By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-10-22 The Senate Judiciary Committee has favorably reported the EARN IT Act to the full Senate, but with the agreement to work on some issues as it moves toward a floor vote. The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies [EARN IT] Act would remove Section 230 liability [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-9-22 Federal Communications Commission nominee Gigi Sohn faced a strongly divided Senate Commerce Committee at the second hearing on her nomination to the agency’s open seat as the pushback from Republicans on her nomination continued. Democrats spent their time having her back while Republicans fired away over various issues. [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-8-22 The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) has joined with others to call on Congress to pass the EARN IT Act, which would limit Big Tech’s immunity from liability for third-party content on websites. “Prosecutors are thrilled to once again support the EARN IT Act, a bill that would [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-8-22 Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel on Tuesday (Feb. 8) said an all-of-agency task force has been created to promote broadband equity, including by preventing deployment discrimination based on income, race, or other factors. The task force, promoted by the Biden infrastructure bill requirements, will be headed by [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2/7/22 Cable broadband operators are solidly behind a bill that could reduce the potential overbuilding power of some of the Biden Administration’s billions of dollars in infrastructure investment. Potential overbuilding is a big issue given the size of the broadband investment – about $65 billion – and the Administration’s [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-7-22 Weighing in on an issue close to the hearts and pocketbooks of cable and telecom broadband operators, Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has called on new broadband subsidy czar Mitch Landrieu to push for more streamlined permitting processes. That came in a letter Feb. 7 [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-4-22 The FCC said that service providers have asked for $5.6 billion from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. Congress provided an initial $1.895 billion. That is the fund Congress created to cover the costs of ripping and replacing insecure tech from U.S. networks to better protect [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-4-22 The House has narrowly passed the America COMPETES (Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Preeminence in Technology, and Economic Strength) Act, which among many other things, provides $1.5 billion for securing the wireless mobile broadband market supply chain. The vote was 222-210, with only one Republican voting for the bill [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-4-22 In advance of this week’s hearing on aviation interference issues and the 5G C-band rollout, some spectrum policy experts and fans of 5G took aim at the Federal Aviation Administration’s efforts to delay the rollout over interference concerns. They made their case for the Federal Communications Commission in [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-3-22 The Senate Judiciary Committee has overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan Open App Markets Act, according to its sponsors, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). The vote was 21-1 – Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) was the only nay – to favorably report the bill to a vote in [...]