By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-29-21 The House Energy & Commerce Committee has lined up Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen as its lead-off witness for a Dec. 1 hearing--"Holding Big Tech Accountable: Targeted Reforms to Tech's Legal Immunity." – on legislation to curb social media sites' immunity from civil liability over third-party content. That's according [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-17-21 Arguing that the “infection” of Big Tech algorithms threatens democracy, a threat from companies putting profits before people, the House Energy & Commerce Committee has scheduled two Big Tech-related legislative hearings for December, meaning Democrats are serious about passing bills to rein in social media platforms, including by [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-17-21 Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) plans to introduce legislation to reclassify broadband as a Title II service, which would subject it to common-carrier rules, restore the Federal Communication Commission’s oversight of broadband access and reverse the Republican FCC’s elimination of net neutrality rules. If Democrats want a legislative net [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-15-21 The White House has established a task force to implement the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that includes $65 billion for broadband. The president signed the infrastructure legislation on the afternoon of Nov. 15. The task force will be headed by National Economic Council director Brian Deese and the [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-10-21 Some high-profile Senate Republicans are asking the Department of Agriculture not to impose net neutrality conditions on broadband buildout subsidies, conditions that are essentially a USDA imposition of the FCC’s scrapped net neutrality rules. In its rural development broadband ReConnect grant and loan program, applicants get a preference – [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-10-21 The Commerce Department has issued a fact sheet breaking out how it will be handing out the vast majority of broadband subsidy funds just approved in President Joe Biden‘s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act infrastructure bill. Commerce‘s National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) is overseeing the lion‘s share ($48 [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-9-21 The House last week passed the Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility (E-BRIDGE) Act, which makes it easier for the Economic Development Administration (which is under the Department of Commerce) to hand out money to help close the rural digital divide. The bill was bipartisan and [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-9-21 Computer companies and edge providers are telling a U.S. Appeals Court that a lower-court judge was right when he blocked implementation of Florida’s content moderation law, concluding it was unconstitutional, and that it should come to the same conclusion. The Computer and Communications Industry Association and NetChoice teamed [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-8-21 Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), chair of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee and a self-described leading antitrust reformer, has teamed with Republican senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to introduce yet another bill designed to rein in Big Tech. The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act addresses one of Klobuchar’s longstanding concerns, [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-5-21 After much debate and negotiation among progressive and moderate Democrats, the House voted late Friday (Nov. 5) to approve the $1.2-trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) that includes tens of billions of dollars for broadband, including grants to all the states and territories and for middle-mile [...]