Participated in an intervenors/amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the Belfast High Court in In re Fine Point Films & Trevor Birney. The case concerns filmmakers Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, who were arrested for referencing an unpublished draft of a government report they received anonymously in their film [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in CIR v. SEPTA. This case concerns a policy of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (“SEPTA”) that bans certain advertisements on the Philadelphia-area transit system based on their content. The brief [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-9-19 Drug companies will have to disclose the list price to patients for prescription drugs and biological products in their TV (broadcast, cable and satellite) and online ads. That is according to a final rule published by the Department of Health and Human Services, part of the Trump [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-7-19 National Telecommunications & Information Administration Administrator David Redl said the country needs to change its approach to spectrum policy. One way to do that, a new national spectrum strategy he is helping implement, should be out soon, he said this week. But he also said another big [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Frasier v. Evans. The case deals with the fact that members of the public possess a qualified right, grounded in the First Amendment, to photograph and record police in public [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-3-19 First-year senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who has made hammering Big Tech his signature issue, provided a Hoover Institute audience Thursday with a dystopian view of social media as an addiction that imperils its users and "sucks" the brightest minds to the coasts – abandoning flyover country – [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-2-19 Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim provided a number of breadcrumbs that broadcasters and advertisers can follow on the trail to what changes DOJ may or may not make to its view of the competitive advertising market when it comes to merger reviews. Justice and the [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-2-19 A bipartisan bill to coordinate the deployment of broadband deployment and funding to areas in need and reduce overbuilding. NCTA-The Internet & Television Association is definitely on board. The Broadband Interagency Coordination Act is co-sponsored by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and [...]
Participated as part of a coalition of 103 media, journalism, civil liberties, and other groups in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The letter expresses deep concern over reports of surveillance and targeting of journalists, activists, and lawyers by DHS. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reportedly created dossiers and targeted individuals [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the Supreme Court of North Carolina in Desmond v. News and Observer Publishing Co. The case involved a series of articles delving into alleged errors made by an employee of the State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab. The brief noted [...]