Phillips Lytle names partner Richard Marinaccio to lead law firm’s newly launched AI practice team ... Ericsson promotes Andres Vicente to senior vice president and head-South East Asia, Oceania and India market area, effective May 1, succeeding Nunzio Mirtillo, retiring … ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development announces new commissioners, including FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel; Abel Avellan, CEO-AST SpaceMobile; Mark Dankberg, CEO-Viasat; Shameel Joosub, CEO-Vodacom; Isabelle Mauro, director general-Global Satellite Operator’s Association; and Deemah AlYahya, secretary general-Digital Cooperation Organization … Brown Gibbons Lang, investment bank and financial advisory firm, adds Stifel’s Jason Myler as a managing director within its tech team ... Benchmark Electronics announces departure of Roop Lakkaraju as executive vice president-chief financial officer, effective April 1, naming Vice President-Finance Arvind Kamal as his interim replacement; Lakkaraju joining Bio-Rad Laboratories ... Red Cell Partners, venture capital firm focused on the tech sector, adds Veronica Daigle, former assistant defense secretary under President Donald Trump, as partner and president of its national security practice ... DXC Technology, tech services provider, taps Matt Fawcett, ex-NetApp, as executive vice president-general counsel, effective April 1.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the motion of 20 industry and business groups for expedited briefing and oral argument on their 16 consolidated petitions to vacate the commission’s Nov. 20 digital discrimination order (see 2403140042), said the court’s order Wednesday (docket 24-1179). The 8th Circuit granted unopposed motions for leave of two petitioners -- the Media Alliance and Great Public Schools Now and of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society -- to intervene on the FCC’s behalf to prevent the order from being completely vacated, though they do oppose portions of it. In their motion, the industry petitioners argued that an expedited briefing would ensure the 8th Circuit has adequate time to render a decision on the petitions for review before the digital discrimination order takes effect Sept. 22. The FCC opposed the motion, arguing that “accelerating this highly complex proceeding” prejudices the government (see 2403190041).
Former President Donald Trump sued ABC, ABC News and Sunday host George Stephanopoulos for defamation over comments Stephanopoulos made during a broadcast about a jury verdict on sexual assault allegations brought against Trump by journalist E. Jean Carroll. During a March 10 interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, on his Sunday ABC television show, Stephanopoulos repeatedly said that multiple juries found Trump liable for raping Carroll, said the complaint (docket 1:24-cv-21050), filed Monday in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami. In 2023, a federal jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll, but not liable for raping her. Trump has appealed that verdict. “These statements were and remain false, and were made by Defendant Stephanopoulos with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth,” said the complaint, which calls for punitive damages. ABC didn’t comment. As president and during his current campaign, Trump has repeatedly called for the FCC to act against the “licenses” of broadcast networks and cable news channels (see 2401170050).
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The FCC disagrees with the motion of 20 industry petitioners for expedited briefing and oral argument of their consolidated challenges to the commission’s Nov. 20 digital discrimination order, according to the agency’s opposition brief Tuesday (docket 24-1179) in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion from 20 industry and business groups, including CTIA, USTelecom and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for expedited briefing and oral argument on their 16 consolidated petitions to vacate the FCC's Nov. 20 digital discrimination order, said the court’s order Wednesday (docket 24-1179).
Communications Litigation Today is tracking the below lawsuits involving appeals of FCC actions. Cases marked with an * were terminated since the last update. Cases in bold are new since the last update.
The Media Alliance and Great Public Schools Now nonprofits, which filed a petition for review challenging portions of the FCC’s Nov. 20 digital discrimination order under the Administrative Procedure Act, seek to intervene on the FCC’s behalf against the 20 industry petitioners who want to set the entire order aside (see 2403140042), said their motion Friday (docket 24-1315) in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the industry petitioners are successful in having the FCC’s digital discrimination rules vacated, communities that nonprofits advocate for -- including disproportionately low-income communities and communities of color -- “will be left with inferior options with limited speeds and increasing prices,” said their motion. This would harm their interests “in advancing equitable broadband access for their members and constituents, who, because of their race, ethnicity, color, income level, religion, or national origin, lack access to quality, affordable broadband,” it said.
The FCC’s motion to dismiss the Feb. 14 petition for review of Essential Network Technologies and MetComm.net for lack of jurisdiction (see 2403140002) is based on the “faulty premise” that this case doesn’t seek review of an FCC order, said the petitioners’ opposition Friday (docket 24-1027) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The petition for review challenges the authority of the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) to stop processing the reimbursement of discounts for IT and broadband services that MetComm and Essential provided to schools under Section 254 of the Communications Act (see 2402200044). The petition “requests judicial review of the regulations and the final orders of the FCC promulgating those rules,” which purport to authorize the USAC “to stop statutorily mandated reimbursement of discounts provided to elementary and secondary schools,” said the opposition. USAC’s conformity to those FCC rules “is causing irreparable injury to schools, students, and petitioners cognizable by a court of equity,” it said. The FCC “incorrectly suggests” this case is an appeal of USAC’s investigations, “where an FCC order concluding those investigations has been unreasonably delayed for years,” contrary to the Administrative Procedure Act, said the opposition. “This is not an appeal seeking review of the merits, if any, of USAC’s investigations,” it said. Rather the petition for review in this case asks the D.C. Circuit “to determine the legality of the FCC’s regulations promulgated by FCC orders purporting to authorize USAC to stop for years, if not indefinitely, the discount reimbursement” mandated by Section 254, said the opposition. The FCC's position in its motion to dismiss “has no reasonable basis in the law,” it said. The D.C. Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court have determined that the D.C. Circuit “has jurisdiction under the Hobbs Act to review the application of FCC rules promulgated by final FCC orders exercising the FCC's rulemaking power,” it said.
Political consultant Steve Kramer, broadband provider Lingo Telecom and robocall broadcaster Life Corp sent “thousands of robocalls” two days before the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary to people they thought were likely Democratic voters, featuring deepfake simulations of the voice of President Joe Biden, alleged a complaint Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-00073) in U.S. District Court for New Hampshire in Concord.