The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC or Commission) Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) has announced that it has begun targeting property owners and managers for knowingly permitting illegal AM and FM radio broadcasting from...more
This week marks a stunning (literally) transition in our three-month COVID-19 State Closure/Reopening Project. Every state in the country is now squarely in the process of going green — reopening all sectors of their...more
6/12/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Downturn ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Recessions ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
State and Local Government ,
World Health Organization
In a surprise move, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai joined up last week with Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Christopher Krebs to...more
6/5/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Essential Functions ,
FCC ,
Guidance Update ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Social Distancing ,
Telecommunications
Over the last two weeks, COVID-19 state business closure orders, which we are tracking on our 50-State interactive guide, and their related stay at home orders, have come at a fast and furious pace. From just a handful at...more
As more state and local governments weigh “shelter in place” orders in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19, many businesses across the country are asking what constitutes an “essential” business and what to do if you...more
On August 2, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) released a Report and Order on 911 calling capability requirements that affect virtually anyone in the enterprise calling platform ecosystem,...more
While uncertainty remains about the terms and indeed the exact date by which the UK will leave the European Union, US companies that export electronic products to the EU and the UK marked with the "CE" symbol for EU...more
On December 22, 2018, due to the lapse in government appropriations, a partial federal government shutdown went into effect. With no end in sight, this partial shutdown has had important effects on all industry sectors. For...more
The FCC is expected to consider two items at its December 12, 2018 open meeting that will be of significant interest to TCPAland. Ok, don’t get too excited. Decision on the ACA public notice is not on the agenda, but we’re...more
As we previously reported, California enacted the Nation’s toughest net neutrality law, SB 822, seeking to restore the Obama-era Net Neutrality rules, which were repealed by the current FCC in an order released earlier this...more
Talk about a shellacking. In his recent opinion in the latest incarnation of U.S. v. AT&T, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon rejected, in no uncertain terms, the U.S. Justice Department’s efforts to block AT&T’s...more
8/17/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
AT&T ,
Cable Television Providers ,
Mergers ,
MVPD ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Telecommunications ,
Time Warner ,
Vertical Mergers
Congress yesterday passed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a section on prohibitions ofcertain telecommunications and video surveillance equipment (Sec. 889). The bill is expected to be...more
Who ever said parenting isn’t tough? Just ask the Kentucky father who brought a TCPA action against Credit One for allegedly calling his mobile number hundreds of time after his daughter defaulted on her credit card bill....more
In a Press Release earlier this week, FCC Chairman Pai gave his blessing to a report of the North American Numbering Council on “SHAKEN/STIR”, an industry-developed set of protocols and operational procedures for the...more
The introduction of new and innovative communications and consumer electronics technologies typically requires years-long FCC proceedings to change service rules and technical requirements applicable to the use of radio...more
In this Client Alert, we provide a deep dive on the FCC’s recent Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order, and Order, that largely repeals the so-called “Open Internet” regulatory framework implemented by the prior FCC Chairman...more
2/6/2018
/ Broadband ,
Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) ,
Communications Act of 1934 ,
Competition ,
Data Security ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Net Neutrality ,
NPRM ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Popular ,
Reclassification Rules ,
Repeal ,
Section 706 ,
Telecommunications ,
Title II ,
Transparency ,
Verizon ,
Websites
We all get them. Repeated marketing calls to our mobile and home phones with the incoming phone number altered to make it appear that it’s a local call, when in fact, the call is from a robo-scammer using IP technology to...more
7/5/2017
/ Citations ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consumer Fraud ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
FCC ,
Misleading Statements ,
Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) ,
Robocalling ,
Spoofing ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing ,
Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 (TICIDA)
In a case of first impression, the Second Circuit recently ruled that the TCPA does not permit a consumer to unilaterally revoke bargained-for consent to be contacted by autodialer and pre-recorded voice calls on a mobile...more
7/4/2017
/ Appeals ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Automotive Loans ,
Declaratory Rulings ,
FCC ,
Popular ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Revocation ,
Robocalling ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing
WASHINGTON, D.C.—While Net Neutrality remains the highest profile issue involving the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC continues to receive a significant volume of comments from industry officials and lobbying...more
On April 3, 2017, President Trump signed into law a rare Joint Resolution of Congress under the Congressional Review Act (“CRA”), which disapproved the Broadband Privacy Rules adopted late last year by then-Chairman Wheeler’s...more
4/26/2017
/ Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Broadband Privacy Rules ,
Communications Act 2003 ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Online Advertisements ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Section 222 ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration
Earlier this week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced the formation of a new Broadband Advisory Committee, calling for nominations by February 15, 2017. The mission of the new FCC federal advisory committee is to make...more
On December 2, 2016, the FCC’s Broadband Privacy Report and Order (“Order”) was published in the Federal Register, triggering the 30-day deadline for petitions for reconsideration, and the effective dates for certain new...more
The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau recently denied a petition from the Mortgage Bankers Association for an exemption from the prior express consent requirement for autodialed calls and texts to wireless...more
In an August 10, 2016 ruling, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the FCC’s preemption of state laws in Tennessee and North Carolina which prevented municipal broadband providers from expanding their networks beyond...more
The FCC recently released a Declaratory Ruling with new clarifications for schools and utilities on autodialed calls and texts and pre-recorded/artificial voice calling under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") for...more