By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-19-21 The House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee plans to hold a series of hearings on proposed bills to rein in "the rise and abuse of market power online" and adjust antitrust laws accordingly. Both Republicans and Democrats have concerns that antitrust laws were not nimble enough to capture Web giants' [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-18-21 The House Energy & Commerce Committee has lined up the CEOs from Facebook, Google, and Twitter to testify at a hearing on "Misinformation and Disinformation Plaguing Online Platforms," signaling that self-regulation has failed and Congress needs to step in. The March 25 hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichair, [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-18-21 Computer companies have filed a complaint in U.S. district court against Maryland's Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax, asking the court to declare the law is, itself, unlawful and barring its enforcement. The complaint was filed by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) along with the U.S. Chamber [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-17-21 Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel didn't make any big news at her first post-meeting press conference Wednesday (Feb. 17), but she did confirm that she is still a fan of net neutrality rules and no fan of the Trump Administration petition to the FCC to regulate social media [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-17-21 The FCC is contemplating a new framework for national security reviews of communications companies and tech. FCC Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said during the Commission's February public meeting (Feb. 17), her first as acting chair, that it was time to "revitalize its approach to network security." Part of [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-16-21 House Energy & Commerce Committee Republicans have unveiled a package of 28 broadband-related, primarily deregulatory, bills they said will "turbocharge" investment and promote deployment, competition, and consumer choice while removing "unnecessary or duplicative" environmental and historical preservation "barriers" to that deployment. Among other things, the bills would remove [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-12-21 The House Energy & Commerce Committee has voted 31 to 24 to approve a massive COVID-19 relief/budget reconciliation package that includes billions for remote learning broadband service and devices. The broadband portion of the bill allocates $7.6 billion "to help bridge the digital divide for students and teachers [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-12-21 Some top Republican senators are pressing Acting FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel for more details on the FCC's proposal to open up its E-Rate broadband subsidy funds to home broadband service and devices, suggesting they are concerned about the viability of the overarching Universal Service Fund subsidy program. They [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-12-21 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is troubled by reports that YouTube continues to amplify extremist content after pledging to crack down on dangerous misinformation and disinformation. Last month, she joined dozens of other legislators on a letter to Big Tech CEOs, including of YouTube, saying they needed to [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-11-21 Fans of the Department of Justice consent decrees on music licensing organizations – those fans include broadcasters and computer companies – have called on the Biden Administration and Congress to keep the decrees in place. In letters to the President and House and Senate leaders, the MIC Coalition [...]