Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Gubarev v. BuzzFeed, Inc. The brief argued that New York’s fair report privilege bars a defamation action against BuzzFeed for publishing an indisputably true and fair article about allegations (prominently [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the Supreme Court for the State of Washington in Associated Press v. Washington State Legislature. The brief emphasizes the importance of access to legislative records by the media and the public, including the records of individual legislators, staff complaints against [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 4-23-19 Newly minted Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (pronounced "buddah-jedge") said that antitrust law "has begun to hit its limits" with regulating Big Tech, which may need shaking up or even breaking up. He said that law "was not designed to handle some of these tech companies." Buttigieg [...]
Participated in a letter (with the Reporters Committee and other media groups) sent to a federal judge in Cleveland regarding In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804. The letter objected to the court’s plans to close the courtroom to members of the press and public for a pre-trial conference. The letter urged [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the Court of Appeal of the State of California in Smith v. Palisades News. The case involved a defamation suit against the Palisades News brought by an activist who objected to the newspaper’s coverage of her statements on a matter [...]
By Stuart N. Brotman and Shiela Hawkins… Over 20 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which found the communications decency provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to be unconstitutional. Applying a strict scrutiny judicial review standard under the First Amendment, the Supreme Court concluded that [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Arkansas Times v. Waldrip. The Arkansas Times, an alternative newsweekly, challenged the constitutionality of an Arkansas statute that prohibits public entities in the state from engaging in a boycott of [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 4-10-19 The House voted Wednesday (April 10) 232 to 190 (with one Republican voting aye) to pass the Democrat-backed Save the Internet Act (HR 1644), which would restore FCC's Title II based rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization adopted under the previous, Democratic, administration, plus reinstate a [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 4-4-19 Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), author of the Children's Television Act, wants to extend and expand those regulations to better cover edge providers' kid-directed content as well. He is unveiling the bill Thursday (April 4) at the Truth About Tech Conference, sponsored by Common Sense, which has been [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 4-3-19 After over nine hours of debate, mostly failed amendments, and delays, legislation that would re-regulate internet access by reinstating the FCC's 2015 Open Internet Order's Title II-based net neutrality rules is on its way to a vote in the full House next week, where it is likely [...]