The wheel that is U.S. policy on “net neutrality” has taken another turn with the release of the FCC’s draft Internet Freedom Order, which, when effective, will reverse the Commission’s 2015 Open Internet Order (the “Title II...more
The Commission has released the final text of the Wireline R&O and Wireline FNPRM as well as the final text of Replacement Utility Poles R&O.
The final text of the Replacement Utility Poles R&O, which was released the day...more
The wheel that is U.S. policy on “net neutrality” has taken another turn. On November 22, 2017, the FCC released a draft of the Internet Freedom Order, which, when effective, will reverse the Commission’s 2015 Open Internet...more
At its November 2017 Open Commission Meeting today, the FCC voted to adopt a Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in its wireline broadband deployment docket (“Wireline R&O” and...more
On September 18, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) that would significantly change the procedural rules governing formal pole attachment complaint...more
In the first decision to consider the legality of a “one touch” make-ready ordinance, a federal district court in Kentucky upheld a City of Louisville law authorizing new attachers to utility poles to rearrange the pole...more
On Monday, July 31, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in a unanimous opinion, affirmed the FCC’s November 2015 Order on Reconsideration closing the “telecom formula loophole” to ensure that pole...more
On April 21, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”) released its final version of the combined Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comment in the matter of Accelerating...more
On Nov. 2, 2016, the FCC released its long-awaited broadband privacy Order and rules by a 3-2 vote. The Order comes nearly 18 months after the Commission moved to reclassify broadband internet access service (“BIAS”) as a...more
11/11/2016
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Broadband ,
Communications Act of 1934 ,
Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Preemption ,
Section 222 ,
Telecommunications
In a decision that could significantly impact the scope of the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on August 29, 2016,...more
Yesterday the Sixth Circuit granted two petitions for review in The State of Tennessee et al. v. FCC and issued its opinion reversing the FCC’s order that preempted the laws of Tennessee and North Carolina that limited the...more
It seems likely that one or more Petitioners in the consolidated case USTA v. FCC will seek review, either en banc or in the Supreme Court, of the D.C. Circuit’s decision released on June 14th. (DWT’s detailed advisory is...more
Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected multiple Petitions for Review and upheld the FCC’s Open Internet Order. That order reclassified wired and mobile broadband Internet access services as...more
As we have previously advised, the FCC’s proposed rulemaking to “protect the privacy of customers of broadband and other telecommunications services” (the “NPRM”) proposes sweeping changes to the ways that Internet Service...more
4/27/2016
/ Broadband ,
Cable Operators ,
Communications Act of 1934 ,
Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) ,
Data Security ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
NPRM ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Section 222 ,
Telecommunications
Late this afternoon the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing new rules governing the privacy practices of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) at its monthly open meeting, which was delayed several times...more
As part of the 2015 Open Internet Order (“Order”), the FCC adopted rules enabling regulated entities to seek advisory opinions from the Enforcement Bureau regarding the application of the Open Internet rules to proposed...more
Today, the FCC Wireline Competition Bureau released a Public Notice seeking to refresh the record on a Petition for Reconsideration filed by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), COMPTEL, and tw telecom...more
The FCC’s Open Internet Order (the “Order”) was published in the Federal Register today, Monday, April 13, and, unless the Order is stayed, will become effective after sixty days, on June 12, 2015. Publication in the Federal...more
Commission makes good on Chairman Wheeler’s promise following adoption of new Net Neutrality rules The Federal Communications Commission recently announced that will hold a public workshop on April 28, exploring the FCC’s...more
The Order does not forbear from applying Section 222 of the Act to broadband Internet access service (BIAS) providers. It did, however, forbear from applying its existing rules implementing Section 222, in recognition that...more
The Order recognizes that the deployment of communications networks and broadband infrastructure depends heavily on access to utility poles on reasonable rates, terms and conditions. Accordingly, the Order declined to...more
Earlier this week the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau dismissed without prejudice a pole attachment complaint filed by Verizon Florida LLC (“Verizon”) against Florida Power and Light (“FPL”). It was the FCC’s first substantive...more
In the latest development in the Google Street View case, the Ninth Circuit once again upheld the lower court’s decision that Google’s collection of unencrypted Wi-Fi does not fit within an exception to the Wiretap Act that...more
In a significant victory for cable and telecommunications providers, today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a unanimous opinion, upheld the FCC’s April 2011 decision (2011 Pole Order)...more