By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-10-20 Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks told Congress Tuesday (March 10) that the FCC and communications networks have an integral role in responding to the coronavirus and called for immediate action, calling for a “connectivity and economic stimulus” plan to address the virus. That came in testimony for [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-10-20 The Senate Financial Services Subcommittee held an FCC budget request hearing Tuesday (March 10) and a C-Band auction hearing broke out. Actually that was signaled at the outset by Subcommittee chairman John Kennedy (R-La.), who has been critical of the FCC's decision to award potentially billions of [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-10-20 Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen told a Free State Foundation audience Tuesday (March 10) that the Justice Department's investigation into Sec. 230 of the Communications Decency Act, part of a wider look into online platforms and antitrust, is focusing on four areas for potential "engagement" and said [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sitting en banc in Rojas v. FAA. This case concerns a FOIA request made to the FAA by Rojas, an unsuccessful job applicant, for records from a consulting firm related to [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-5-20 Marking the halfway point in its Airband rural broadband initiative, Microsoft said it is now in 25 states and one territory and is on track to meet its goal of 3 million more rural Americans with broadband access. Airband is Microsoft's promotion of unlicensed wireless in the [...]
Participated in a letter (with the Reporters Committee and other media groups) sent to the Supreme Court of California regarding the case Becerra v. Superior Court. The letter urges the court to depublish Part D of the California Court of Appeal’s decision in this case because it is contrary to the legislature’s purpose and [...]
Participated in a letter (with the Reporters Committee and other media groups) sent to Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit regarding the case United States v. Madoff. The letter asks that the court make available to the public any letters or communications from victims submitted in conjunction [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in La Liberte v. Reid. In this case, Roslyn La Liberte appeals the trial court’s dismissal of a defamation action she brought against journalist Joy Reid. The amicus brief focuses solely [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 2-5-20 The Federal Trade Commission has launched a lookback at some of the smaller past acquisitions by some of the largest tech companies. The FTC said Tuesday it has issued "special orders" to Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, which require them to provide info on [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 2-5-20 A district court judge's decision upholding the Justice Department and FCC approval of the Sprint-T-Mobile merger drew immediate reaction from Washington. Both the FCC and Justice had argued the deal would help speed the 5G rollout, with conditions that would ultimately create a new, facilities-based, competitor, helping [...]