By Jessica Gresko, AP, washingtonpost.com, 6-24-19 The Supreme Court struck down a section of federal law Monday that prevented businesses from registering trademarks seen as scandalous or immoral, handing a victory to a California fashion brand. The high court ruled that the century-old provision is an unconstitutional restriction on speech. Between 2005 and 2015, the [...]
By Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Craig Timberg, washingtonpost.com, 6-19-19 The U.S. government is in the late stages of an investigation into YouTube for its handling of children’s videos, according to four people familiar with the matter, a probe that threatens the company with a potential fine and already has prompted the tech giant to [...]
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 two related cases, Washington Post v. U.S. Dept. of Justice and ACLU v. U.S. Dept. of Justice. The case concerns motions to unseal a contempt proceeding that the DOJ reportedly [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 6-18-19 FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has signaled the FCC will vote at its July 10 meeting on an item revamping its KidVid rules, providing broadcasters more flexibility in meeting their children's educational and informational [E/I] programming requirements under the Children's TV Act. The FCC voted last June, along [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 6-17-19 High school sports and political candidate forums are among the programs the National Association of Broadcasters wants to be able to preempt children's programming for without the FCC requiring them to reschedule that kids programming. NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan made that pitch last week to a [...]
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 United States v. Schulte. This case concerns public access to certain search warrants and affidavits in the criminal prosecution of Joshua Schulte, a former CIA employee accused of illegally accessing [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the News Media Alliance and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Washington Post v. David J. McManus, Jr. The brief states the district court correctly held that Maryland’s Online Electioneering Transparency and Accountability Act violates traditional First Amendment principles. The [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 6-4-19 The House Judiciary Committee is opening a bipartisan, "top to bottom," investigation into Big Tech and whether it has been allowed to get big anticompetitively. The committee has announced a series of hearings in the Antitrust Subcommittee on the "rise of market power online" and is seeking [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 6-3-19 In a letter to the chair and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, the Copyright Office has once again recommended that Congress let the satellite compulsory copyright license (STELAR Act) expire, saying the Section 119 copyright license "is more ripe for expiration than ever." The act, [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 6-3-19 ACA Connects gave the Federal Trade Commission an earful in comments on the FTC's hearings on competition and consumer protection. ACA Connects said that, generally speaking, the broadband marketplace is working to consumers' benefit as is with 300 million people having access to 100 Mbps broadband service, [...]