Maine and Vermont legislators will reintroduce comprehensive privacy bills next session, lead sponsors told us in interviews. Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of Vermont’s privacy bill hasn’t discouraged supporters from seeking a private right of action (PRA) that Scott and industry opposed, Rep. Monique Priestley (D), the comprehensive measure’s sponsor, said. Meanwhile, in Maine, a veto threat from Gov. Janet Mills (D) means neither party will pursue a PRA in the upcoming session, Sen. Lisa Keim (R) told us. Mills' opposition to a PRA made it a nonstarter this session.
Officials with the 12 GHz for 5G Coalition remain hopeful that FCC action in coming months will allow use of the lower 12 GHz band for fixed-wireless deployments, they said in interviews. In addition, should the FCC act soon, the band could still play a part in some state proposals under the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the officials said. The coalition had hoped for action early in 2024 (see 2312270045).
A U.S. District Court decision dismissing an industry challenge of a Maryland digital ad tax Wednesday relied in part on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Moody v. Netchoice that was issued just two days before the district court opinion was released (see 2407010053). Moreover, the cases involved many of the same parties. Plaintiffs in U.S. Chamber v. Lierman -- including CCIA and Netchoice -- didn’t say whether they would appeal, but previously they appealed two district court holdings in the case. “CCIA remains committed to ensuring that protected speech is not burdened, directly or indirectly, by governmental intrusion,” CCIA Senior Vice President Stephanie Joyce said in an email. “We will hold to that commitment as we evaluate the district court’s decision to dismiss our claim in Lierman that Maryland’s Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax Act impermissibly burdens online speech.”
Community health experts and consumer advocates encouraged increased investment in broadband access and devices that can be used for telehealth during a Broadband Breakfast webinar on Wednesday. In addition, panelists discussed the benefits of community or public investment in broadband as a way of improving health outcomes. They also noted potential steps regulators could consider for protecting patient data.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency should narrow the scope of its proposed cyber incident reporting rules to ease the regulatory burden on industries already facing a multitude of state and federal mandates, USTelecom, NTCA and Microsoft said in comments that were due Wednesday in docket CISA-2022-0010 (see 2403270070).
The three major U.S. wireless carriers, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, told the FCC it’s too early for rules on using supplemental coverage from space (SCS) to improve calling to 911. Their message was contained in reply comments posted through Tuesday in docket 23-65. The FCC's SCS framework order approved in March (see 2403140050) included a Further NPRM asking about 911 and radio astronomy issues. Specifically, the FNPRM looks at whether the FCC should mandate location-based routing requirements for SCS emergency communications.
The FCC proposed extending for an additional six years its freeze on federal-state jurisdictional separations of telecom costs and revenue. The current freeze is set to expire Dec. 31 (see 1812170049). The proposed extension would let the commission continue working with the joint board on jurisdictional separations to "determine next steps" in amending the rules "in light of sweeping technological and regulatory changes since these rules were initially adopted," according to an NPRM Monday. Comments are due 30 days after Federal Register publication, replies 45 days after, in docket 80-286.
California state senators pushed back on two digital equity bills Tuesday. Multiple Communications Committee members during a livestreamed hearing raised concerns about the Assembly-passed AB-2239, which would ban digital discrimination as the FCC defines it. Also, the committee scaled back the Assembly-approved AB-1588, which had proposed to update the California LifeLine subsidy program to support broadband for low-income households. The committee directed the LifeLine bill’s sponsor to find a compromise with industry opponents and other stakeholders over the summer recess that runs from July 3 to Aug. 5.
Industry lawyers continue to assess the potentially seismic implications of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and the other Chevron case decided last week (see 2406280043). Yet the after-effects are being seen already. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday directed parties in the net neutrality challenge to file not later than July 8 supplemental briefing material addressing the effect of the Chevron decision “on our analysis” of a motion to stay the order (see 2406280060).
The First Amendment protects social media platforms’ ability to moderate content, the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday, sending the tech industry’s lawsuits against Florida and Texas laws back to the lower courts (see 2402270072). All nine justices agreed on remanding, but Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch disagreed with First Amendment-related aspects of the majority opinion, which Justice Elena Kagan wrote (dockets 22-555 and 22-277).