In response to great interest from Silicon Valley, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has released draft rules that would make valuable spectrum available for unlicensed wireless broadband services (i.e.,...more
Last year, the contentious net neutrality debate appeared to be finally settled when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order.[1] But in May, the FCC launched...more
9/13/2017
/ Appeals ,
Broadband ,
Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Common Carriers ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Net Neutrality ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Rollbacks ,
Telecommunications ,
Title II ,
Trump Administration
New developments: Since we published our update below, the FCC has adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to begin the process of rolling back the rules and regulatory framework for net neutrality...more
5/19/2017
/ Appeals ,
Broadband ,
Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Common Carriers ,
En Banc Review ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Net Neutrality ,
NPRM ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Rollbacks ,
Title I ,
Title II ,
Trump Administration
New development: President Trump signed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval on April 3, 2017. The Federal Communications Commission is now prohibited from promulgating rules “substantially similar” to...more
4/7/2017
/ Broadband ,
Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Broadband Privacy Rules ,
Common Carriers ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Exemptions ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Net Neutrality ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Right To Know ,
Rollbacks ,
State and Local Government ,
Substantially Similar ,
Trump Administration
As anticipated, the Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission are taking steps to pare down the 2016 Broadband Privacy Order now that they are in the majority. The FCC has released an order staying the data...more
3/3/2017
/ Broadband ,
Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Common Carriers ,
Data Security ,
Deregulation ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Net Neutrality ,
Privacy Rule ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Stays ,
Telecommunications
In the days since the recent election, many tech, media and telecom industry observers remain unsure of what to expect from the Federal Communications Commission under the Trump administration. Fortunately, there are some...more
12/1/2016
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Broadband ,
Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Cable Television Providers ,
Communications Act of 1934 ,
Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) ,
Data Security ,
Educational Institutions ,
FCC ,
Libraries ,
Lifeline Program ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Media ,
MVPD ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Telecommunications ,
Transition Team ,
Trump Administration
The Federal Communications Commission recently released an order containing new privacy protections for customers of broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers, which was adopted by a 3-2 vote along partisan lines. In...more
11/15/2016
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Broadband ,
Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
FCC ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Opt-Outs ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Privacy Laws ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration ,
VoIP
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has struck a major blow to the FCC’s efforts to remove barriers to broadband service and promote competition in broadband markets. In State of Tennessee v. FCC, the court...more
8/15/2016
/ Appeals ,
Broadband ,
Competition ,
FCC ,
Infrastructure ,
Internet ,
Municipalities ,
Preemption ,
Section 706 ,
Telecommunications ,
Telecommunications Act ,
Utilities Sector
On its third try, the Federal Communications Commission finally got the sweeping net neutrality court victory it had been seeking for years. In US Telecom v. FCC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia...more
6/21/2016
/ Broadband ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mobile Broadband Services ,
Net Neutrality ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Privacy Rule ,
Section 222 ,
Telecommunications
As previously promised in last year’s Open Internet Order, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or the Commission) has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comment on proposed privacy requirements for...more
4/6/2016
/ Broadband ,
Consent ,
Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) ,
Data Security ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Net Neutrality ,
NPRM ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Telecommunications
Privacy and data security are high priorities of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the leadership of Chairman Tom Wheeler. In addition to significant enforcement actions against AT&T and TerraCom/YourTel that...more