By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 1-22-19 In a victory for online re-publishers of others' content – in this case specifically online review platform Yelp – the Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of a California Supreme Court decision (Hassell vs. Bird) that Yelp was protected from liability under the Communications Decency [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 1-18-19 The National Association of Broadcasters has joined with other groups in the News Media for Open Government(NMOG) coalition to press the new Congress to better protect journalists, including the long-sought federal shield law that has been introduced in numerous Congresses over the past couple of decades. In [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 1-17-19 The FCC has apparently pumped new life into the 28 GHz spectrum auction. The first round after it moved to stage three Jan. 15, with bidders required to bid on eligible licenses unless they had a waiver—produced $0 in new bidding money. But since then it has [...]
FOR RELEASE: January 8, 2019 Contact: Richard T. Kaplar The Media Institute 703-243-5700 Arlington, Va., January 8, 2019 – Bill Bailey, vice president of government relations for The Walt Disney Company, has been elected to the Board of Trustees of The Media Institute, it was announced today by Institute President Richard T. Kaplar. Bailey is responsible [...]
By Ann E. Marimow, washingtonpost.com, 1-7-19 An elected official in Virginia violated the First Amendment when she temporarily blocked a constituent on Facebook, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, in a novel case with implications for how government officials nationwide interact with constituents on social media. The unanimous ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 1-4-19 Co-opting the "clean up Washington" mantra of the current Republican President and the "by the people, for the people" language of a former Republican president, House Democrats Friday (Jan. 4) officially unveiled their first bill of the new session, the For the People Act (H.R. 1), which [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in ACLU v. Central Intelligence Agency. The brief notes the intent of Congress that courts can and must conduct a de novo review of all claims of exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act, including [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in ACLU of Arizona v. U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. The case involved a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona that was denied by the U.S. Department of [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Northeastern Pennsylvania Freethought Society v. County of Lackawanna Transit System. The case involved the advertising policy of the transit system (“COLTS”), which the brief argued was unreasonable, vague, imprecise, and amounted to an unconstitutional [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Giuffre v. Maxwell. The brief urged the court to reverse a district court order denying access to judicial documents sought by the Miami Herald in this case. The brief noted that the district court [...]