The Federal Communications Commission recently reinstated commercial and noncommercial television and radio broadcasters' obligation to annually report workforce composition data, including the gender, race, and ethnicity of...more
At its March 14, 2024, open meeting, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules that require multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs – cable television operators and satellite video providers) to...more
On November 20, 2023, as required by Section 60506 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (Infrastructure Act), 47 U.S.C. § 1754, the Federal Communications Commission issued a Report and Order and Further...more
Two recent decisions issued this summer by different United States Courts of Appeals interpreting Sections 253 and 332 of the Communications Act demonstrate the continuing uncertainty carriers face when challenging state and...more
On February 15, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Report and Order (Order) that prohibits cable operators and other service providers from entering or enforcing agreements for exclusive or...more
The Federal Communications Commission has invited comments to update and refresh the record in a 2019 proceeding that examines broadband competition within apartments, gated communities, and other multiple tenant environment...more
On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit affirmed most aspects of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 2019 ruling that nearly all non-cash (or "in-kind") assessments required by cable...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 includes billions of dollars to expand the deployment of broadband internet networks, consumer subsidies for service and equipment, as well as non-monetary provisions that could...more
On October 1, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to change its rules governing the required notices that cable operators must give to customers and local or state franchise authorities when changing...more
As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Congress appropriated significant funding for a number of telehealth programs and initiatives, including funding for programs administered by the...more
Cable operators seeking access to existing utility easements on private property recently received some good news. ...more
On December 20, 2019, the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 (new Section 642 of the Communications Act) became law as part of the "must-pass" 2020 appropriations act. ...more
On August 1, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that most non-cash (in-kind) assessments required by cable franchises constitute franchise fees subject to the 5% cap under the Communications Act. ...more
On September 25, 2018, the Federal Communications Commission took its latest action in a longstanding effort to provide national standards under Section 621 of the Communications Act to limit the authority of franchising...more
On July 12, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated two parts of the Federal Communications Commission’s decisions that had limited the ability of local franchising authorities (LFAs) to regulate...more
On March 12, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission released the text of its order preempting provisions of North Carolina and Tennessee law that allow municipalities to provide broadband service but otherwise limit the...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
On February 26, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission voted to strike down provisions of North Carolina and Tennessee laws that restrict the area in which municipally-owned broadband systems in those states are allowed...more
On a party-line 3-2 vote, the FCC on February 26, 2015, approved new Open Internet (or Net Neutrality) rules, although it has not released the text of its actual ruling. Based on an FCC press release and a written statement...more
Nearly eight years after issuing its so-called “621 Order” limiting local governments’ actions and authority over competitive cable franchising, and its 2007 Second Report and Order which extended to incumbent cable operators...more
The world of the 1987 movie Robocop largely remains science fiction – except, perhaps the central character’s ability to access massive amounts of confidential personal data through the strike of a keyboard or even his helmet...more
On Feb. 12, 2014, the National Institute for Standards and Technologies (NIST) released its final Cybersecurity Framework, meeting the one year deadline and anniversary of President Obama’s Executive Order and a Presidential...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
A coalition of privacy advocates filed a petition for declaratory ruling with the FCC on December 11, 2013 seeking a significant tightening of the Commission’s existing rules that limit the sharing of Customer Proprietary...more