Telecommunications

  • February 12, 2025

    Google Must Face Wiretapping Suit Over AI-Powered Assistant

    A California federal judge has refused to toss a proposed class action accusing Google of using a "human-like" customer-service product powered by artificial intelligence to illegally eavesdrop on users' calls with Hulu, Verizon and others, finding the consumers adequately allege Google is a third party that can benefit from the data.

  • February 12, 2025

    Meta User Antitrust Suit Gets Nov. 17 Trial Date

    A California federal judge has set a Nov. 17 trial date for accusations that Meta monopolized the social media advertising market weeks after he declined to certify a class of Facebook users that would have numbered in the millions.

  • February 12, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Guilty Of Bribery In Mixed Verdict

    A federal jury on Wednesday partially convicted the man who was once the most powerful politician in Illinois on federal corruption charges, finding former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan guilty of bribery conspiracy and wire fraud but deadlocking on the government's overarching racketeering charge.

  • February 11, 2025

    Trump Tells Agencies To Plan 'Large-Scale' Cuts With Musk

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that directs agencies to prepare for "large-scale" cuts to the federal workforce and gives Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency the authority to approve the future hiring of career officials.

  • February 11, 2025

    Public Disclosure Shields US Cellular From Auction Fraud Suit

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court's dismissal of long-running False Claims Act accusations against USCellular over alleged spectrum auction fraud, ruling that the relators acting on behalf of the government in the lawsuit lacked new information to bring to the case.

  • February 11, 2025

    ​​​​​​​FCC's Subsidy Fund Like 'Bureaucrat's Dream,' Justices Told

    A free-market litigation group urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's fee system to support telecom subsidies, comparing the regime to an out-of-control IRS with unbridled taxing powers.

  • February 11, 2025

    Patent Attys Can Be Liable For Fees Too, Justices Told

    The tech and retail industries are endorsing an effort by Dish Network aiming to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to potentially expand the personal liability of lawyers who file failed patent cases that are found to be "exceptional" by the courts. 

  • February 11, 2025

    9th Circ. Doubts X Plaintiff Can Revive Phone Data Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday questioned whether a lawsuit targeting social platform X could be revived and remanded to state court, with one judge suggesting circuit precedent established a privacy right that keeps the case in federal court, and another saying the lower court had "broad discretion" in deciding to dismiss the case.

  • February 11, 2025

    End 'Cableopoly' Over Broadband Consumers, 5G Groups Say

    Mobile industry groups formed a coalition this week to combat what they say are cable industry tactics meant to keep wireless companies from amassing enough spectrum to fully compete in and bring newer services to the home broadband market.

  • February 11, 2025

    HPE Says Juniper Deal Is Needed To Compete With Top Players

    Hewlett Packard said it was blindsided by the U.S. Department of Justice's move to block its $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, saying in a new filing that the Antitrust Division lawsuit brought last month will only benefit the biggest player in the market, Cisco, and Chinese competitor Huawei.

  • February 11, 2025

    DC Circ. Won't Pause Google Search Case For Apple Appeal

    The D.C. Circuit refused to pause the government's search monopolization case against Google while Apple appeals a ruling that denied its bid to participate in a coming April trial meant to determine what remedies to impose on Google for violating antitrust law.

  • February 11, 2025

    BT Fends Off Customers' Bid To Revive £1.3B Class Action

    A group of BT landline customers have failed to revive a £1.3 billion ($2 billion) class action against the telecom giant, after a competition tribunal refused Tuesday to allow an appeal against the first substantive ruling deciding a U.K. collective proceedings order claim.

  • February 10, 2025

    Xcel, Telecom Cos. Say Colo. Fire Plaintiffs Can't Opt Out Of Trial

    Xcel Energy and two telecom companies being sued over the Marshall Fire in Colorado told a state judge that hundreds of plaintiffs pushing to opt out of a common liability trial should not be able to do so, at least until expert reports are shared.

  • February 10, 2025

    GOP Sens. Restart Effort To Get Lawmaker OK For Major Regs

    It could become tougher for the Federal Communications Commission to adopt new rules for the telecom industry under a bill Republicans have reintroduced that would require a congressional green light for major new regulations.

  • February 10, 2025

    Apple Urges 9th Circ. Not To Revive Web App Antitrust Suit

    Apple asked the Ninth Circuit on Friday to affirm a lower court's dismissal of a case from iPhone buyers accusing it of violating antitrust law by preventing iPhones from running web-based apps, saying the suit alleges a "highly indirect and speculative" harm that's not even an antitrust injury.

  • February 10, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Officers' Immunity For Getting Phone Contents

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld a summary judgment win for a sheriff and county prosecutor accused of illegally obtaining the contents of a drug arrestee's phone, ruling that they unlawfully got copies of the phone's contents but that the prosecutor who requested them was entitled to qualified immunity.

  • February 10, 2025

    FTC Can't Get Cap On Meta's Up To 86 Antitrust Trial Witnesses

    A D.C. federal judge refused Monday to limit the number of witnesses in the Federal Trade Commission's monopolization lawsuit against Meta Platforms, rejecting agency assertions that plans by the Facebook parent company for up to 86 witnesses are "unreasonable."

  • February 10, 2025

    Apple Says Child Porn Detection Suit Can't Stand

    Victims of child sexual abuse materials can't bring a proposed class action accusing Apple of spreading the videos and images, the tech giant has told a California federal court, arguing the company is protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  • February 10, 2025

    'Noxious' Anti-Qualcomm Media Blitz Won't Be Blocked

    A Florida federal judge said Friday he won't tell a company that used to make automated video cameras to stop its Glenn Beck-aided media blitz connecting its patent campaign against Qualcomm Inc. to conspiracy theories involving former President Barack Obama, "regardless of how noxious it may be."

  • February 10, 2025

    Apple Pushes DC Circ. To Pause Google Search Case

    Apple told the D.C. Circuit on Monday it did not become clear that it needs to intervene in the government's search monopolization case against Google until enforcers proposed remedies that affected Apple's conduct too.

  • February 10, 2025

    FCC Ready To Lower The 'Boom' On Raucous Commercials

    The nation's telecommunications regulator will consider this month whether new rules are needed to cut the volume on blaring commercials that upset the relative calm of TV shows they accompany, according to a recent notice of proposed rulemaking.

  • February 10, 2025

    Prison Phone Co. Tells FCC Rate Cap Rules Cost Too Much

    Prison phone company NCIC Correctional Services thinks the Federal Communications Commission messed up by preempting state and local laws to ban "site commissions," service provider-to-prison payments that critics call kickbacks.

  • February 10, 2025

    Bird Shelter Settles 2nd Nuisance Calls Suit With UnitedHealth

    UnitedHealth Group Inc. has settled a proposed class action brought by a North Carolina bird refuge over nuisance calls the health insurer allegedly made to consumers even after it demanded the calls stop, according to a court order pausing the case.

  • February 10, 2025

    Verizon Escapes Workers' Suit Over Lead-Covered Cables

    A Pennsylvania federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed on behalf of utility workers alleging Verizon endangered them by failing to properly dispose of lead-covered cables on telephone poles, ruling that allegations of suffering common ailments were not enough to support a class action.

  • February 10, 2025

    Charter Used Forfeited 401(k) Funds For Itself, Suit Says

    Charter Communications Inc. cost participants in its $7.9 billion 401(k) plan millions of dollars by using funds forfeited by ex-workers to cover its own contributions to the plan rather than administrative expenses, according to a proposed class action filed in Missouri federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Trade Secret Developments To Follow This Year

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    Significant developments in trade secret law are likely in 2025, and areas to watch include protection of AI-related innovations, the fate of the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, and questions of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act's extraterritorial reach, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Republican Trifecta Amplifies Risks For Cos. In 3 Key Areas

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    Expected coordination between a Republican Congress and presidential administration may expose companies to simultaneous criminal, civil and congressional investigations, particularly with regard to supply chain risks in certain industries, government contracting and cross-border investment, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Decline Of Deference Will Affect Trump Policymaking

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    An administrative law regime without Chevron deference may limit the Trump administration’s ability to implement new policies in the short term, but ultimately help it in the long term, and all parties with an interest in regulatory changes will have to take a fresh approach to litigation, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

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    President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.

  • How Trump 2.0 May Change Business In Latin America

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    Companies in Latin America should expect to face more trade restrictions, tighter economic sanctions and enhanced corruption risks, as the incoming administration shifts focus to certain non-U.S. actors, most notably China, says Matteson Ellis at Miller & Chevalier.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

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    Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    Section 230 Debates Will Continue, With Or Without TikTok

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    Regardless of whether TikTok is forced to shut down in the U.S. in the coming weeks, legal disputes will continue over social media platforms' responsibility under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for harms allegedly caused by content shared on their apps, says Carla Varriale-Barker at Segal McCambridge.

  • Series

    Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.

  • How To Manage During A Trade Dispute With USMCA Partners

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    Companies can try to minimize the potential impacts of future tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, and uncertainty about future trade relations, by evaluating supply chains, considering how they may be modified, and engaging with the new administration over exemptions and the upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Reviewing The High Court's Approach To Free Speech Online

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    As the U.S. Supreme Court began addressing the interplay between the First Amendment and online social media platforms, its three opinions from last term show the justices adopting a nuanced approach that recognizes that private citizens, public employees and online platforms all have First Amendment rights, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

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    General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.

  • Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

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    Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Searching For Insight On Requested Google Chrome Remedy

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    The potential for Google to divest its Chrome browser — a remedy requested by the Justice Department following a D.C. federal court’s finding the company is a monopolist — has drawn both criticism and endorsement, but legal precedent likely supports the former, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How The UPC, ITC Complement Each Other In Patent Law

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    Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss the similarities and differences between the Unified Patent Court and the International Trade Commission, as well as recent matters litigated in both venues and why parties choose to file at these forums.

  • Series

    Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.

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