The U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision last week in the student loan case, Biden v. Nebraska, didn’t touch on communications law, but it delves deeper into the "major questions doctrine" laid out a year ago in West Virginia v. EPA (see 2206300066). Legal experts told us the opinion, by Chief Justice John Roberts, appears to further expand when the doctrine may apply and moves the court further away from the Chevron doctrine. The case also has implications for the most controversial items addressed by the FCC, including net neutrality, experts said.

Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy will benefit gamers, employees and competition globally, “as multiple industry participants and antitrust regulators around the world have recognized,” said Activision’s answer Friday (docket 3:23-cv-02880) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco to the FTC’s June 12 complaint to block the transaction (see 2306120074). Activision’s answer followed a five-day evidentiary hearing that ended June 29 on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the transaction from closing (see 2306150001).

Apple said Monday it plans to file a cert petition at the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmation of the district court’s injunction barring Apple from enforcing its anti-steering rules against U.S. iOS app developers arising from the antitrust litigation against Epic Games (see 2304250055. Apple’s motion (docket 21-16506) asked the 9th Circuit to stay the mandate in its decision, pending the resolution of its cert petition.

Missouri and Louisiana are likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim against defendants from the White House, Surgeon General's office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FBI, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and State Department, said U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty, a President Donald Trump appointee, in a 155-page Fourth of July memorandum ruling (docket 3:22-cv-01213).

Here are Communications Litigation Today's top stories from last week, in case you missed them. Each can be found by searching on its title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Industry breathed a sigh of relief after a California state court delayed enforcement of California Privacy Rights Act regulations Friday. The California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) said the ruling by the California Superior Court in Sacramento righted an unfair situation for businesses. “Significant portions” of CPRA remain enforceable, despite the court’s ruling, said California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) Executive Director Ashkan Soltani.

The First Amendment prohibits the government from censoring, compelling or otherwise abridging speech “and protects private digital services’ decisions about what user content to publish or remove,” said an amicus brief Friday in two U.S. Supreme Court cases. The cases concern whether it's “state action” to restrict free speech when municipal officials or school board members block dissenting views on their personal social media accounts. NetChoice, the Cato Institute, Chamber of Progress and the Computer & Communications Industry Association filed the brief.

Walmart is well aware that telemarketing frauds “induce people to use Walmart’s money transfer services to send money to domestic and international fraud rings,” said the FTC’s complaint against the retailer (docket 1:22-cv-03372) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago, amended Friday to bolster the agency’s fraud claims under the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Walmart “continued to process fraud-induced transfers at its stores while failing to take sufficient steps to warn consumers of the risks and help them make informed choices,” it said.

Communications Litigation Today is tracking the following lawsuits involving appeals of FCC actions:

Two Friday class actions in U.S. District Court for Middle Florida filed by Eisenband Law allege violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Florida’s Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA).