Court case

In an interesting lawsuit, VoIP-Pal, a patent holding company brought suit against AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Deutsche Telekom for now allow customers an option to use WiFi calling and WiFi texting. Of course, anybody with a smartphone can make a WiFi call across their phone’s data connection, and the lawsuit is really a complaint that the cellular companies are forcing customers to pay for a traditional voice and texting plan when customers only want to buy a bare broadband connection.

U.S. District Judge James Donato ordered Google to make it easier for developers of mobile-app stores to compete on phones and tablets that use the company’s Android software. The injunction is the result of Google losing an antitrust case—brought by “Fortnite” developer Epic Games—during a jury trial in December 2023.

The Federal Communications Commission’s top Republican has opposed expanding the agency’s broadband subsidy for schools and libraries. He said the July ruling that found the fund unconstitutional could be an additional reason to proceed with caution.

There is a political consensus that the United States should continue its nearly century long commitment to assuring that the tools of modern communications are universally accessible and affordable. There is also a consensus that the primary program through which we keep that commitment—the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF)—is breaking down.

Fortnite maker Epic Games says it is suing Google and Samsung, alleging that the companies secretly colluded and imposed “onerous” restrictions on new third-party app stores. Epic alleges that Google and Samsung made it too difficult for consumers to download app stores made by outside software developers, a new possibility after Google lost a previous antitrust lawsuit brought by the videogame company. The tech giants conspired to make a feature called Auto Blocker active by default on Samsung’s newest smartphones, according to Epic.

In June 2024, ConnectRI, a program of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation (RICC) released the final and approved version of the state's Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Initial Proposal Volume II.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has gone on the offensive and defended itself against possible lawsuits that might claim that the FCC has overstepped its regulatory authority that was granted by Congress.

Cox’s lawsuit is both misleading and unsupported by facts. The $108.7 million in federal funds allocated to Rhode Island through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is a transformative opportunity designed to close the digital divide in our state by ensuring every resident has access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet. The State of Rhode Island was awarded these funds only after the National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved the state’s Initial Proposal.

A tug-of-war over the McKee administration's proposed use of $108 million in federal "internet for all" dollars has evolved into a lawsuit by Cox Communications against Rhode Island. Cox is seeking to stop the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation from using a "flawed mapping and challenge process to build redundant broadband internet infrastructure in some of Rhode Island’s wealthiest communities ...

Two recent Supreme Court decisions produced sweeping changes to how regulation works in the United States, shifting power from agencies to the courts. Investment will now take place against the backdrop of the “judicial veto,” where a wide range of potential litigants and sympathetic judges will decide which regulations actually go into effect, and when. According to conventional wisdom, scaling back the regulatory state will help businesses. However, the court’s rulings will suppress business investment in three unintended ways.