Recently, the Chairwoman of the FCC, Jessica Rosenworcel, responded via letter to members of Congress on the FCC’s efforts to curtail scam text messages. These scam texts had often masqueraded as having been sent by financial...more
On Thursday, September 28, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) released a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that, if adopted, would comprehensively regulate broadband in the United States....more
The wireless industry has revolutionized the way we connect, from facilitating teleworking, distance learning, and telemedicine to allowing the American public to interact virtually in almost all other aspects of their daily...more
During 2020, across many of the EU Member States and in the UK, restrictions related to so-called “high risk vendors” (HRVs) in the telecommunications sector were announced. In the UK, in November 2020, the UK Government...more
For the first time, the FCC will have formal rules governing the process for Team Telecom review of license applications involving foreign ownership. The FCC, however, declined to adopt exclusions for applications that have...more
More than fifteen years after the adoption of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (“BCRA”) of 2002, popularly known as “McCain-Feingold,” Congress’s and the Federal Communications Commission’s interest in political...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit added a new chapter in the ongoing saga over how and whether to regulate providers of broadband internet access service when, on October 1, 2019, it largely...more
In the latest twist in the net neutrality saga, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC” or “Commission”) 2017 decision to once again classify...more
In the latest development in the Federal Communications Commission's ("FCC") decade-long approach to net neutrality, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the FCC's 2018 order preempting state net neutrality...more
Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others....more
On Thursday, December 14, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to reverse its 2015 order classifying the provision of broadband internet access services as a “telecommunication service” subject to Title II of the...more
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) potential reversal of the Obama Administration’s ‘Net Neutrality’ rules have been a constant headline lately. Most media coverage goes to the core principals of net neutrality,...more
The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) draft order on the open internet would roll back the FCC's 2015 Open Internet Order, and order that internet access services no longer be considered as telecommunications services...more
Today the Office of Federal Register published a final rule from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) that formally voids the rule changes in the Commission’s 2016 Privacy Order—which Congress invalidated...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
On April 3, 2017, the President signed into law a joint resolution that eliminates rules submitted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that would have required Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to get approval from...more
Following the U.S. Senate’s recent vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has now voted to overturn the FCC’s Broadband Privacy Order using the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Enacted in 1996, the CRA allows Congress to...more
In a Democracy, transitions in leadership happen more frequently than in any other form of government. And with those transitions, some previous policies and orders are preserved and some are reversed. This approach to...more
In an order issued November 2, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission for the first time imposed privacy requirements on providers of broadband internet access services (“BIAS”). The much-anticipated order was an...more
On Thursday October 7, 2016, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), Tom Wheeler, announced a proposal for new privacy rules for broadband providers in a post on the FCC’s website. Chairman Wheeler...more
On September 30, 2016, the FCC adopted an order designed to liberalize and streamline the foreign ownership review process for broadcast licensees (the “Broadcast Liberalization Order”). Section 310(b) of the Communications...more
Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: - ...more
The FCC’s February 2015 meeting yielded two significant and controversial orders premised on the agency’s authority under Section 706 of the Communications Act: its much-publicized Open Internet Order, and its less-publicized...more
On June 14, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the Federal Commerce Commission’s recently enacted rules that enforce “net neutrality” as to Internet Service Providers. ...more
In a recently issued Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC asked for comments on proposed rules that would apply the traditional privacy requirements of the Communications Act to providers of broadband Internet access...more