By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-3-21 In an unusual alliance, cable operators, Google, Public Knowledge, and others have told Congress the FCC is taking the wrong approach to the upcoming 3.45 -3.55 GHz (3.45 GHz band) auction, in particular the size of the licenses it plans to auction. Congress mandated in the Consolidated Appropriations [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-3-21 Industry players were weighing in Wednesday (March 3) on Google's announcement that when it phases out third-party cookies, it will not try to come up with another way to identify and track browsing for the purposes of targeted advertising. “The NAI values Google’s engagement with the broader digital [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-3-21 Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will reportedly introduce legislation in the next several weeks to reinstate the Title II classification for Internet access providers as a way to restore the FCC's authority and the rules against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. Democrats want to use new rules to get [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-2-21 Consumer Reports is celebrating Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's signing of the Consumer Data Protection Act. “This is a historic moment for privacy rights,” said CR senior policy analyst Maureen Mahoney. “Virginia is now just the second state [after California] to pass a comprehensive privacy bill. While we're pleased [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-1-21 The just-passed $1.9-trillion COVID-19 relief bill (H.R. 1319) has, potentially, more than $17 billion in funding that could go to subsidize broadband, including a homeowners assistance fund states can tap to subsidize broadband for low-income residents during the pandemic. That is in addition to the $3.2 billion in [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-25-21 The head of the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee made it clear  at its hearing Thursday on Big Tech "gatekeeper" platforms and antitrust that it was the  launch of a congressional effort to reign in the largest platforms. "Mark my words: Change is coming, laws are coming," said Subcommittee [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-25-21 Broadband providers are united in their support for the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act as part of a whole-of-government approach to protecting supply chain security. Following President Joe Biden's executive order issued Wednesday (Feb. 24), which included a government agency review of semiconductors, [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-25-21 The FCC has voted unanimously to adopt the Emergency Broadband Benefit framework order, which stands up the $3.2-billion subsidy program passed by Congress as part of a December COVID-19 aid package. The plan is to open up the program to eligible households by April. As cable broadband providers [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-24-21 Consumer Reports is praising the Virginia legislature's passage of the Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA), which would join California as the second state/commonwealth to pass its own privacy bill after a Democratic  FCC effort to regulate privacy on the federal level was nullified. The Virginia bill applies everyone [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-24-21 House Democrats said their Wednesday (Feb. 24) hearing in the Communications Subcommittee entitled "Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media" was not an assault of the First Amendment or speech freedoms of those media, but an attempt to open a dialog and debate on their role [...]