Wendy Davis

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.

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.

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

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.

The Federal Communications Commission is asking a judge to reject The New York Times Company's request for information about comments submitted to the agency in its 2017 net neutrality proceeding. The agency argues that the data sought by the Times -- including IP addresses associated with comments -- would compromise commenters' privacy. The FCC also says it can't provide the information sought by the news company without undertaking new research.

A battle over network neutrality is heating up in Vermont -- one of at least eight states that recently moved to restore the Obama-era rules. VT's net neutrality law, passed last May, prohibits broadband access providers that contract with state agencies from violating the former rules -- including ones prohibiting blocking or throttling and charging higher fees for prioritized delivery. In 2018, industry associations sued in federal court to block VT's law.

A coalition of cable and wireless organizations are asking a judge to invalidate Vermont's new network neutrality law on the grounds that the measure goes against federal policy. VT lawmakers “purposefully acted to undermine federal law,” the American Cable Association, CTIA -- The Wireless Association, NCTA -- The Internet & Television Association, New England Cable & Telecommunications Association and USTelecom -- The Broadband Association write in court papers filed Jan 23 with US District Court Judge Christina Reiss in VT.

Tech companies appear to be concerned that they might face some unintended consequences as a result of a battle over whether President Donald Trump violates the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter. In court papers submitted the week of Aug 13, the Silicon Valley group Internet Association is urging a federal appellate court to clarify that Twitter can continue to block users -- regardless of whether Trump may legally do so.

California should reject requests by industry groups to water down the state's new privacy law, a coalition of 20 advocacy groups said in a new letter to lawmakers. "The sky is not falling, as industry suggests," said the ACLU of California, Berkeley Media Studies Group, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and other advocacy groups. "The law and its particulars do not pose a threat to the California economy," they write.

Internet service providers are stepping up their fight against a California net neutrality proposal that would explicitly prohibit providers from exempting material from consumers' data caps. The proposed law, approved last month by the state Senate and currently before the Assembly, restores Obama-era net neutrality rules that ban throttling, blocking, and charging higher fees for prioritized delivery. The measure also would explicitly ban "zero-rating" -- or the practice of exempting certain material from data caps.