings Not Enough To Lift Hefty Sanctions

    Hytera Communications' daily $1 million fine and other sanctions for violating an Illinois federal judge's anti-suit injunction stayed in place Thursday as she ordered the company to submit a fourth, more "meaningful" request in China to halt a lawsuit it lodged against Motorola Solutions.

  • April 04, 2024

    ISP Tells FCC Bulk Billing Deals Are Pro-Consumer

    An internet service provider is trying to convince the Federal Communications Commission that banning bulk billing in apartment buildings is not the way to go and that the arrangements are actually a "key tool for closing the digital divide."

  • April 04, 2024

    Texts Were Intentionally Deleted In Hotel Suit, Investors Say

    Two investors have urged a Florida state court to impose severe penalties on the managers of a hotel enterprise after WhatsApp text messages in a $15 million lawsuit were allegedly deleted intentionally, saying the communications were critical to proving that their equity interests were wrongly taken from them.

  • April 04, 2024

    FCC's Net Neutrality Plan Leaves Network 'Slicing' Uncategorized

    The Federal Communications Commission will not automatically apply net neutrality rules to 5G mobile network "slices" when a plan to reimpose the rules on broadband service comes up for an agency vote later this month, but also said slices cannot be used to evade the regulations.

  • April 04, 2024

    Broadband Providers Won't Pay Into Telecom Subsidy Fund

    Broadband providers will not have to pay into the Federal Communications Commission's subsidy system even after being categorized as a telecom service under the FCC's net neutrality plan that was released Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Parsing Through The FTC's Proposed Health Privacy Updates

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recently proposed updates to its Health Breach Notification Rule contain subtle but significant changes to key terms that help modernize the agency's health app regulation and provide stakeholders an important opportunity to help shape the future of virtual health care, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • 3 Service Provider Considerations For NTIA Broadband Fund

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    Internet service providers seeking funding through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's broadband deployment program should begin in earnest identifying areas of interest for funding and challenges so that they are prepared to submit initial proposals before the December deadline, say ​​​​​​​attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Regulating AI: Litigation Questions And State Efforts To Watch

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    In view of the developing legal and regulatory framework for artificial intelligence systems in the U.S., including state legislation and early federal litigation, there are practical takeaways as we look toward the future, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.

  • Regulating AI: An Overview Of Federal Efforts

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    The U.S. has been carefully managing a national policy and regulatory ecosystem toward artificial intelligence, but as AI technology continues to expand into our everyday lives, so too has its risks and the need for regulation, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.

  • Perspectives

    Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice

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    Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.

  • The Case For Quantifying The Impact Of 'Dark Patterns'

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    Recent lawsuits alleging that Amazon and Audible used so-called dark patterns to deceive customers show that federal agencies and consumers are actively challenging such conduct, and quantifying its impact on purchase decisions is an important step toward using an evidence-based approach for determining the appropriate level of deterrence, say economists at Brattle.

  • Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too

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    While suits challenging federal regulations have become commonplace, such cases against state agencies are virtually nonexistent, but many states have provisions that allow litigants to bring suit for regulations with inadequate cost-benefit analyses, says Reeve Bull at the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.

  • Keep Up With Telemarketing Compliance: State Law Roundup

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    As more states enact mini-Telephone Consumer Protection Acts to seemingly fill the "autodialer" void left by the U.S. Supreme Court's Facebook v. Duguid ruling, compliance will become a difficult game of whack-a-mole — some of the laws regulate equipment, while others restrict to whom calls can be made, and more, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions

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    As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.

  • 9th Circ. Expands TCPA Standing, Narrowing Defenses

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    While the Ninth Circuit's recent Hall v. Smosh Dot Com decision expands Telephone Consumer Protection Act standing, companies defending TCPA claims should watch the district court's ruling on remand for a potential narrow exception where a third-party user consents to contact for a number on the do-not-call registry, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • A Checklist For Cyber Incident Response Communications

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    The recent cyberattack of file transfer tool MOVEit, and its spread among industries, is a reminder for companies that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to incident response communications, and there are certain questions that every business should ask before communicating about an incident, say Kamran Salour at Lewis Brisbois and Sadia Mirza at Troutman Pepper.

  • Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification

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    With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.

  • Mallory Ruling Leaves Personal Jurisdiction Deeply Unsettled

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    In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court recently rolled back key aspects of its 2017 opinion in Daimler AG v. Bauman that limited personal jurisdiction, leaving as many questions for businesses as it answers, say John Cerreta and James Rotondo at Day Pitney.

  • What Revised FTC Guides Mean For Influencer Campaigns

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    The Federal Trade Commission’s recent updates to its endorsement guides will affect influencer campaigns in several key ways, including how and when influencers should make disclosures, and how companies should manage campaigns, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

  • 4 Legal Issues Grant-Funded Broadband Projects May Face

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    The Biden administration's recently announced funding allocations represent the largest ever government investment in broadband internet infrastructure, but these new development opportunities will require navigation of complicated and sometimes arcane legal environments, says Casey Lide at Keller & Heckman.

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