On June 28, 2024, in a 6-3 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine, a decades-old precedent that largely pressed federal courts to defer to federal agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes under their jurisdiction. The full implications of this decision merit ongoing attention and preparation for a changed … Continue Reading
On March 11, 2024, US President Joe Biden released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget request, which included proposals on U.S. Artificial Intelligence (AI) development and efforts to implement the Biden Administration’s Executive Order (EO) on AI. The budget identifies the National Science Foundation (NSF) as central to U.S. leadership in AI, requesting $10.2 billion … Continue Reading
This year, Congress is steadily progressing towards enacting meaningful legislation on artificial intelligence (AI) for the first time. At the end of 2023, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and his “Gang of Four” (Senators Todd Young (R-IN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Mike Rounds (R-SD)) concluded their AI Insight Forums, a series of sessions where … Continue Reading
Last week, the Senate made significant procedural headway, in coordination with the House, to advance into a formal conference on the “Bipartisan Innovation Act” (BIA), merging the House-passed America COMPETES Act with the Senate-passed United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA). This development occurred after weeks of pre-conferencing discussions by staff among some of the … Continue Reading
In April 2021, the EU Commission (EC) proposed a suite of new legislative and non-legislative proposals related to artificial intelligence (AI): in a proposed Regulation laying down rules on Artificial Intelligence (“Artificial Intelligence Act – AIA”), the EC attempts the first-ever comprehensive legal framework for this highly debated and fast-developing family of technologies.… Continue Reading
Are you an American company interested in doing business in emerging and developing markets, but concerned about the risk they present?… Continue Reading
The European Commission recently launched two complementary consultations that would expand its competition enforcement powers and establish regulations for digital markets. The commission intends to close perceived gaps in its statutory powers to curb gatekeepers in digital markets.… Continue Reading
A potential area of increased transatlantic collaboration could center on ongoing efforts to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO). China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic may provide an avenue for the United States (US) and European Union (EU), along with the United Kingdom (UK) and other like-minded trading partners, to bridge divides on WTO reform … Continue Reading
Do you give up a little liberty to get a little protection?” As green sprouts start to appear in parts of the global economy, much uncertainty remains about how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect our collective future. Amidst this ambiguity, one of the few things that appears certain is that technology will play a significant … Continue Reading
The European Commission (i.e. the European Union’s Executive Body) has started a new 5-year political mandate on 1 December 2019 under the leadership of its new President, the German Ursula von der Leyen. Three overarching priorities are woven into the EC policy agenda until 2024: (1) sustainability/climate neutrality (under the new European Green Deal), (2) … Continue Reading
Reassigned numbers have been at the center of the surge in litigation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) during the last few years. By now the story is well known to businesses that actively communicate with their customers: the customer consents to receive telemarketing and/or informational robocalls[1] at a wireless telephone number, but months … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senators Seek Hearing on Sinclair-Tribune Merger On June 5, a group of senators including Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MN), and Corey Booker (D-NJ) sent a letter to Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (Senate Commerce Committee) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senators Seek Probe of Cyber Attacks on FCC’s Website On May 31, Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Al Franken (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Edward Markey (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote a letter to Andrew McCabe, Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), asking agency to “prioritize” an investigation into cyber-attacks that … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Democrats Introduce Infrastructure Bill that Includes $40 Billion for Broadband On May 17, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) introduced H.R.2479, the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act (LIFT America Act). According to a press release on Rep. Pallone’s website, the legislation “sets out five years of funding for essential infrastructure improvements, job growth, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senators Introduce Bill to Expand Broadband Deployment Using Accurate Coverage Data On May 11, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced S.1104, the Rural Wireless Access Act of 2017. The bill would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to “collect broadband coverage … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Online Privacy Legislation Introduced in the Senate On April 27, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced S.964, the Managing Your Data Against Telecom Abuses Act of 2017 (MY DATA Act). The legislation prevents broadband providers and edge providers, such as Amazon or Netflix, from using “an unfair or deceptive act … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Chairman Pai Tells Members of Congress that Set-Top Box Docket to Stay Open On Thursday, April 13, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai responded to a January 25 letter (previously discussed here) from members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee that asked Chairman Pai to make a “healthy practice of closing dockets … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Approves Joint Resolution to Repeal the FCC’s Broadband Privacy Rules, Sending the Measure to the President On March 28, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution (S.J. Res. 34) passed by the Senate last week to repeal the broadband privacy rules adopted by the Federal Communications … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Approves Joint Resolution to Repeal the FCC’s Broadband Privacy Rules On March 23, the U.S. Senate passed S.J. Res. 34, a joint resolution to repeal the broadband privacy rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October 2016. Introduced by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), the joint resolution, which states that “Congress … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Broadband-Focused Bills Introduced in House Several Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee (House Commerce Committee) have introduced bills focused on broadband. The bills are as follows: H.R.1546, the Rural Wireless Act of 2017. Introduced on March 15 by Rep. David Loebsack (D-IA), the bill would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Bill on Unwanted Robocalls and Texts Introduced in Senate On March 8, Sens. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Help Americans Never Get Unwanted Phone Calls (HANGUP) Act of 2017. The legislation, a version of which was introduced in 2016, would eliminate a provision of the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Introduced in the House and Senate On March 2, legislators in both the House of Representatives (House) and the Senate introduced several bills relating to cybersecurity reforms. As of this writing, the text of the bills below has not been publicly released. The following bills were introduced in the House: H.R.1340, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cell Location Privacy Act Introduced in House On February 15, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced H.R.1061, the Cell Location Privacy Act of 2017. The bill proposes to ban the use of cell-site simulators, known as StingRay devices, without first obtaining a warrant. Cell-site simulators are devices that appear to be legitimate cell phone … Continue Reading
