John Eggerton

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Federal Communications Commission appears to have put the kibosh on a rumor she was considering exiting the commission. Commissioner Clyburn's term was up at the end of June 2017. She has not been renominated, but she can continue to serve, and has. Asked about that rumor, her office cited a recent interview in which she said: "My term was up in June, and with appointments like mine, we can technically serve until this particular Congress adjourns, which is December 2018.

The Federal Communications Commission has finally released the language of its controversial Restoring Internet Freedom order, which the Republican majority approved Dec 14 against visceral opposition from Democrats--edits to the item continued through this week. Here are some key passages of the final language of a decision that Internet services have celebrated, Democratic members of Congress are trying to overturn, and activists say spells the end of an open internet as we know it.

Fight for the Future is taking the gloves off in its effort to battle the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission's party line vote to roll back network neutrality rules and deed primary Internet regulatory authority to the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department. It has launched the VoteForNetNeutrality.com website, which asks its Internet followers to vote out lawmakers--Republicans and Democrats--who do not join a Democrat-led effort to use the Congressional Review Act to nullify that rule rollback, saying holdouts are "betraying" the public. Fight For the Future

AT&T and Time Warner have agreed to move the breakup date for their proposed merger until Jun. 21, 2018.  Each would have been able to terminate the deal if it had not closed by Apr. 22, 2018, but the Justice Department suit to block the deal does not begin until March 15, which would have been cutting it too close. AT&T and Time Warner informed the Securities and Exchange Commission of the change Dec. 21.

President Donald Trump's new America first National Security Strategy includes a key role for next gen wireless. "We will improve America’s digital infrastructure by deploying a secure 5G Internet capability nationwide," according to the White House plan, released Dec 18.

The Federal Communications Commission's decision to review what qualifies as high-speed broadband has drawn a crowd of critics armed with smartphones and other devices. Almost a dozen groups including Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) have launched the #MobileOnly challenge. Between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, participants will spend an entire day only accessing the internet via a mobile device. The idea is to demonstrate that mobile has various limitations that make it not a sufficient substitute for wired broadband.

Consumer groups want the Federal Trade Commission and retailers to crack down on Interconnected toys and smartwatches to protect kids' privacy. 

INCOMPAS is calling on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to pull the plug on the Dec. 14 net neutrality rule rollback vote after Politico reported that the FCC's CTO, Eric Burger, had issues with it. INCOMPAS members include Amazon, Google, Twitter and Facebook.

Michael Powell, president of NCTA – The Internet & Television Association; Meredith Attwell Baker, president of CTIA; and Jonathan Spalter, president, USTelecom, all members of the Broadband for America coalition, pledged, once again, not to block or throttle content.

Sinclair Broadcasting has told Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai that it shares Sen Claire McCaskill's (D-MO) frustration with the lack of "traditional local news" on its KDNL St. Louis (MO), but not with the remedy she suggested. That came in a letter from Sinclair group VP of news Scott Livingston to Chairman Pai Dec 12. In a different letter to Chairman Pai, Sen McCaskill had asked him not to let Sinclair own two of the top four stations in St. Louis if the FCC allows Sinclair to merge with Tribune, which also has a top-four station there.