Jon Brodkin

The California State Senate approved a bill to impose network neutrality restrictions on Internet service providers, challenging the Federal Communications Commission attempt to preempt such rules. The FCC is already being sued by 21 states and the District of Columbia, which are trying to reverse the net neutrality repeal and the preemption of state laws. Attempts to enforce net neutrality rules at the state or local level could end up being challenged in separate lawsuits.

Gov Steve Bullock (D-MT) signed an executive order to protect network neutrality on Jan 22. But with questions raised about whether Gov Bullock is exceeding his authority, the governor's legal office prepared a fact sheet that it's distributing to anyone curious about potential legal challenges to the executive order.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's claim that repealing network neutrality rules will boost network investment didn't get much support from Verizon's latest spending forecast. Verizon's network spending won't change much in 2018, and the company also won't be using its newfound tax savings to upgrade its broadband networks. Verizon reported $17.2 billion of capital expenditures in calendar year 2017, with the net neutrality rules in place the entire year.

Netflix, Amazon, and the major film studios have sued the makers of "The Dragon Box," a device that connects to TVs and lets users watch video without a cable TV or streaming service subscription. Joining Netflix and Amazon as plaintiffs in the suit are Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros. The suit asks for financial damages and an injunction preventing Dragon Media from continuing the alleged copyright infringement.

Broadband consumer advocates have launched a "Mobile Only Challenge" to show US regulators that cellular data should not be considered an adequate replacement for home Internet service. The awareness campaign comes as the Federal Communications Commission is considering a change to the standard it uses to judge whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.

Maine Sens Angus King (I-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) said they’ll support new legislation to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s vote to scuttle Obama-era network neutrality standards.  Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) announced recently that he has enough support to force a Senate vote to invalidate the FCC’s controversial Dec. 14 decision.

AT&T and Comcast have solidified a court victory over the metro government in Nashville (TN), nullifying a rule that was meant to help Google Fiber compete against the incumbent broadband providers. The case involved Nashville's "One Touch Make Ready" ordinance that was supposed to give Google Fiber and other new Internet service providers faster access to utility poles.

Democratic Sens who are trying to force a vote on reinstating network neutrality rules have hit a key milestone. A Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would reverse the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality repeal needed 30 co-sponsors in order to get a Senate vote. Sen Claire McCaskill (D-MO) announced that she has signed on to be the 30th co-sponsor. 

Apparently, Comcast fired about 500 salespeople shortly before Christmas, despite claiming that the company would create thousands of new jobs in exchange for a big tax cut. Comcast apparently tried to keep the firings secret while it lobbied for the tax cut that was eventually passed into law by the Republican-controlled Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in late December. The Philadelphia Inquirer revealed the Comcast firings this week in an article based on information from an anonymous former employee, Comcast documents, and other sources in the company.

AT&T was sued by a workers' union that is trying to stop the company from instituting what it calls a "massive layoff." Thousands of employees are reportedly being laid off by the company, which reported $39.7 billion in revenue and $6.4 billion in operating income last quarter.