The US Supreme Court just overturned Chevron v. The Natural Resources Defense Council, a 40 year old precedent for how government works. This is big news for anyone interested in the way technology (and Big Tech) shape public policy, and vice versa. Why does Chevron matter? As ordained by our political system, Congress is supposed to set rules and regulations that protect our rights. In today’s world, no elected representative can be an expert on every topic where they are called to make a decision. That leads to the assumption in Chevron: where the laws enacted by Congress do not provide enough detail for specific regulatory decisions, agencies are empowered to clarify. Federal employees (and local public servants) provide critical subject expertise, which enables the law to be interpreted and implemented. So the question is, who will protect us now? Apparently not our government agencies, the only ones with any sort of rein on large corporations. Yet again, the public turns to libraries. 

There are a lot of regulations other than the ones created by or enforced by the Federal Communications Council. Anybody who builds fiber networks can describe the litany of state and local regulations involved in constructing fiber. Following are some of the primary kinds of such regulations—and there are others in some places:

• National and State Codes: Fiber builders must meet various national and state codes related to electricity, safety, and specific fiber specifications.
• Safety: Work sites must comply with safety standards set by OSHA and States.
• Permits: Most jurisdictions have a formal permitting process. This is where a contractor will specify the planned construction of the network.
• Rights-of-way: Federal rules allow fiber to be constructed in any existing public right-of-way. However, many local jurisdictions require a fiber builder to pay fees and obtain a right-of-way agreement before undertaking construction.
• Easements: Contractors are required to acquire an easement from private landowners, which is permission to construct on private land.
• Financial Requirements: Some jurisdictions require that an entity that wants to cut into a street to satisfy specific financial requirements. This might mean obtaining a bond or providing a deposit before construction. There might be requirements for contractors to carry specific amounts of insurance and name the government entity as a covered entity under the policy. Some jurisdictions treat a fiber network like other infrastructure and charge property or related taxes on the asset.

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed new rules to reduce phone and video call rates for incarcerated people, a move that could dramatically reshape the business of prison telecom providers such as ViaPath Technologies and Aventiv Technologies. The proposed rules call for a drastic reduction in the cost of audio calls, impose brand-new caps on video services and prohibit providers from making commission payments to the jails and prisons in which they operate. The prospect of stricter regulation has been a major overhang for the industry. Bipartisan legislation that President Joe Biden signed into law in early 2023 gave the FCC broader authority to regulate the cost of audio and video communication services that are offered to inmates. Companies in the prison services industry have faced higher borrowing costs and narrowing options to refinance debt, in part because of increased regulatory risk, but also because several investors and major banks have been distancing themselves from the sector over environmental, social and governance concerns in recent years.

You didn’t need testing equipment to measure the state of Purdue University’s Wi-Fi network. You just needed to look on Reddit, where complaints were flying. That was the situation Ian Hyatt walked in to when he took a job as CIO of Purdue University three years ago. Service for the Wi-Fi network, known as PAL—short for Purdue AirLink—was so hated that students put up a protest banner. Bad Wi-FI is a problem anywhere it happens, but it’s particularly bad for a college campus. Although Purdue’s Cisco networking equipment was out-of-date, Purdue was happy with the vendor and began work with them on a top-of-the-line upgrade. The upgrade increased network throughput fourfold and availability increased more than 20 percentage points, to over 99%. Purdue upgraded to Wi-Fi 6 and, using Cisco Meraki, students can build their own networks with custom network names. 

Rep Shontel Brown (D-OH) has introduced The Securing Elections from AI Deception Act, legislation to prohibit the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to deprive or defraud individuals of their right to vote and require disclaimers on AI-generated content. The legislation would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and applies to federal, state, and local elections. The Securing Elections from AI Deception Act has 46 original cosponsors and is endorsed by the NAACP, the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. The Securing Elections from AI Deception Act:

• Prohibits the Use of Artificial Intelligence to Deprive or Defraud Individuals of the Right to Vote

• Requires Disclaimers on Election-Related Content Generated by Artificial Intelligence