The California State Senate approved a network neutrality bill that has been called the “gold standard” of such bills in the nation, as states grapple with a controversial repeal of Obama-era federal rules meant to ensure an open internet.
Sens Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Steve Daines (R- MT) have introduced the bipartisan Reprioritizing Unserved Rural Areas and Locations for Broadband (RURAL Broadband) Act of 2018, which will prioritize federal funds that are used to provide broadband access to areas that are unserved with no access, before they are used to upgrade areas with existing service. Their bill is a significant step toward prioritizing unserved rural areas in Vermont and other states.
The Trump administration said it is going ahead with actions to crack down on Chinese trade practices by June 30. The White House says President Trump is planning further export controls against China to counter Chinese intellectual property theft, including tariffs on Chinese tech exports believed to contain stolen American intellectual property.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai got some fan mail, once removed, and an assist from a small telecommunication company in responding to Hill queries about the impact of his broadband deregulatory policies. That is according to a letter from VTel chairman Michel Guite to Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT). At a recent Hill hearing on broadband, Guité said, Sen Leahy wanted Chairman Pai to quantify that impact. Chairman Pai had invoked VTel as an example of the fruits of FCC's pro-investment and deployment broadband approach.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is calling out social media and technology giants over what he sees as anti-conservative bias. Majority Leader McCarthy, a leading candidate to replace retiring House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), tweeted a video from a speech in which he lashes out at Amazon, Facebook and Twitter, accusing them of trying to censor conservatives. “Social media is being rigged to censor conservative voices. We will not be silenced,” Majority Leader McCarthy wrote in the tweet.
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