Telecommunications
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November 13, 2018
FCC Kicks Off County-Sized Spectrum License Auction
The Federal Communications Commission is set to kick off its planned auction in the 28 GHz spectrum band Wednesday morning, offering 40 bidders the chance to vie for county-sized licenses said to be ideal for 5G services.
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November 13, 2018
Telecom Transferee Owes $13M In Tax Interest, 9th Circ. Rules
A man must pay over $13 million in interest after the Ninth Circuit agreed with the U.S. Tax Court on Tuesday that the interest was part of his overall tax debt to the Internal Revenue Service.
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November 13, 2018
Alaska Telecom Presses FCC For Review Of Subsidy Cut
Alaskan telecommunications company GCI has asked the Federal Communications Commission to rethink a reduction in Rural Health Care Program subsidy payouts to the business, saying the commission slashed the rates without explaining its reasoning.
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November 13, 2018
Justices Won't Hear Chinese Co.'s $102M Piracy Award Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review whether the Fifth Circuit erred by affirming a lower court's awarding of a $102 million judgment to Swiss-based Nagravision SA after China-based Gotech allegedly sold set-top boxes that circumvented piracy protections.
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November 13, 2018
Experian Strikes $22M Deal Over T-Mobile Data Breach
Experian has asked for preliminary approval of a $22 million class action settlement in California federal court, ending privacy claims from 15 million T-Mobile customers who had their information released in a data breach.
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November 13, 2018
Sens. Share Bipartisan Concerns Over C-Band Revamp
Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday that opening up the band of spectrum normally reserved for satellite transmissions to other uses could cut into U.S. television and radio programming and harm consumers.
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November 13, 2018
6 Broadcasters Settle With DOJ To Resolve Antitrust Probe
The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with six broadcast television companies to resolve a complaint by the DOJ's Antitrust Division in D.C. federal court that the companies shared pricing information, the department announced Tuesday.
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November 13, 2018
US, China Still At Odds Over Trade As G-20 Summit Looms
As President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping prepare for their high-stakes sitdown at next week's G-20 summit in Argentina, the two governments remain at odds over a slew of trade issues, chiefly the White House's various moves to restrict trade with China on the basis of national security.
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November 13, 2018
Trump Picks Regulatory Czar For Kavanaugh's DC Circ. Seat
President Donald Trump on Tuesday named the chief of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for the D.C. Circuit post vacated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, setting off a nomination fight for what's viewed as the nation's second-highest appeals court.
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November 13, 2018
Trump Cheers Cable Group's Call For Comcast Antitrust Probe
President Donald Trump on Monday said he supported a call by a cable industry group to investigate alleged anti-competitive activity by Comcast Corp., specifically with regard to its merger with NBC Universal.
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November 13, 2018
Justices To Consider FCC Deference In Junk Fax Case
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider how much deference to give the Federal Communications Commission’s view of what counts as an “advertisement” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, in a dispute that could impact the judiciary’s power to interpret agency rules.
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November 9, 2018
9th Circ. Sends T-Mobile Coverage Row To Wash. Justices
The Ninth Circuit on Friday asked Washington state’s high court to consider whether Selective Insurance Co. of America must cover T-Mobile’s costs in a lawsuit alleging its antenna installation contractor damaged a building in the Bronx in New York, saying Washington state law is unsettled on a critical issue in the case.
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November 9, 2018
Fed. Circ. Says Inventors Can Challenge IP They've Created
Inventors who reassign their rights in a patent may still subsequently challenge the validity of the intellectual property’s claims in reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Federal Circuit held Friday in a case involving a Cisco patent covering Ethernet switch products.
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November 9, 2018
Tesla's $55B Musk Pay Deal Unfair, Investor Tells Chancery
A 10-year Tesla compensation plan offering founder and CEO Elon Musk as much as $55.8 billion cannot avoid Delaware Chancery Court’s tough entire fairness review standards, despite director claims that more-permissive standards apply, an investor who challenged the deal argued Friday.
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November 9, 2018
Feds Get Privacy Law Input From Industry, Consumer Groups
Comments poured in Friday at the Trump administration's deadline for weighing in on the Commerce Department's privacy regime, with trade groups calling for uniform standards and consumer advocates pushing for a baseline federal privacy law.
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November 9, 2018
DOJ Weighs In At 7th Circ. On Comcast Ad Sales Row
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday at the Seventh Circuit chimed in on a suit alleging that Comcast Corp. illegally monopolized the market for local television advertising, warning that refusing to deal with a competitor is an antitrust violation only in limited circumstances.
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November 9, 2018
$5M Frozen For Chancery Battles Over $52M Good Tech Deal
Good Technology Corp. stockholder beneficiaries of a $52 million pair of Delaware Chancery Court settlements over the company’s disputed sale to BlackBerry Ltd. have agreed to hold back $5.1 million from distributions pending resolutions with large investors excluded from the deal.
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November 9, 2018
EU Seeks Comments On Disney Pay-TV Proposal
The European Commission on Friday asked for comment on The Walt Disney Co.'s plan to address concerns over pay-TV contracts it has with Sky UK that prevent online viewers outside of the U.K. and Ireland from accessing the Disney content.
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November 9, 2018
FCC Aims For Deference To Net Neutrality Order, GC Says
The Federal Communications Commission is interested in keeping its net neutrality deregulation order on the books as it navigates D.C. Circuit challenges to the regime, but it’s not necessarily seeking a broader ruling that its approach is the only permissible way to classify broadband, the agency's general counsel told a Washington, D.C., audience Friday.
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November 9, 2018
Sonus Fudged Revenue Forecasts, Investor Says In Suit
Sonus Networks and its executives were hit with an investor suit in Massachusetts federal court Thursday for allegedly stretching financial statements to overstate revenue forecasts after the company and two of its officials were fined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Expert Analysis
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It’s Time For Law Firms To Start Talking About Gen Z
Since the oldest members of Generation Z aren’t even finished with law school yet, law firm management is in a unique position to prepare for their entrance into the legal workforce, says Eliza Stoker of Major Lindsey & Africa.
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Q&A
Back To School: Yale's Linda Greenhouse Talks Journalism
In this series featuring law school luminaries, Yale Law School lecturer and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Linda Greenhouse discusses her coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court, the conservatives' long game and trends in journalism.
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Opinion
Celebrate Veterans By Improving Their Access To Justice
Attorneys should think beyond the Veterans Day parades and use their time and talents to help the many veterans facing urgent legal issues, says Linda Klein of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.
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Opinion
Time To Reclaim Wellness For All Lawyers
The decision last month by Baker McKenzie’s global chairman to step down due to exhaustion indicates that the legal profession needs to mount a broader wellness effort to address long hours, high stress, frequent travel and the daily demands of practice, says Leesa Klepper, director of Thrivewell Coaching.
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A Look At Tax Code Section 199's Last Stand
The IRS has increased scrutiny for Internal Revenue Code Section 199 deductions taken against profits from film, computer software, electricity, natural gas, potable water, tangible personal property and certain sound recordings. Though 199 was repealed by tax reform, battles over this contentious deduction are sure to continue for some time, say attorneys at McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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Learning From A Failed Merger: The Sinclair-Tribune Pitfalls
In light of regulatory success in recent major media mergers, the termination of Sinclair Broadcast’s attempted acquisition of Tribune Media came as a shock to many. Attorneys with Winston & Strawn LLP explain what went wrong and discuss how to avoid having a deal suffer a similar fate.
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Protecting Law Firm Talent At Both Ends
By 2030, it is possible that 75 percent of lawyers practicing in the U.S. will be millennials. A broadened focus on retention and advancement of all young lawyers is therefore a logical step forward but it fails to address another major retention issue that law firms should explore, says Susan Smith Blakely of LegalPerspectives LLC.
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Q&A
Wendy Olson Talks Twin Falls, Tribes, Private Practice
Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho Wendy Olson discusses her decades of experience prosecuting white collar crimes and civil rights violations, her work and challenges as U.S. attorney, and her move to private practice.
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Series
Judging A Book: Brown Reviews 'Dangerous Leaders'
Anthony Thompson’s "Dangerous Leaders: How and Why Lawyers Must Be Taught to Lead" explores the conflict many lawyers face when charged with the responsibility of leadership. The book is an excellent read for all lawyers, says U.S. District Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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FRAND And Antitrust: Misconceptions Vs. Reality
If you read about the role of antitrust law in regulating the conduct of standard-essential patent owners, you may find yourself a bit confused over exactly what that role is. The current state of the law is more nuanced than recent discussions suggest, says Thomas Cotter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.