Wendy Davis

Netflix Urges Federal Communications Commission To Pass Open Internet Rules

Netflix argued that the future of streaming video will turn on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) bans broadband providers from tampering with online traffic. “Today’s online entertainment marketplace is intensely competitive, which benefits consumers,” the streaming video company wrote in comments filed with the FCC.

Broadband Service Requires FCC Oversight, Nominee Tells Senate

Federal Communications Commission nominee Anna Gomez left little doubt that if confirmed, she would vote in favor of classifying broadband as a Title II telecommunications service—a move that would enable the agency to prohibit carriers from blocking or throttling web traffic. Gomez told lawmakers that internet access was too essential to remain unregulated. “Title II gives the strongest oversight to the FCC over the service,” she added. Broadband is currently considered a Title I information service—and is largely unregulated. Title II classification, by contrast, would allow the FCC to im

Texas Passes Bill Restricting Teens' Social Media Use

Texas lawmakers approved a bill that aims to regulate teenagers' ability to use social media platforms. Unless vetoed by Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX), the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (HB 18) will require social platforms to verify users' ages, and allow parents to access accounts of children under 18. The bill not only prohibits social platforms from serving “harmful” content to minors but also requires platforms to deploy filtering technology to screen out such material.

Texas Lawmakers Pass Opt-Out Privacy Bill

Texas became the latest state to pass a privacy bill that aims to enable consumers to exert more control over data about themselves. Unless vetoed by Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX), the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (SB 4) will require companies to allow residents to opt out of targeted advertising—defined by the bill as serving ads to people based on their online activity over time and across nonaffiliated websites or apps. The measure also will obligate companies to honor universal opt-out tools—su

Montana Enacts Opt-Out Privacy Law

Governor Greg Gianforte (R-MT) has signed a privacy law that gives state residents new rights to wield control over data about them, including the right to reject some forms of online behavioral advertising. Senate Bill 384 provides that residents can opt out of the use of data linkable to them—including pseudonymous data, such as information stored on cookies—for targeted ads.

Maryland Supreme Court Urged To Strike Down Digital Ad Tax

Comcast and Verizon urged Maryland's highest court to strike down a 2021 law that imposes a tax on some digital ads, arguing both that the statute violates the Constitution, and that it conflicts with a 1998 federal law. The hearing centered on a 2021 Maryland law that imposes taxes on some online companies with more than $100 million in digital ad revenue.

FCC Ends Year Deadlocked, Unable To Advance Net Neutrality

More than one year ago, President Joe Biden nominated longtime net neutrality proponent and consumer advocate Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to the Federal Communications Commission. The full Senate has yet to vote on her confirmation.

Rep. Lauren Boebert Prevails In Battle Over Twitter Block

US District Court Judge Daniel Domenico in Colorado, a Trump appointee, has thrown out a lawsuit accusing Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) of violating the First Amendment by blocking a constituent on Twitter. judge Domenico essentially ruled that Rep Boebert was free to block people at will from her @laurenboebert account because it is “held out and operated as a personal and campaign account.” The judge said in his ruling that the block wasn't done by the government, because the Twitter account wasn't an official government account.

Publishers Battle Internet Archive Over Digital Library

Major book publishers are pressing a judge to rule that an 11-year-old digital lending program established by the nonprofit Internet Archive infringes copyright. “Masquerading as a not-for-profit library, Internet Archive digitizes in-copyright print books on an industrial scale and distributes full-text digital bootlegs for free,” lawyers for Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House write in papers filed with US District Court Judge John Koeltl in the Southern District of New York.

Ohio Attorney General Can Proceed With Claim That Google Search Is A 'Common Carrier'

A state court judge in Ohio is allowing Attorney General David Yost to proceed with an effort to prohibit Google from prioritizing its services or products in search results. In a ruling issued May 24, Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge James Schuck declined to dismiss Yost's claim that Google's search engine is a “common carrier.” “The court believes, at this stage of the proceeding, that the state should have the ability to take discovery, develop its case, and present evidence to support its claim,” Schuck wrote.

Appeals Court Weighs California Net Neutrality Law

California's net neutrality law could pave the way for conflicting broadband regulations in all 50 states, a lawyer for the cable industry argued to a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “The question before this court is whether interstate broadband service will continue to be governed by a single, national set of rules, or instead will for the first time face a patchwork of conflicting state regulation,” attorney Scott Angstreich, who represents broadband lobbying groups, told the appellate judges.

Broadband Providers Battling Net Neutrality Point To Victory In New York

The broadband industry says that a New York state ruling against requiring broadband providers to offer $15-a-month service to low-income households supports its quest to block California's net neutrality law. The California law prohibits broadband providers from blocking or throttling content, charging higher fees for prioritized delivery, and exempting certain data from customers' monthly caps.

Mozilla, Advocates, And Attorneys General Defend California's Net Neutrality Law

A broad array of advocacy groups, along with 19 attorneys general, other public officials, and tech companies including Mozilla are urging a federal appellate court to uphold California's network neutrality law. The advocacy groups are weighing in on a battle over a California state law that prohibits broadband providers from blocking or throttling traffic, charging higher fees for prioritized delivery, and from exempting certain material from customers' data caps.

Net Neutrality 'Vital' To Protect The Public, California Tells Appeals Court

California is urging a federal appeals court to leave in place a state net neutrality law that broadly prohibits broadband carriers from blocking or throttling traffic and from charging higher fees for prioritized delivery. “Congress has not established a federal regulatory regime that bars the states from taking steps to safeguard access to something as essential as the Internet,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta argues in papers filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Broadband Industry Urges Appeals Court To Block California Net Neutrality Rules

Broadband carriers are urging a federal appellate court to prevent California from enforcing its net neutrality law, which was passed after the Federal Communications Commission repealed nationwide broadband regulations. In a filing with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, lobbying groups for the cable and telecom industry argue that broadband is an interstate service, and therefore not subject to regulation by individual states.

Rural Broadband Carriers Urge FCC To Define Broadband As 100 Mbps

The Federal Communications Commission should define broadband as internet speeds of at least 100 Mbps in both directions, up from the current benchmark of 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, trade groups for rural broadband carriers and fiber carriers argue in a new regulatory filing. The current standard “does not reflect what American consumers need today, let alone tomorrow,” NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association and the Fiber Broadband Association told the FCC.

California's Zero-Rating Restrictions 'Irreparably Harm' ISPs, Groups Argue

Internet service providers will suffer “irreparable harm” if California is allowed to enforce its net neutrality law, which includes restrictions on carriers' ability to exempt video streams from data caps, trade groups told a federal judge.

FTC Lacks Authority To Police Platforms' Content Moderation Policies, Chairman Simons Says

The Federal Trade Commission lacks the authority to oversee how social media companies curate political speech, Chairman Joe Simons told the Senate Commerce Committee Aug 5. “Our authority focuses on commercial speech, not political content curation,” Chairman Simons told Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) at an oversight hearing.

FCC Ordered To Disclose Data About Net Neutrality Commenters

Siding with The New York Times, a federal judge has ordered that the Federal Communications Commission must disclose information about users who submitted comments during the 2017 net neutrality proceeding, despite the agency's objections that doing so could compromise people's privacy. US District Court Judge Lorna Schofield in the Southern District of New York ruled that disclosure of the data -- including commenters' IP addresses, time stamps, and user-agent headers -- is in the public interest, particularly given concerns that many comments were fraudulent.

FCC Urged To Collect Better Information About Broadband Deployment, Price

It's no secret that the Federal Communications Commission doesn't have the best track record when it comes to measuring broadband. “The Commission must make more robust changes to accurately understand the state of broadband access and adoption across the country,” Access Now, Benton Institutue for Broadband & Society, New America's Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and other organizations say in a filing with the FCC.

FTC Urged To Step Up Enforcement Of Children's Privacy Rules

Advocacy groups are urging the Federal Trade Commission to step up enforcement of a federal privacy law that prohibits website operators from knowingly collecting data from children younger than 13 without their parents' permission.

'New York Times' Presses For Information About Net Neutrality Comments

The New York Times Company is urging a judge to order the Federal Communications Commission to disclose information about network neutrality commenters, despite the agency's objections that doing so could compromise people's privacy. “The FCC’s claims dramatically overstate the potential for harm,” the Times writes in court papers filed May 23 with the US District Court in the Southern District of New York.

FCC Battles New York Times Over Net Neutrality Comments

Striking back at The New York Times Company, the Federal Communications Commission is urging a judge to rule that the agency need not disclose information about net neutrality commenters because doing so would compromise their privacy. “If the FCC is compelled to disclose an individual’s IP address, operating system and version, browser platform and version, and language settings, and that information is linked to the individual’s publicly-available name and postal address, that disclosure would result in clearly unwarranted invasions of personal privacy,” the FCC argues in papers filed wit

New York Times Presses Bid For Data About Net Neutrality Comments

The New York Times Company is pressing a judge to order the Federal Communications Commission to turn over information about comments submitted in the 2017 net neutrality proceeding. “The logs will likely reveal the true extent of the fraud that infected the net neutrality rulemaking,” the newspaper argues in court papers filed April 10 with US District Court Judge Lorna Schofield in the Southern District of New York. “In the wake of Special Counsel’s Robert Mueller’s recent indictment of 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies for interfering with U.S. elections and the U.S.