Telecommunications

  • April 17, 2024

    Dems Uneasy Over ESPN, Fox, Warner Sports Streaming App

    A pair of House Democrats have raised concerns over plans by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery's to combine their vast live sports portfolios into a single app, pressing the programmers for details to ensure the joint venture won't increase consumer prices and degrade licensing terms for leagues and distributors.

  • April 17, 2024

    Sirius XM Faces Patent Row Over Vehicle Kit Product

    A Texas company that owns a patent on a high-bandwidth content distribution structure has filed a lawsuit in the Lone Star State accusing Sirius XM Holdings Inc. of infringing its intellectual property.

  • April 16, 2024

    7th Circ. Finally Freezes Hytera's $1M-Per-Day Sanctions

    The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday halted the daily $1 million fine and sales ban ordered against Hytera Communications for participating in Chinese litigation against a district judge's orders, after previously refusing to save the company from its "self inflicted wounds."

  • April 16, 2024

    'Wide As The Ocean': Apple Judge Pans Investor Deal Release

    A California federal judge declined Monday to preliminarily approve Apple's nonmonetary settlement in a derivative-shareholder suit over claims it secretly slowed iPhones, criticizing the deal's release of claims that "relate" to the case as overbroad and noting that, "in practice, lawyers argue that 'relate' is as wide as the ocean."

  • April 16, 2024

    White House Opposes Bill To Close Data 'Loophole'

    The White House on Tuesday came out against a bipartisan bill that would prevent law enforcement and intelligence agencies from buying Americans' personal information, an issue critics say is a "loophole" to get around the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

  • April 16, 2024

    Broadband Subsidy Backers Seek To Force House Vote

    Nearly 300 groups urged Congress to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program, but as a bill to do so picked up support from more than half of U.S. House lawmakers, a vote on replenishing the fund remains up in the air.

  • April 16, 2024

    Virginia Judge Tosses State Broadband Law Challenge

    The Association of American Railroads has lost its challenge to a Virginia federal law that gives broadband providers easier access to railroad property and that the group says constitutes illegal taking, after a judge knocked out all the suit's claims for various reasons.

  • April 16, 2024

    Chancery Orders Closer Look At Crown Castle Proxy Moves

    A Delaware vice chancellor has ordered a preliminary injunction hearing ahead of a contested board proxy vote for cell tower operator Crown Castle Inc., after the company's co-founder objected to Crown's unilateral addition of an extra, filled board seat in the midst of a proxy fight.

  • April 16, 2024

    IBM Gained Most AI Patents By Far In 2023

    IBM obtained more U.S. artificial intelligence patents in 2023 than any other company, with its closest competitors falling behind by more than 300 patents, according to a Harrity Patent Analytics report announced Tuesday.

  • April 16, 2024

    Public Advocates Say Surveillance Cams Could Disrupt Wi-Fi

    Advocacy groups are banding together against Axon's bid for a Federal Communications Commission rule waiver to operate high-powered surveillance cameras, saying their signals could disrupt Wi-Fi use, especially in low-income neighborhoods.

  • April 16, 2024

    Court Urged Not To Quash Google's Agency Subpoenas

    A special master has recommended that a Texas federal court allow Google to interview witnesses from three state agencies as the tech giant defends against a case from state-level enforcers accusing it of monopolizing key digital advertising technology.

  • April 16, 2024

    AT&T Unit Urges Justices To Weigh In On FCC E-Rate Saga

    An AT&T subsidiary is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether reimbursement requests for the Federal Communications Commission's E-rate program for schools and libraries are "claims" under the False Claims Act, part of a whistleblower suit accusing the company of overcharging public schools and libraries.

  • April 16, 2024

    Smartmatic Settles Election Defamation Suit Against OANN

    Electronic voting system company Smartmatic has settled its defamation suit in Washington, D.C., federal court alleging One America News Network peddled conspiracy theories claiming the firm rigged voting machines during the 2020 presidential election, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

  • April 15, 2024

    Conn. Court Should Allow Award For PTSD Firing, Agency Says

    Connecticut's state human rights watchdog has urged a state court to uphold a $62,000 award in favor of a Charter Communications worker who says she was fired because she had post-traumatic stress disorder, arguing that the decision followed sound legal principles and the judicial branch should defer to the agency's ruling.

  • April 15, 2024

    Hytera Still Not Doing All It Can To Stop Fine, Motorola Says

    Hytera Communications has continued to drag its feet as it tries to lift the sanctions against it for participating in Chinese litigation against a court order, Motorola Solutions told the Seventh Circuit, arguing that a district court judge's daily status hearings ensure Hytera is being compelled to comply without being punished.

  • April 15, 2024

    House Rejects Bid To Overturn Spy Bill Authorization

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday rejected an attempt to overturn legislation reauthorizing a controversial foreign surveillance program after several Republican lawmakers took issue with the exclusion of a warrant requirement for accessing U.S. citizens' information.

  • April 15, 2024

    Minimize Nat'l Security Regs On Broadband, Verizon Says

    Verizon said the Federal Communications Commission should not impose national security reviews that could disrupt existing broadband service when it passes a net neutrality order as expected this month.

  • April 15, 2024

    Apple Faces Two Suits Over IPhone Market Dominance

    Apple has been hit with a pair of suits alleging it has unfairly stifled competition in the smartphone market and that its practices and iPhone sales have violated federal securities and antitrust laws.

  • April 15, 2024

    Apple Defends Anti-Steering Rule Compliance In Epic Case

    Apple told a California federal court it has fully complied with an order barring anti-steering rules in its App Store and said complaints from Epic Games, Microsoft and others about its compliance are just efforts by the companies to pad their own profits.

  • April 15, 2024

    MCA Reaches $100K FCC Settlement Over Radio Licenses

    Mobile Communications America Inc. reached a $100,000 settlement Monday with the Federal Communications Commission, resolving claims that it failed to seek approval to transfer control of several business radio licenses.

  • April 15, 2024

    Meta, FTC Pause Constitutionality Fight For High Court Ruling

    Meta and the Federal Trade Commission agreed Monday to pause Meta's challenge of FTC changes to a 2020 settlement over user privacy until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling on a similar case involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • April 15, 2024

    LA County Tells FCC It Supports Plan To Georoute 988 Calls

    Support is growing for a Federal Communications Commission proposal to require georouting calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, with Los Angeles County backing the idea Friday in a filing with the agency, and other groups saying even more urgency is needed.

  • April 15, 2024

    2nd Circ. Affirms Telecom Co.'s $13M Union Pension Bill

    The Second Circuit upheld a New York federal court's determination that a telecommunications company owed $13 million in withdrawal liability to a multiemployer pension plan for electrical and contract workers, agreeing Monday with an arbitrator's finding that a construction industry exception didn't apply to the disputed work.

  • April 12, 2024

    Gilstrap Rejects Jury Instruction Tweaks In Samsung Retrial

    U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap on Friday largely denied jury instruction requests made by both Samsung and G+ Communications ahead of a damages retrial in Texas federal court in litigation over wireless network patents, rejecting each company's ideas for limiting what's presented to jurors.

  • April 12, 2024

    FCC Urged To DQ Iconectiv As Number Portability Manager

    The company in charge of the Federal Communications Commision's system for allowing people to switch cell phone providers without losing their number is sister companies with a Voice over Internet Protocol provider — which does not mesh with the agency's neutrality rules, another telecom company is warning.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Verizon Benefits Ruling Clears Up Lien Burden Of Proof

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    A Rhode Island federal court recently ruled that a Verizon benefits plan could not recoup a former employee’s settlement funds from the attorney who represented her in a personal injury case, importantly clarifying two Employee Retirement Income Security Act burden of proof issues that were previously unsettled, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Assessing Merger Guideline Feedback With Machine Learning

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    Large language modeling appears to show that public sentiment matches agency intent around the new merger control guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department, says Andrew Sfekas at Cornerstone Research.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Brazil

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    Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.

  • Series

    Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

  • Considering A Practical FRAND Rate Assessment Procedure

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    As the debate over a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory rate continues inside and outside courtrooms, a practical method may assess whether the proposed FRAND rate deviates significantly from what is reasonable, and ensure an optimal mix of assets for managers of standard-essential patent portfolios, says consultant Gordon Huang.

  • A Close Look At The FCC's Revised SIM Card Fraud Rules

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    Carolyn Mahoney and John Seiver at Davis Wright break down recently proposed revisions to the Federal Communications Commission's customer proprietary network information and local number portability rules for wireless providers, discuss the revisions' implications on artificial intelligence regulation, and provide tips to prevent SIM swap and port-out fraud.

  • What Retailers Should Note In Calif. Web Tracking Suits

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    As retailers face a deluge of class actions alleging the use of conventional web analytic tools violate wiretapping and eavesdropping provisions of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, uncovering the path toward a narrow interpretation of the law will largely depend on how these cases proceed, say Matthew Pearson and Kareem Salem at BakerHostetler.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

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