By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-10-21 Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Wednesday (Feb. 10) that he plans to reintroduce the Internet Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act. That came in a video session at the INCOMPAS virtual Policy Summit Wednesday. The bill would invest $100 billion to close the digital divide. Clyburn, who [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-9-21 Top House Energy & Commerce Committee Democrats are labeling Apple's new privacy notices potentially "misleading" and "inaccurate." In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), cited a tech review [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-9-21 More fans of network neutrality rules have asked the FCC to return its bright-line rules against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization, saying eliminated those rules has negatively impacted connectivity at a time – during the COVID–19 pandemic – when connectivity is a key public interest priority. That came [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-8-21 Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) have reintroduced the National Broadband Plan for the Future Act, to the applause of some cable operators. The bill, which coincided with the 25th anniversary of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, would require the FCC to update its National [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-8-21 The Biden Justice Department has dropped the Trump Justice Department's challenge to California's net neutrality law. The court issued a one line statement: "Plaintiff the United States of America, by and through its counsel, hereby gives notice of its voluntary dismissal of this case." Congressional Democrats had pressed [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-5-21 INCOMPAS, whose members include competitive carriers and computer companies, has petitioned the FCC to restore its net neutrality rules. In a petition for reconsideration, the association told the FCC that it needs to reclassify Internet access services (ISPs) as Title II telecommunications service – subject to common carrier [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-5-21 Senate Democrats are taking aim at social media sites' Section 230 content immunity in a new bill. The Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism and Consumer Harms (SAFE TECH) Act would carve out several categories of content from Web sites' current Section 230 immunity from civil liability for [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-5-21 Republican leadership in the House Energy & Commerce Committee are branding Big Tech a "destructive force" and calling on Democratic committee leadership to hold a hearing immediately with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Republicans have created a Big Tech Accountability [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-4-21 Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is introducing a new, Big Tech-targeted, antitrust bill that would block anticompetitive mergers, toughen antitrust enforcement, and seek civil fines and forfeitures. Talking about the bill on CNBC Thursday (Feb. 4), Klobuchar, incoming head of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, said the GameStop/Reddit stock manipulation [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Center for Investigative Reporting v. Department of Labor. This case concerns a FOIA request made to the Labor Dept. by CIR for employment diversity reports of certain federal contractors. Nearly [...]