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 [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-24-21 Net neutrality fans inside the Beltway are celebrating a Judge's decision to allow California's net neutrality law to go into effect. The law passed the California legislature, but enforcement had been delayed until the legal challenges from the Trump Justice Department – the Biden Justice Department withdrew its [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-23-21 House Democrats are accusing Facebook of knowingly "allowing extremist content and groups to grow" despite reportedly knowing through internal reviews that the platform's policies and recommendations were to blame for rapid dissemination of extremism and disinformation. The claim came in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg from [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-22-21 The return of rules against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization is building momentum given that Congress is in the hands of Democrats, most of whom opposed deregulation of internet access, and the FCC is currently being helmed by Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel, who strongly opposed deregulation under the previous [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-22-21 California Democratic Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney have written to a dozen cable, satellite, and streaming companies calling on them to better combat disinformation – which they principally identify as Fox, Newsmax, and One America News Network (OANN) – and grilling them on what they plan to do [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-19-21 The House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee plans to hold a series of hearings on proposed bills to rein in "the rise and abuse of market power online" and adjust antitrust laws accordingly. Both Republicans and Democrats have concerns that antitrust laws were not nimble enough to capture Web giants' [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-18-21 The House Energy & Commerce Committee has lined up the CEOs from Facebook, Google, and Twitter to testify at a hearing on "Misinformation and Disinformation Plaguing Online Platforms," signaling that self-regulation has failed and Congress needs to step in. The March 25 hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichair, [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-18-21 Computer companies have filed a complaint in U.S. district court against Maryland's Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax, asking the court to declare the law is, itself, unlawful and barring its enforcement. The complaint was filed by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) along with the U.S. Chamber [...]