Telecommunications

October 28, 2025
Google Liable Again As DOJ's Ad Tech Win Extends To MDL

A New York federal judge held Google liable Tuesday for illegally monopolizing its advertising placement technology business, dramatically narrowing the scope of the multidistrict litigation from website publishers, advertisers and others by locking the technology giant into the Justice Department's win in a separate Virginia federal court case.
October 27, 2025
Apple Gets Class Decertified In App Store Antitrust Case

A California federal judge Monday decertified a class of consumers claiming Apple violated antitrust laws with its App Store policies, finding that the plaintiffs' damages expert isn't qualified to do the work and submitted an analysis that included several "alarming" errors.
October 27, 2025
Uncertainty Will Follow If $181M Verdict Is Axed, Fed. Circ. Told

Finesse Wireless LLC is urging the Federal Circuit to reconsider erasing its $181 million patent verdict against AT&T and Nokia, saying the court conflated regional law in a way that could cause "massive uncertainty."
October 27, 2025
Dems Say $6.2B Nexstar-Tegna Deal Breaches Ownership Cap

Nexstar's $6.2 billion plan to merge with rival broadcast company Tegna will create a behemoth that will breach the FCC's national ownership cap that limits how many stations any one company can own in a given market, say two federal lawmakers from Colorado.
October 27, 2025
More Action Needed On Upper Microwave Bands, FCC Told

The Federal Communications Commission needs to consider a total overhaul of spectrum rules in the upper microwave bands to help the U.S. satellite industry thrive, a California space venture told the FCC.
October 27, 2025
Korean Developers Defend Google Play Store Antitrust Claims

Foreign developers and trade associations for South Korean publishers are defending their Android app antitrust case against Google, saying their claims over U.S. and foreign Play Store transactions all belong in California federal court.
October 27, 2025
Latham Hires 19-Year Commerce Dept. Vet In DC As Counsel

Latham & Watkins LLP has hired a 19-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Commerce, who most recently was the acting director of an office that oversaw a number of export controls, the firm announced Monday.
October 27, 2025
Miss. OKs Transfer Of Rural Development Funding

A broadband service provider has informed the Federal Communications Commission that it has the green light from Mississippi officials to take over another company's federal funding for network deployment in the Magnolia State.
October 24, 2025
FCC Knocked For Weakening Broadband Nutrition Labels

The Federal Communications Commission should be more concerned with ensuring that consumers can find the agency-mandated nutrition-style broadband labels meant to inform them about prices and fees than it is with stripping away the labels' various requirements, says a left-leaning think tank.
October 24, 2025
Justices' Cox Ruling Could Have Domino Effect On AI Cos.

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in December in a case over whether internet service providers can be held liable when their customers illegally download copyrighted works, and legal experts say its decision could potentially affect artificial intelligence companies if users of their products create infringing content.
October 24, 2025
FCC Can't Justify New Prison Call Fee, Advocates Say

A group pressing the Federal Communications Commission for lower prison phone calling told the FCC it cannot justify how it calculates a fee for jail and prison security costs in an upcoming new rate rule.
October 24, 2025
USPTO Chief To Review PTAB Ruling On Tire Sensor Patent

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has decided to step in and examine a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision from September to consider a challenge to a Cerebrum Sensor Technologies Inc. tire sensor patent.
October 24, 2025
FCC Poised To Pull 5 China-Linked Cos. From Lab Testing

The Federal Communications Commission Friday started the formal process of removing five telecoms linked to the Chinese government from the FCC's equipment testing process.
October 24, 2025
Federal Circuit Backs PTAB's Ax Of Charging Patent

The Federal Circuit on Friday refused to revive claims in a charging patent that Apple had challenged at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, affirming the board's findings that the claims were invalid.
October 23, 2025
Texas Dials Up Exposure With App Store, Telemarketing Laws

A new Texas age verification law and sweeping revisions to the state's telemarketing statute are poised to saddle the broad universe of companies that support mobile apps and disseminate marketing texts with new obligations that will open them up to more lawsuits and other legal risks, unless opponents find success with fledgling constitutional challenges.
October 23, 2025
Ex-Amazon Coder Says She's Turned Life Around Since Hack

A former Amazon.com Inc. coder who exposed the personal data of nearly 100 million people should be sent to prison, the U.S. government said in a new Seattle federal court filing that seeks a seven-year sentence for her.
October 23, 2025
Debt Co. Owner Says CFPB Erred With $5.8M Restitution Bid

A U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau bid for $5.8 million in restitution against a manager of a now-shuttered debt relief company should be denied because it does not take into account refunds that customers have already received, a California federal judge has been told.
October 23, 2025
Split DC Circ. Won't Lift Block On FTC's Media Matters Probe

A divided D.C. Circuit panel refused Thursday to let the Federal Trade Commission subpoena Media Matters for America while the agency appeals an order blocking that probe, crediting district courts' findings of "seemingly unusual and unprecedented" facts suggesting the investigation is retaliation for reporting about Nazi content on X.
October 23, 2025
Google Rips $425M Privacy Verdict As Users Seek $2.4B More

A class of some 98 million cellphone users who won a $425 million jury verdict finding that Google unlawfully collected their information asked a California federal judge to make the tech giant disgorge another $2.36 billion, while Google asked the court to dismantle the class and vacate the verdict.
October 23, 2025
Truist Bank $4M Robocall Deal, $1.3M Fee Get Final OK

A $4.1 million settlement between Truist Bank and a group of nearly 6,000 cellphone users who alleged the bank violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending them unwanted robocalls was granted final approval in North Carolina federal court Thursday.
October 23, 2025
RingConn Settles With Oura After ITC Import Ban

Ouraring Inc. has inked a deal allowing RingConn to keep its smart rings on the U.S. market following the U.S. International Trade Commission's decision to block Ultrahuman and RingConn from importing products it held infringed a wearable computing device patent.
October 23, 2025
Ex-Copyright Leaders, Media Groups Back Cox Piracy Liability

Media industry groups, former lawmakers and copyright officials are among the parties supporting music companies fighting an appeal from Cox Communications in the U.S. Supreme Court and urging the justices in nearly a dozen amicus briefs to hold internet service providers accountable for their customers' online piracy.
October 23, 2025
FCC's Carr Sees Ongoing Consumer Harm From Shutdown

The head of the Federal Communications Commission warned Thursday that new device and license applications are "just sitting there," creating an FCC backlog, and that other day-to-day but important work remains on hold during the government shutdown.
October 23, 2025
Neb. Republican Says Fiber Critical To Broadband Effort

A Republican U.S. senator said Thursday she's concerned that rural areas will not receive enough funding for fiber-optic connectivity in the latest round of the government's multibillion-dollar effort to build out broadband to underserved areas.
October 23, 2025
Tech Org. Calls Next-Gen TV Tuner Mandate Bad Idea

As the Federal Communications Commission solicits opinions on how to usher the industry into the next generation of television broadcasting, a consumer technology trade group is reiterating its argument that the agency should not rush the process and let companies do what they will.

Expert Analysis

Series

My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.
4 Consumer Class Action Trends To Watch In 2nd Half Of 2025

The first half of 2025 has seen a surge of consumer class action trends related to online tools, websites and marketing messages, creating a new legal risk landscape for companies of all sizes, says Scott Shaffer at Olshan Frome.
8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.
3 Judicial Approaches To Applying Loper Bright, 1 Year Later

In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in its Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, a few patterns have emerged in lower courts’ application of the precedent to determine whether agency actions are lawful, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
Trending At The PTAB: Shifts In Parallel Proceedings Strategy

Dynamics are changing between the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and federal courts, with two recent discretionary denials and one Federal Circuit decision offering takeaways for both patent owners and challengers navigating parallel proceedings, say attorneys at Finnegan.
Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.
2025's First Half Brings Regulatory Detours For Fintechs

The first half of the year has resulted in a bifurcated regulatory environment for fintechs, featuring narrowed enforcement in some areas, heightened scrutiny in others and a policy window that, with proper compliance, offers meaningful opportunities for innovation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
Opinion

Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.
Series

Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
Move Beyond Surface-Level Edits To Master Legal Writing

Recent instances in which attorneys filed briefs containing artificial intelligence hallucinations offer a stark reminder that effective revision isn’t just about superficial details like grammar — it requires attorneys to critically engage with their writing and analyze their rhetorical choices, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
9th Circ. Has Muddied Waters Of Article III Pleading Standard

District courts in the Ninth Circuit continue to apply a defunct and especially forgiving pleading standard to questions of Article III standing, and the circuit court itself has only perpetuated this confusion — making it an attractive forum for disputes that have no rightful place in federal court, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
Series

Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Opening myself up to new experiences through competing in modern Olympic pentathlon has shrunk the appearance of my daily work annoyances and helps me improve my patience, manage crises better and remember that acquiring new skills requires working through your early mistakes, says attorney Mary Zoldak.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.