By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-2-20 Top House Energy & Commerce Committee Republicans want the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on what they said is misleading TV advertising by trial lawyers, ads they said could threaten the COVID-19 recovery. In a letter Monday (Nov. 2) to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, the Republicans said [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Uniformed Fire Officers Association v. De Blasio. This case concerns increased access to the disciplinary records of New York City law enforcement officers following repeal of a statutory provision. The [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 10-29-20 In his last speech as an FCC commissioner, Michael O'Rielly took aim at another Trump Administration proposal – a government-issue 5G network. O'Rielly is having to leave the commission because President Trump withdrew his nomination, a move most believe stemmed from the commissioner's criticism of the president's effort [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the Superior Court Law Division in Ocean County, New Jersey, in Schwab v. Klein. This case arises from a defamation action against several defendants, including Klein, brought by a local businessman and business based on posts on the websites jleaks and [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 10-28-20 The Democratic leadership of the House Energy & Commerce Committee said the FCC has some explaining to do about Chairman Ajit Pai's decision to act on the Trump Administration's request that it find a way to regulate social media, platforms Republicans argue are using their Section 230 liability [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 10-28-20 Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), co-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee that investigated Russian election meddling, took issue with the Commerce Committee's hearing with Big Tech CEOs Wednesday (Oct. 28). He joined a growing chorus of Democrats on that Commerce Committee who, during that hearing, branded it a sham [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 10-28-20 Verify and trust appears to be Big Tech's answer to threats of regulation over their moderation of content. Social media CEOs faced a gauntlet Wednesday (Oct. 28) at a highly anticipated and hotly charged hearing whose title signaled the tenor of the exchanges with the Republican majority: "Does [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 10-28-20 The Trump Justice Department has joined the President in arguing that Twitter and Facebook's restriction of access to a story in the New York Post about Hunter Biden is evidence that social media need regulating. That came in a letter from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd to the [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 10-27-20 Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission are taking issue with Chairman Ajit Pai's announcement last week that the agency would clarify edge providers' Section 230 immunity from civil liability over third-party content, as the White House has asked. Pai also said he has been assured by Commission lawyers [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 10-27-20 The FCC has voted 3-2 along party lines to tell a federal court that the Commission's Restoring Internet Freedom (RIF) order promotes public safety, facilitates infrastructure deployment, and continues to allow the FCC to subsidize broadband Internet access service. It is now up to the U.S. Court of [...]