By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-10-21 Some high-profile Senate Republicans are asking the Department of Agriculture not to impose net neutrality conditions on broadband buildout subsidies, conditions that are essentially a USDA imposition of the FCC’s scrapped net neutrality rules. In its rural development broadband ReConnect grant and loan program, applicants get a preference – [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-10-21 The Commerce Department has issued a fact sheet breaking out how it will be handing out the vast majority of broadband subsidy funds just approved in President Joe Biden‘s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act infrastructure bill. Commerce‘s National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) is overseeing the lion‘s share ($48 [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-9-21 The House last week passed the Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility (E-BRIDGE) Act, which makes it easier for the Economic Development Administration (which is under the Department of Commerce) to hand out money to help close the rural digital divide. The bill was bipartisan and [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-9-21 Computer companies and edge providers are telling a U.S. Appeals Court that a lower-court judge was right when he blocked implementation of Florida’s content moderation law, concluding it was unconstitutional, and that it should come to the same conclusion. The Computer and Communications Industry Association and NetChoice teamed [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-8-21 Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), chair of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee and a self-described leading antitrust reformer, has teamed with Republican senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to introduce yet another bill designed to rein in Big Tech. The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act addresses one of Klobuchar’s longstanding concerns, [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-5-21 After much debate and negotiation among progressive and moderate Democrats, the House voted late Friday (Nov. 5) to approve the $1.2-trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) that includes tens of billions of dollars for broadband, including grants to all the states and territories and for middle-mile [...]
‘The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder’ Offers Lessons for Today FOR RELEASE: November 4, 2021 Contact: Richard T. Kaplar The Media Institute 703-243-5700 Arlington, Va., November 4, 2021 – A new book by noted First Amendment attorney Robert Corn-Revere takes a wide-ranging look at how censors have operated since the [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-3-21 A pair of House Energy & Commerce Committee Republicans on Tuesday (Nov. 3) unveiled a discussion draft of national privacy legislation, the Control Our Data Act, which would establish a “national privacy standard,” and they are drafting every GOP member of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee to work on [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-2-21 Cable broadband operators said the Federal Communications Commission needs to free up more spectrum to handle the explosion of internet of things (IoT) devices, including everything from smart thermostats and locks to garage-door openers and refrigerators. The FCC sought comment on the once-and-future spectrum needs of IoT. NCTA–The [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-1-21 The House Energy & Commerce Committee plans to mark up two communications and technology bills this week. Those would be H.R. 1281, the Data Mapping to Save Moms Act, and H.R. 2501, the Spectrum Coordination Act. House E&C Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike [...]