The Texas Cable Association wants the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hold the FCC’s Nov. 20 digital discrimination order unlawful and to set it aside, said its petition for review (docket 24-60048), filed Tuesday and posted Thursday. It shares the docket number with the petition that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also filed Tuesday along with the Texas Association of Business and the Longview, Texas, Chamber of Commerce (see 2401300053).
The “plain, unambiguous” terms of Core Communications’ tariffs obligate AT&T to pay for all 8YY “rate elements” and for all 8YY services that Core has provided “for the ultimate benefit of AT&T’s toll-free customers,” said Core’s opening brief Tuesday (docket 23-3022) in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Appeals Court to reverse the district court’s finding of summary judgment in AT&T’s favor.
The FCC’s Nov. 20 order, published Jan. 22 in the Federal Register, purports to implement congressional “instruction” to facilitate equal broadband access under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but it gives the commission “unprecedented authority to regulate the broadband internet economy,” said the Ohio Telecom Association’s (OTA) petition for review Tuesday (docket 24-3072) in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tentatively set oral argument for the week of May 13 in Gray Television’s petition for review against the FCC, said the court’s notice Monday (docket 22-14274). Gray’s petition argues that the FCC’s authority over broadcast license transfers doesn’t apply to Gray’s 2020 purchase of another broadcaster’s CBS network affiliation in Anchorage because no licenses were transferred (see 2309140058). The case will be argued in Birmingham, Alabama.
With the FCC’s Nov. 20 order adopting a definition of “digital discrimination of access” to broadband internet service published Jan. 22 in the Federal Register, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Association of Business and the Longview, Texas, Chamber of Commerce filed a petition for review Tuesday at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to have the order vacated. Tuesday’s petition differs little from the "protective" petition the groups filed Jan. 19 “out of an abundance of caution” in case the 5th Circuit determined that the date of public notice was the date of public release rather than the date of FR publication (see 2401230004). The U.S. Chamber “supports expanded access of fast, affordable, and reliable internet,” that “private sector innovation” drives, Neil Bradley, executive vice president-chief policy officer and head-strategic advocacy, said in a statement Tuesday. The FCC's new rule “will hinder efforts to bridge the digital divide -- hurting the very people it aims to help,” Bradley argued. It empowers the FCC to “micromanage the internet” and “subverts” the badly needed broadband investments included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, he said.
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.
IRobot announces departure of CEO-Chairman Colin Angle, with Chief Legal Officer Glen Weinstein becoming interim CEO and board member Andrew Miller becoming chairman (see 2401290044); Amazon and iRobot announced Monday their agreement to terminate their pending merger, citing "no path to regulatory approval in the European Union" … FCC Enforcement Bureau announces Alice Suh Jou, ex-DOJ, as assistant bureau chief and Jolina Cuaresma, former Common Sense Media, as senior policy counsel, with both to participate on Enforcement Bureau-led Privacy and Data Protection Task Force … Future of Privacy Forum appoints Anne Flanagan, ex-World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as vice president-AI … Incompas hires Keith Matthews, Mortgage Bankers Association, as digital media manager … Ericsson promotes Chafic Nassif to senior vice president-head, Northeast Asia market area … Mitel hires Black Box’s Jonathan Buckle, also former Carousel Industries and Avaya, to lead sales strategy and execution-the Americas ... Cadent, converged TV advertising platform, adds Greg Coleman, entrepreneur in residence at Lerer Hippeau Ventures, also former BuzzFeed president, to its board ... Sonos adds Rocket Companies Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Mildenhall to its board ... SES AI, developer and producer of lithium-metal batteries for electric vehicles, adds former Intel CEO Brian Krzanich to its board, expanding it to seven members.
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 FCC Enforcement Bureau should change tactics to avoid the risk of targets making an end run around its processes by taking advantage of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions to drag the agency into litigation, said former FCC General Counsel Tom Johnson in a white paper sponsored by CTIA and published Monday by Wiley, where he's a partner.
The FCC's recently adopted rules defining "digital discrimination of access" violate the Administrative Procedures Act, said the Minnesota Telecom Alliance in a suit filed Tuesday against the agency in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Assuming "unprecedented authority," the FCC seeks to "empower itself to micromanage a host of legitimate business practices, including network buildout decisions, pricing, promotions, advertising, contract renewal, and customer service, the group said. The suit follows a similar suit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the 5th Circuit.