Telecommunications

  • July 24, 2024

    Ex-AT&T Exec Wants Madigan Bribery Charges Dropped

    A former AT&T executive who's accused of scheming to illegally influence former Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan's policy decisions argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent bribery ruling warrants chopping a conspiracy and bribery charge from his case.

  • July 24, 2024

    5th Circ. Strikes Down FCC's Universal Service Fund

    The full Fifth Circuit struck down the Federal Communications Commission's system for subsidizing telecommunications service for rural and low-income users as unconstitutional Wednesday, reversing a panel decision and triggering a circuit split with three other appeals courts that upheld the fee regime.

  • July 24, 2024

    T-Mobile Plugs $4.9B Into JV With KKR To Buy Metronet

    T-Mobile announced Wednesday that it has partnered up with private equity giant KKR to acquire pure-play fiber company Metronet in a joint venture that sees T-Mobile investing roughly $4.9 billion at deal close, in a transaction built by eight law firms.

  • July 23, 2024

    Knives Out For Another Pro-Agency Landmark After Chevron

    Only weeks after U.S. Supreme Court conservatives took a hatchet to the judicial deference shown to federal agencies, right-leaning lawyers are imploring the justices to rock the administrative law realm again by gutting a New Deal-era precedent at the heart of the modern regulatory system.

  • July 23, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Nigeria Fines Meta $220M Over WhatsApp Privacy Policy

    Nigerian regulators have hit Meta with a $220 million fine over alleged privacy and antitrust violations and ordered the company to stop sharing WhatsApp users' data with advertisers without express permission, the culmination of a nearly three-year-long investigative process.

  • July 23, 2024

    Microsoft Calls FTC Price Hike Claims 'Misleading' At 9th Circ

    Microsoft pushed back against the Federal Trade Commission's contention that an increase in the company's gaming subscription pricing is evidence of the anticompetitive effects of the software giant's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc., calling the commission out for trying to "reinvent" its case against the merger on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

  • July 23, 2024

    US, UK, EU Antitrust Enforcers Outline AI Principles

    The top antitrust officials from the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission and the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority presented a unified international commitment Tuesday to closely monitor artificial intelligence technology and the companies that they warned could wield AI anticompetitively.

  • July 23, 2024

    FTC Attys On Kroger Case Get Extensions After IT Outage

    The administrative law judge overseeing the Federal Trade Commission's in-house challenge to Kroger and Albertsons' $25 billion merger has given the agency and the grocery behemoths two extra days on a couple of filing deadlines after the FTC said the worldwide Microsoft outage left several counsel laptops unusable.

  • July 23, 2024

    Judge Doubts CenturyLink Can Block Borrowed Allegations

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel Tuesday pressed an attorney for CenturyLink on why a shareholder can't use allegations borrowed from other cases in his own securities suit against the telecommunications company, with one judge saying that requiring plaintiff's counsel to speak to every witness would be going overboard.

  • July 23, 2024

    Biz Groups Form Lobby Effort To Fight FCC Bulk Billing Rules

    Bulk billing agreements are often a boon for people living in apartment buildings and condos, according to a new coalition made up of multifamily housing organizations and a cable trade group, which was formed to push the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider banning such arrangements.

  • July 23, 2024

    Tech Firm Mobileum Enters Ch. 11 To Trim Over $500M Debt

    Global telecom analytics group Mobileum Inc. sought Chapter 11 protection in Texas on Tuesday, with plans to trim $529 million from its books through a debt-for-equity swap after falsified time records uncovered last year backlogged operations and spurred litigation.

  • July 23, 2024

    Senate Dems Roll Out Bill To Codify Chevron Deference

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led a group of Democratic senators Tuesday in introducing a bill to codify the now-defunct doctrine of Chevron deference after it was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.

  • July 23, 2024

    FCC Urged To Protect Public Safety In 5.9 GHz Band

    A public interest group urged the Federal Communications Commission to keep public safety as the top priority for licensees of the 5.9 gigahertz airwaves as the FCC considers rules to allow advanced car connectivity uses in the band.

  • July 23, 2024

    Chase, McKinsey Get FTC Inquiry Over 'Surveillance Pricing'

    The Federal Trade Commission has issued orders to eight companies — including Mastercard, Chase, Accenture and McKinsey & Co. — seeking more information about the potential impact their practices of "surveillance pricing" products and services have on privacy, competition and consumer protection, the FTC said Tuesday.

  • July 22, 2024

    Verizon's TracFone Hit With $16M FCC Data Breach Penalty

    Verizon's prepaid service subsidiary TracFone Wireless has agreed to shell out a $16 million civil penalty to resolve Federal Communications Commission probes into whether it failed to protect customer information during three data breaches, the agency announced Monday.

  • July 22, 2024

    FCC, Industry Debate If Brand X Case Set Broadband In Stone

    Industry groups are pushing their case to the Sixth Circuit that the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules should be tossed because the demise of the Chevron doctrine trimmed agency's legal authority, but the FCC argues that the recent paring back of federal regulators' discretion means nothing for the agency's restrictions on broadband providers.

  • July 22, 2024

    FCC Blames AT&T Network Change For 'Sunny Day' Outage

    The Federal Communications Commission said Monday it will consider enforcement action after finding that an AT&T network change triggered a massive service outage in February, which blocked more than 92 million calls and 25,000 attempts to reach 911.

  • July 22, 2024

    Rail Biz Asks 4th Circ. To Revive Va. Broadband Law Fight

    The Association of American Railroads is asking the Fourth Circuit to step in and put a stop to a Virginia law that allows broadband providers easier access to railroad property, calling it a "supercharged eminent-domain scheme."

  • July 22, 2024

    IDT, Founder Say Straight Path Suit Fizzle Warrants No Fee

    Pointing to a Chancery Court finding of no damages after seven years of class litigation over a nearly $1.2 billion alleged liability, attorneys for IDT Corp. founder Howard Jonas on Monday urged a Delaware vice chancellor to reject a class attorney bid for a $9.5 million fee award.

  • July 22, 2024

    Native Villages Push For Injunction In Fed Broadband Row

    Two Alaskan tribes are urging a federal judge to step in and yank back $70 million in broadband infrastructure funds that they say the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave away to someone else after falsely marking them served.

  • July 22, 2024

    FCC Waives 5.9 GHz Rules To Allow For Smart Car Tech

    The Federal Communications Commission has voted to waive certain restrictive connectivity rules for cars, allowing automobile equipment manufacturers to make use of the 5.9 gigahertz band for Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything technology.

  • July 19, 2024

    Platform Sciences Hit With $19M Omnitracs Patent Verdict

    A California federal jury on Friday determined that Qualcomm spin-off Omnitracs is entitled to $19.3 million in lost profits and a $140,000 royalty after a former executive's new company willfully infringed one of its fleet management software patents, but cleared it of infringing two other patents.

  • July 19, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge Open To Reversing Google's Privacy Win

    A Ninth Circuit judge appeared receptive Friday to reversing Google's summary judgment win in Chrome users' proposed privacy class action, telling Google's counsel that the standard is what a reasonable consumer would expect and "you have a much higher opinion of the average intelligence of the computer user than I."

  • July 19, 2024

    House Republican Rips FCC's School Wi-Fi Subsidy

    A key House Republican with oversight of the Federal Communications Commission attacked the agency's new subsidy providing Wi-Fi services for school and library patrons, saying it will make consumer costs soar without helping education.

  • July 19, 2024

    More Airwaves Needed For Power Grid Upgrades, FCC Told

    Power companies are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to help free up more spectrum for utilities, telling the agency that opening up spectrum currently committed to public safety use could be a win-win.

Expert Analysis

  • Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks

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    As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • Takeaways From Groundbreaking Data Transfer Order

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    A recent first-of-its-kind executive order and related proposed rulemaking lay the groundwork for important outbound U.S. data protections, but they may have unintended consequences related to the types of data and the subjects within their scope, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • Infringement Policy Lessons From 4th Circ. Sony Music Ruling

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Sony Music v. Cox Communications, which in part held that the internet service provider was liable for contributing to music copyright infringement, highlights the importance of reasonable policies to terminate repeat infringers, and provides guidance for litigating claims of secondary liability, say Benjamin Marks and Alexandra Blankman at Weil.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • The Epic Antitrust Cases And Challenges Of Injunctive Relief

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    The Epic cases against Apple and Google offer a window into the courts' considerable challenges in Big Tech litigation and establishing injunctive relief that enhances competition and benefits consumers, say Kelly Lear Nordby and Jon Tomlin at Ankura Consulting.

  • Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • High Court Social Media Speech Ruling Could Implicate AI

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    In Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether certain state laws can restrict content moderation by social media platforms, but the eventual decision could also provide insight into whether the first amendment protects artificial intelligence speech, say Joseph Meadows and Quyen Dang at GRSM50.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • BT Case May Shape UK Class Action Landscape

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    The first opt-out collective action trial commenced in Le Patourel v. BT in the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal last month, regarding BT's abuse of dominance by overcharging millions of customers, will likely provide clarification on damages and funder returns in collective actions, which could significantly affect the class action regime, say lawyers at RPC.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • Regulatory Trends Offer 4 Lessons For Debt Relief Providers

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    A string of enforcement actions, including a New York lawsuit filed last month by seven states and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, underscore the regulatory scrutiny that debt relief and credit repair companies face and offer important lessons on telemarketing and deceptive practices compliance, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

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