1. Monthly archive
  2. March 2018

March 2018

US Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco will hear net neutrality case

The US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation randomly selected the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to hear the consolidated challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of net neutrality rules. A dozen challenges [including one filed by the Benton Foundation] have been filed by 22 state attorneys general, public interest groups, internet companies, a California county and the state’s Public Utilities Commission seeking to block the Trump administration’s repeal of landmark rules designed to ensure a free and open internet from taking effect

New federal rules on Facebook and Google ads may not be in place for 2018 midterms

Proposed Federal Election Commission rules aimed at preventing foreign influence on US elections through better disclosure of online political ad sponsors may not take effect before the 2018 midterms, Chairwoman Caroline Hunter said.  “The commission has been reluctant to change the rules of the game in the middle of the election season, so that would be something we would want to seriously consider,” she said. 

To get rural kids online, Microsoft wants to put Internet access on school buses

Microsoft is looking to turn school buses into Internet-enabled hotspots in an experiment that’s aimed at helping students in rural Michigan do their homework. The company wants to use empty TV airwaves to beam high-speed Internet signals to buses in Hillman (MI) as they travel to and from school, according to regulatory filings submitted Wednesday to the Federal Communications Commission. “The proposed deployment would help … by providing high-speed wireless Internet access on school buses as they complete their morning and afternoon routes,” the filing reads.

FCC Signals Second Tranche of Repack Bucks

The Federal Communications Commission's Incentive Auction Task Force and the Media Bureau said that there would be an additional allocation coming from the $1.75 billion incentive auction repack fund. The FCC says it has now received both verified and unverified expenses that total $1.95 billion, so it was time to dip into the fund once more, which will come in the next 4-6 weeks, or perhaps in time for broadcasters to celebrate the infusion at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in early April.

Inside President Trump’s private meeting with the video game industry — and its critics

Republican lawmakers and conservative media critics pressed President Donald Trump to explore new restrictions on the video-game industry, arguing that violent games might have contributed to mass shootings like the recent attack at a high school in Parkland (FL). In a private meeting at the White House, also attended by several video-game executives, some participants urged President Trump to consider new regulations that would make it harder for children to purchase those games. Others asked the president to expand his inquiry to focus on violent movies and TV shows too.

Judge to President Trump: Muting, not blocking followers, may end suit

A judge recommended that President Donald Trump mute rather than block some of his critics from following him on Twitter to resolve a First Amendment lawsuit.  US District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald suggested a settlement as the preferred outcome after hearing lawyers argue whether it’s constitutional for Trump to block some followers. “Isn’t the answer he just mutes the person he finds personally offensive?” she asked.

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