Telecommunications

  • May 03, 2024

    Cash App's Parent Co. Can't Ditch Referral Text Suit

    Block Inc., the parent company of mobile payment service Cash App, can't escape a suit alleging it bombarded cellphone users with "annoying and harassing spam texts," a Washington federal judge ruled, finding the plaintiff has alleged sufficient facts to support a plausible claim for relief under Washington's Consumer Electronic Mail Act.

  • May 03, 2024

    Sens. Look To Add Kids Online Bills To FAA Bill

    A bipartisan group of senators is looking to add legislation to better protect kids online and on social media to the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, which faces a May 10 deadline for enactment.

  • May 03, 2024

    Debevoise, Davis Polk Guide Windstream, Uniti Merger

    Uniti Group Inc., advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, on Friday unveiled plans to merge with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP-led telephone service company Windstream Holdings II LLC in a deal that includes a $425 million cash component, $575 million in preferred equity and a minority share in common equity of the combined company.

  • May 03, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen rapper Ivorian Doll hit with a copyright claim, private members club Aspinalls file a claim against a Saudi sheikh, and Motorola Solutions file a claim against the British government on the heels of its dispute over losing a £400 million ($502 million) government contract. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • May 02, 2024

    Digital Rights Nonprofit's Bid To Unseal IP Docs Is Too Late

    Electronic Frontier Foundation cannot unseal filings in a chipmaker's patent suit against Charter Communications Inc., a Texas federal judge ruled Thursday, saying the digital rights nonprofit's bid to intervene in the case came too late.

  • May 02, 2024

    Google Judge Ponders Search Engine's Might At Trial Closings

    The quality of Google's search engine, and what it would take to actually challenge the company's grip on default placements on Apple browsers and Android phones, were top of mind Thursday for the D.C. federal judge weighing U.S. Department of Justice monopolization allegations.

  • May 02, 2024

    NFL Throws Flag On Harvard Prof's Sunday Ticket Testimony

    An attorney for the NFL urged a California federal judge Thursday to limit testimony from a Harvard law professor set to appear for the plaintiffs in an upcoming antitrust lawsuit over the Sunday Ticket television package, saying his expert report veers into impermissible legal opinions that will confuse the jury.

  • May 02, 2024

    Congress Wants More Data On Broadband Program's Value

    The Affordable Connectivity Program — which is rapidly running out of money — was on everyone's tongues at a Senate subcommittee hearing on broadband affordability Thursday morning, with Democrats and Republicans agreeing on little more than the need for more data on how many Americans rely on the subsidy to stay online.

  • May 02, 2024

    Huawei Can't Get VoIP-Pal Patents Axed Under Alice

    A Northern District of Texas judge has shot down Huawei's motion that two VoIP-Pal.com patents on initiating mobile phone calls are invalid under the Alice standard for claiming only abstract ideas.

  • May 02, 2024

    Attys Due For Spam Suit Sanction, But Not $750K, Judges Say

    Class counsel's misconduct in helping instigate a spam text suit against stock-trading app Robinhood Financial LLC warranted sanctions, a Washington state appeals court panel ruled Thursday, but the judges said the $750,000 penalty went over the top in deterring the bad behavior.

  • May 02, 2024

    Microsoft, Activision Seek Del. Court Patch For $68.7B Sale

    Microsoft Corp. and Activision Blizzard petitioned Delaware's Court of Chancery on Thursday for an order validating Activision's already closed but officially "defective" $68.7 billion sale agreement, arguing that the court pointed the two companies to a "solution for missteps in Delaware's General Corporation Law.

  • May 02, 2024

    New EU, Japan Initiative Looks To Boost Global Supply Chains

    Japan and the European Union on Thursday announced a new initiative aimed at alleviating the economic dependence countries may have on others for certain goods by boosting global supply chains through transparency and coordination with like-minded countries.

  • May 02, 2024

    Stabenow's Farm Bill Includes ReConnect Program

    Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, released her framework of the Farm Bill on Wednesday, which includes a rural broadband program that advocates have been wanting to become permanent.

  • May 02, 2024

    Gilstrap Ships Altice IP Row To NY After $339M Google Verdict

    A Texas federal judge has granted a bid from cable company Altice to transfer a case accusing it of infringing a Touchstream patent on mobile app streaming to New York federal court.

  • May 02, 2024

    Broadcast Cos. Demand Oversight Of Sports TV Joint Venture

    Broadcasters and competition advocates on Thursday pressed lawmakers to hold hearings on the pay-television industry, warning that a planned sports streaming venture between Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery threatens to "dominate" the market.

  • May 01, 2024

    T-Mobile Gets Tax Reimbursement Suit Tossed For Good

    T-Mobile has convinced a New Jersey federal court to toss for good a suit brought by a middleman seeking to collect tax reimbursements the mobile behemoth had supposedly promised a landlord after it didn't fix the deficiencies in its suit the third go round.

  • May 01, 2024

    FCC Leaders Look To Boost Wireless Supply Chain Security

    Federal Communications Commission members Wednesday unveiled a bipartisan plan to beef up wireless supply chain security by more tightly scrutinizing whether equipment labs are tied to foreign powers.

  • May 01, 2024

    Apple Users Defend Web Apps Antitrust Case

    Consumers urged a California federal court not to toss their case accusing Apple of violating antitrust law by preventing iPhones from running web-based apps that don't need to be downloaded, saying Apple used deals with Google and others to protect its dominance.

  • May 01, 2024

    Meta's Privacy Fight With FTC Paused For High Court Ruling

    The D.C. Circuit has pressed pause on Meta's bid to block the Federal Trade Commission from pursuing modifications to the parties' $5 billion privacy settlement to await the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in a case challenging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house courts.

  • May 01, 2024

    Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates well over 200 times in April as they sought to sway the FCC on net neutrality rules, junk calls and texts, bulk billing deals for broadband service in apartment buildings, and many other issues.

  • May 01, 2024

    Dish Agrees To Class Cert. In 401(k) Mismanagement Suit

    Dish Network and a group of former workers told a Colorado federal judge they've agreed that class treatment is the best fit for a lawsuit claiming the company failed to trim an underperforming Fidelity Freedom Fund target date suite from its retirement plan that cost workers millions in savings.

  • April 30, 2024

    5th Circ. Nixes Software Co.'s $1.6B Win In IBM Contract Row

    The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday reversed a Texas federal court's $1.6 billion ruling against IBM, finding that Houston-based software company BMC lost out to IBM "fair and square" when IBM fulfilled a request by their mutual client AT&T to replace BMC's software in AT&T's mainframe with IBM's.

  • April 30, 2024

    TracFone Must Pay Wash. City's Utility Tax

    Prepaid phone businesses are utilities and can be taxed as such under Washington state law, according to a state appeals court that had been posed such a question as part of a dispute between TracFone and a Seattle suburb.

  • April 30, 2024

    OpenAI Tries To Throw Out Another Copyright Case

    OpenAI is seeking to dismiss a suit in New York federal court from two alternative news websites asserting copyright infringement allegations against the Microsoft Corp.-backed artificial intelligence developer, saying they haven't shown they've been harmed.

  • April 30, 2024

    Samsung Gets PTAB To Sink Patent Tied To $142M Verdict

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has ruled in favor of Samsung Electronics Co. LTD in the company's challenge to LTE technology owned by G+ Communications LLC, invalidating one of the patents involved in a Texas case where G+ won a $142 million verdict against the tech giant.

Expert Analysis

  • Schumer Framework May Forge US Model On AI Governance

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    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's proposed SAFE Innovation Framework may have the potential to generate thoughtful understanding and governance of artificial intelligence within a meaningful time frame, say Alan Charles Raul and Rimsha Syeda at Sidley.

  • The Basics Of Being A Knowledge Management Attorney

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Michael Lehet at Ogletree Deakins discusses the role of knowledge management attorneys at law firms, the common tasks they perform and practical tips for lawyers who may be considering becoming one.

  • Pros And Cons Of Top-Four Network Rule In The Digital Age

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    In the era of streaming, broadcasters have recently urged the Federal Communications Commission to remove the top-four network rule — which prohibits common ownership of any two major network stations — in some or all markets, but others argue the rule preserves competition and diversity, say Gregg Skall and Ashley Brydone-Jack at Telecommunications Law Professionals.

  • 3 Areas Look Ripe For New SEP Licensing, Litigation

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    As we wait for standard-essential patent litigation over 5G, data compression and several other technologies have quietly developed elements that make them attractive to SEP holders, turning them into areas to watch for increased licensing and litigation in the near term, say Brian Johnson and Michael O’Mara at Axinn.

  • To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation

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    Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.

  • Perspectives

    More States Should Join Effort To Close Legal Services Gap

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    Colorado is the most recent state to allow other types of legal providers, not just attorneys, to offer specific services in certain circumstances — and more states should rethink the century-old assumptions that shape our current regulatory rules, say Natalie Anne Knowlton and Janet Drobinske at the University of Denver.

  • Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure

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    Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Shows Int'l Arbitration Jurisdictional Snags

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    While the Ninth Circuit sidestepped the thorny and undecided constitutional question of whether a foreign state is a person for the purposes of a due process analysis, its Devas v. Antrix opinion provides important guidance to parties seeking to enforce an arbitration award against a foreign sovereign in the U.S., say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Data Lessons For Tech Cos. After Class Cert. In Reuters Suit

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    A district court's recent decision that granted class certification to California residents in a data privacy suit against Reuters sends a direct message to companies that aggregate personal information — the collection of someone's data without consent, even if it is not sold, is a concrete harm, says James Ulwick at DiCello Levitt.

  • Opinion

    Congress Needs Better Health Care Fraud Data From DOD

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    The U.S. Department of Defense does not collect enough data to prevent health care and service contractor fraud and waste, so Congress should enact benchmarks that the DOD must meet when gathering and reporting data, enabling lawmakers to make better-informed decisions about defense appropriations, says Jessica Lehman at Verizon.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

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    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.

  • FCC Inquiry Signals Exploration Of AI For Spectrum Goals

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    The Federal Communications Commission's recent notice seeking input on the definition of "spectrum usage," uniformity of band requirements and data collection marks the beginning of the agency's interest in leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning analytics to improve its spectrum management practices, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Upcoming High Court ADA Cases May Signal Return To Basics

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    Recent cases, including Acheson Hotels v. Laufer, which will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in October, raise a fundamental question of whether Americans with Disabilities Act litigation has spiraled out of control without any real corresponding benefits to the intended beneficiaries: individuals with true disabilities, says Norman Dupont at Ring Bender.

  • 4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Opinion

    'US Cyber Trust Mark' Program Threatens Privacy, Innovation

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    The Federal Communications Commission's recently announced plan to create a "U.S. Cyber Trust Mark,” which would voluntarily affix to smart devices to boost consumer confidence and industry security standards, could lead to an erosion of consumer privacy, competition, innovation, and any firewall between the government and the individual, says attorney Donna Etemadi.

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