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  2. March 2018

March 2018

D.C. Circuit Issues Partial Reversal of Wheeler-Era Robocall Decision

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has decided that not every smartphone is an autodialer subject to the restrictions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In a decision released March 16, the court reversed a 2015 Federal Communications Commission decision that robocalls to numbers of consenting parties that were subsequently transferred to nonconsenting parties violated the TCPA as well as the FCC's definition of the autodialers (automatic telephone dialing system, or ATDS) that can't be used without the call (or text) recipient's prior permission.

Entire broadband industry will help FCC defend net neutrality repeal

The biggest lobby groups representing broadband providers will help the Federal Communications Commission defend the repeal of network neutrality rules in court. March 15, three trade groups that collectively represent every major home Internet and mobile broadband provider in the US filed motions to intervene in the case on behalf of the FCC. The motions for leave to intervene were filed by NCTA–The Internet & Television Association, CTIA–The Wireless Association, and USTelecom–The Broadband Association. NCTA represents cable companies such as Comcast, Charter, Cox, and Altice.

Here’s what you need to know about the U.S. lawsuit against the AT&T-Time Warner merger

AT&T and Time Warner plan to merge in a $85 billion deal that would unite one of the largest distributors of content with one of the biggest producers of content, a roster that includes hits like HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” the Harry Potter films and major cable franchises like CNN. But not if the Justice Department has its way. The U.S. government has sued to block the deal, a move that some fret is actually political reprisal for CNN’s reporting on President Trump. The trial begins on Wednesday, March 21. 

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, N.Y. Democrat who championed women’s rights, dies at 88

Rep Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), a folksy New York liberal who championed women’s rights and American manufacturing for more than three decades as a Democratic congresswoman, and who became a top lieutenant for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the first and only woman to lead the powerful Rules Committee, died March 16 at a hospital in Washington. She was 88 and the oldest sitting member of Congress. Initially one of just 29 women in the House of Representatives, Rep Slaughter was a flinty advocate of women’s access to health care and abortion.

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