Telecommunications

  • April 25, 2024

    FCC Proposes Local Georouting For 988 Calls

    The Federal Communications Commission proposed Thursday to introduce geolocation for calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which would ensure that the calls are routed to a local crisis center instead of one in another city or state.

  • April 25, 2024

    T-Mobile, EQT Form Joint Venture To Acquire Fiber Biz

    T-Mobile and private equity shop EQT on Thursday announced that they have entered into a joint venture, under which T-Mobile will invest $950 million at closing, to purchase fiber-to-the-home platform Lumos from one of EQT's previous infrastructure funds, in a deal built by at least three firms.

  • April 25, 2024

    DOD Unblocks Cohen Seglias From Emails Following Lawsuit

    Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC on Thursday dropped its lawsuit against the Defense Information Systems Agency after the agency acknowledged it mistakenly flagged the firm for malware and blocked it from government emails, the firm's attorney told Law360.

  • April 25, 2024

    Wellstar Sent Meta Patient Data Without Consent, Suit Alleges

    Wellstar Health System Inc. was hit with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court, with a patient alleging the confidential health information of "millions" was shared with Meta Platform Inc. without consent after Wellstar installed the company's tracking and collection tools on its website and patient portal.

  • April 25, 2024

    FCC Restores Net Neutrality Rules In Party-Line Vote

    The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 on party lines Thursday to bring back the Obama-era net neutrality regime by reclassifying broadband service under the Communications Act and making it subject to common carrier telecom rules.

  • April 24, 2024

    Class Attys Seek $218M Fee Award In Google 'Incognito' Deal

    Attorneys from three firms urged a California federal judge to award them $217.6 million in fees after reaching a settlement with Google in which the search giant agreed to delete billions of data records related to users' private browsing activities, with a Google representative blasting the fee bid as an attempt to "line their own pockets."

  • April 24, 2024

    FCC OKs Detroit TV Deal — If Certain Conditions Are Met

    The Federal Communications Commission approved the $75 million sale of a Michigan-based television station to Mission Broadcasting, but conditioned the sale on terms meant to ensure that Nexstar, the country's largest TV station group owner, does not have de facto control of the station.

  • April 24, 2024

    NFL Can't Tell Jurors Attys Fueled Sunday Ticket Suit

    With an antitrust trial in long-running multidistrict litigation between the NFL and DirecTV subscribers over the league's Sunday Ticket football package set to kick off this summer, the judge overseeing the case is laying down the law about what can and can't be told to the jury.

  • April 24, 2024

    Pacifica Will Pay $25K For Station Ad Violations, FCC Says

    Pacifica Foundation Inc. has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine and enter into a compliance plan to resolve allegations that it allowed an iconic New York public radio station to air several shows promoting products without identifying the program sponsors.

  • April 24, 2024

    DOJ Wants To Weigh In On Texas Google Ad Tech Discovery

    The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge Wednesday for permission to file a statement of interest in a Texas-led lawsuit accusing Google of anticompetitive conduct in the display advertising market, writing that the states' request for certain discovery items may violate an order in a substantially similar suit the DOJ is pursuing in Virginia.

  • April 24, 2024

    TikTok To Take Divestment Bill To Court

    TikTok vowed on Wednesday to challenge in court new legislation requiring ByteDance Ltd. to divest the popular social media app or face a ban in the U.S., a pledge made the same day President Biden signed the measure into law.

  • April 24, 2024

    'Net Neutrality' Timeline: From Brand X To Biden-Era Brawl

    The legal fight over how to treat broadband service hits a new milestone Thursday in Washington, the latest in a dispute that started a generation ago, soon after consumers began widely using the internet in the 1990s.

  • April 24, 2024

    Congress Didn't OK FCC's 'Disparate Impact' Ban, Critics Say

    Business groups told the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission's new rules against discrimination in broadband deployment should be overturned because Congress never intended that the agency use a sweeping "disparate impact" liability standard.

  • April 24, 2024

    Group Fights SpaceX's FCC Grants After Musk's Actions In War

    A pro-Ukraine nonprofit is urging the Federal Communications Commission to halt spectrum assignments to Elon Musk's SpaceX and launch an investigation into the CEO's "erratic" behavior, arguing that his alleged meddling in U.S. foreign policy could disqualify him from exercising control over the company's Starlink satellite network system.

  • April 24, 2024

    Noteholders Say Chilean Telecom Lacks US Ties For Ch. 11

    A group of WOM SA noteholders asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to dismiss the Chilean cellphone network operator's Chapter 11 case, saying the company has no connections with the United States and courts here don't have jurisdiction over the company's assets.

  • April 23, 2024

    10th Circ. Orders Redo Of $96M Award After Top Court Ruling

    The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday ordered an Oklahoma federal court to recalculate a $96 million trademark infringement award won by a radio control maker against its European former partners after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the Lanham Act applies only to domestic conduct in commerce.

  • April 23, 2024

    New Ga. Law Restricts Social Media Use For Youth Under 16

    A bill signed into law Tuesday by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp imposes new restrictions on minors' internet usage, including requiring social media companies to verify that users are 16 or older unless they receive approval from an individual's parents to use the service.

  • April 23, 2024

    TikTok Divestment Bill Heads To Biden's Desk

    The Senate voted 79-18 on Tuesday night to pass a bill requiring ByteDance Ltd. to divest the popular social media app TikTok or face a ban in the U.S., which now goes to the president's desk.

  • April 23, 2024

    Small Providers Can't Meet 'Vague' Title II Rules, FCC Hears

    Small broadband providers will need at least a six-month buffer before they have to start complying with certain net neutrality mandates, should the Federal Communications Commission vote to restore open internet rules on Thursday, according to a communications industry trade group.

  • April 23, 2024

    ACLU Backs States' Power To Preempt Feds' Net Neutrality

    The ACLU is a supporter of the Federal Communications Commission's plans to usher in a new era of net neutrality later this month, but the civil rights organization is also pressing the agency to make sure that states are free to enact stricter open internet protections if they see fit.

  • April 23, 2024

    Nexstar Calls FCC's Floated $1.2M Fine Over WPIX 'Unlawful'

    Broadcast giant Nexstar slammed the Federal Communications Commission's proposed $1.2 million penalty over its "de facto control" of New York station WPIX, saying the fine is unconstitutional and that the agency is running afoul of both the Communications Act and procedural law.

  • April 23, 2024

    Hot Spot Co. Investors' Revised $2.4M Deal Gets Initial OK

    Investors in mobile hotspot-maker Franklin Wireless Corp. have received an initial green light for their $2.4 million deal to end claims the company knowingly sold devices with defective batteries that could burst into flames after a federal judge rejected an earlier iteration of the proposal.

  • April 23, 2024

    Broadcasters Support Bill To Revive Diversity Tax Certificate

    Broadcasters are supporting the recent reintroduction of a bill that seeks to increase diversity in the broadcasting industry by requiring the Federal Communications Commission to bring back a tax incentive program to facilitate the sale of broadcast stations to people of color and women.

  • April 22, 2024

    T-Mobile Can't Dodge Stolen Nude Photos Suit

    T-Mobile can't dodge most of a suit seeking to hold the mobile behemoth liable for allegations that one of its employees stole nude photos from a customer's phone, which she turned in as part of a trade-in offer, a Washington federal court has ruled.

  • April 22, 2024

    FCC Fines AT&T, Internet Co. For Discussing Auction Bids

    AT&T Services Inc. and AMG Technology Investment Group LLC have not been able to convince the Federal Communications Commission to kibosh a combined $175,000 in fines for talking to each other during the bidding process for an auction of funds to subsidize infrastructure build-out.

Expert Analysis

  • How High Court SEC Case Could Affect The ITC

    Author Photo

    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy will likely spare the U.S. International Trade Commission from major operative changes, the ITC’s ability to issue penalties for violations of its orders may change, say Gwendolyn Tawresey and Ryan Deck at Troutman Pepper.

  • Navigating The FCC's Rules On AI-Generated Robocall Voices

    Author Photo

    The Federal Communications Commission's declaratory ruling issued last week extends the agency's regulatory reach under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to calls that use artificial intelligence technology to generate voices, laying out a compliance roadmap, but not making AI-cloned voices in robocalls illegal per se, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.

  • Vodafone Decision Highlights Wide Scope Of UK's FDI Rules

    Author Photo

    The U.K. government’s recently imposed conditions required for its approval of Vodafone and Etisalat’s strategic relationship agreement under its National Security and Investment Act jurisdiction, illustrating the significance of the act as an important factor for transactions with a U.K. link, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.

  • Is Compulsory Copyright Licensing Needed For AI Tech?

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Copyright Office's inquiry into whether Congress should establish a compulsory licensing regime for artificial intelligence technologies that are trained on copyrighted works has received relatively little attention — but commenters recently opposed the regime under three key themes, say Michael Kientzle and Ryan White at Arnold & Porter.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

    Author Photo

    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Verizon Benefits Ruling Clears Up Lien Burden Of Proof

    Author Photo

    A Rhode Island federal court recently ruled that a Verizon benefits plan could not recoup a former employee’s settlement funds from the attorney who represented her in a personal injury case, importantly clarifying two Employee Retirement Income Security Act burden of proof issues that were previously unsettled, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

    Author Photo

    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Assessing Merger Guideline Feedback With Machine Learning

    Author Photo

    Large language modeling appears to show that public sentiment matches agency intent around the new merger control guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department, says Andrew Sfekas at Cornerstone Research.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Brazil

    Author Photo

    Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.

  • Series

    Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

  • Considering A Practical FRAND Rate Assessment Procedure

    Author Photo

    As the debate over a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory rate continues inside and outside courtrooms, a practical method may assess whether the proposed FRAND rate deviates significantly from what is reasonable, and ensure an optimal mix of assets for managers of standard-essential patent portfolios, says consultant Gordon Huang.

  • A Close Look At The FCC's Revised SIM Card Fraud Rules

    Author Photo

    Carolyn Mahoney and John Seiver at Davis Wright break down recently proposed revisions to the Federal Communications Commission's customer proprietary network information and local number portability rules for wireless providers, discuss the revisions' implications on artificial intelligence regulation, and provide tips to prevent SIM swap and port-out fraud.

  • What Retailers Should Note In Calif. Web Tracking Suits

    Author Photo

    As retailers face a deluge of class actions alleging the use of conventional web analytic tools violate wiretapping and eavesdropping provisions of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, uncovering the path toward a narrow interpretation of the law will largely depend on how these cases proceed, say Matthew Pearson and Kareem Salem at BakerHostetler.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

    Author Photo

    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Telecommunications archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!