Participated in a letter (with the Reporters Committee and other media groups) sent to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts’ Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. The letter recommends that Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure be amended to make clear that district courts may exercise their inherent supervisory [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 4-1-20 FCC chairman Ajit Pai is proposing to open the entire 6 GHz band for unlicensed wireless broadband. He has drafted rules that would make all 1,200 MHz available for some unlicensed devices, which would share with incumbent users including broadcast electronic newsgathering (ENG). Broadcasters had argued that [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-31-20 Comcast has teamed with Common Sense Media to make free educational content available. There are almost 2,000 hours of titles for its Xfinity customers with kids in K-12 via Xfinity on Demand, the company said. That includes content from Bluprint and CuriosityStream, as well as content from [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-26-20 The Corporation for Public Broadcasting gets $75 million in emergency funds in the $2 trillion coronavirus bill that passed the Senate late Wednesday night. The money is to keep up facilities of noncommercial TV and radio stations and to help stations, particularly rural ones, keep the lights [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other media groups) filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in In re Juror Questionnaires in United States v. Stone. The case involves a motion filed by a social media activist seeking access to the juror questionnaires in the Roger [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other media groups) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Tah v. Global Witness Publishing, Inc. The case raises the issue of whether the D.C. Anti-SLAPP Act applies in federal court. The case concerns a defamation action brought by [...]
FOR RELEASE: March 17, 2020 Contact: Richard T. Kaplar The Media Institute 703-243-5700 Arlington, Va., March 17, 2020 – The Media Institute issued the following statement today by Institute President Richard Kaplar: “In light of the coronavirus pandemic, we have postponed our Communications Forum luncheon scheduled for March 25 until April 27. We thank our [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other media groups) filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New Mexico in The New Mexican v. Public Service Co. of New Mexico and BHP Billiton New Mexico Coal, Inc. (“PNM” and “BHP”). The case involves a prior restraint to prohibit The [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-13-20 Communications companies big and small have signed on to a "Keep Americans Connected Pledge" at the request of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in the face of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Pai talked with broadband service providers and trade associations Thursday (March 12) and asked them, "in order to [...]
By Gary Arlen, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-11-20 Policymakers "need to take a fresh look at existing allocations of spectrum, including the allocation of spectrum to broadcasters" to determine if "that spectrum is still needed by the broadcast industry or if it is better used in other areas," said Jim Ciconni, senior executive VP of [...]