NextNav appoints Renee Gregory, ex-Google, as vice president-regulatory affairs ... FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson adds David Shaw, formerly Morrison & Foerster, as principal deputy director, and Kelse Moen, ex-Senate Judiciary Committee, as deputy director, Bureau of Competition; promotes Douglas Geho to deputy director, Bureau of Consumer Protection … Wiley names Ian Barlow, ex-FTC, as of counsel.
Wiley adds Ian Barlow, formerly FTC, as of counsel … DCI Group taps Dishan De Silva, ex-Silver Square, as CFO, new post … Thrive appoints Ben Reich, ex-Opti9 Tech, CFO … Lantronix names Steve Burrington, ex-Ikotek USA, as vice president-global research and development, replacing Eric Bass ... Spectrum Reach promotes Jason Brown to executive vice president, replacing David Kline, president and Charter executive vice president, retiring, effective in May, after 46 years.
Lawyers who made the recent arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson agreed that the case will likely turn on the views of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Morrison Foerster’s Joseph Palmore, who represented McKesson, and Gupta Wessler’s Matthew Wessler, representing McLaughlin, spoke during an FCBA continuing legal education event Wednesday.
New FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s decision to pull all items on circulation for a vote by commissioners wasn’t a surprise, industry officials said. Since taking office a week ago, President Donald Trump has pushed a deregulatory agenda and issued a regulatory freeze among a slew of executive orders on his first day (see 2501210070). Among the FCC items withdrawn was a controversial NPRM that former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated in March on banning bulk broadband billing in multi-tenant environments (see 2408010064).
New FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to keep Greg Watson as his chief of staff; he names Scott Delacourt, ex-Wiley, chief of staff of the commission; Adam Chan, ex-Boyden Gray, national security senior counsel; Anthony Patrone, ex-NTIA, legal adviser; Matt Mittelstaedt, ex-office of then-Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, director-office of legislative affairs; Arpan Sura, former senior counsel-Wireless Bureau, senior counsel-spectrum and technology; Danielle Thumann, Carr's legal adviser, becomes senior counsel-wireline, public safety and consumer protection; Erin Boone, former chief of staff and wireless adviser to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, becomes Carr's senior counsel-media and enforcement; Wireline Bureau's Callie Coker, moves to legal adviser-chairman's office; Drema Johnson continues as Carr's confidential assistant; Stephanie Chambless, ex-House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump, named special counsel-Office of the General Counsel ... GeoLinks names David Gray, ex-Splice, channel sales leader … Broadband telecommunications services company Boston Omaha adds David Graff, ex-Hudl, to board.
Eight former FCC commissioners filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court last week urging the justices to overturn the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating part of the USF program. Meanwhile, likely Senate Communications Subcommittee leaders Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., led an amicus brief with 27 other House and Senate lawmakers defending the funding mechanism.
With the FCC considering an NPRM and notice of inquiry as the agency's next steps on AI, the issue of AI and robocalls will only grow in importance, experts said Thursday during an FCBA webinar. They also agreed that generative AI could yield new tools that can help curb unwanted and illegal texts and calls.
Four major trade associations urged that the U.S. Supreme Court reject arguments that a lower court can review an FCC decision in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case and isn’t barred from doing so under the Hobbs Act. That view largely supports U.S. government arguments on the important role the act plays (see 2412240022). SCOTUS is scheduled to hear McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Jan. 21, a case from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Facing SEC requirements of prompt public disclosure of material cybersecurity incidents, many companies are reporting out of fear of violating the rules, sometimes going public with nonmaterial incidents, cybersecurity experts say. In an FCBA CLE Monday, Wiley cybersecurity lawyer Josh Waldman said the SEC's lawsuit against SolarWinds over the software company's disclosure practices seemed like it would trigger vast under- or overreporting, with the latter seemingly emerging as the dominant trend. While there's a willingness among agencies and Congress to harmonize different agencies' privacy, data security and cybersecurity rules, there's not a clear way of doing so, cybersecurity experts said.
CTIA President-CEO Meredith Baker to retire in 2025 at the end of her contract, continuing to lead the organization "in the interim to ensure a smooth transition" (see 2412120055) ... NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson says he's resigning Jan. 20 (see 2412120066) ... Spence Purnell, ex-Reason Foundation, joins R Street Institute as senior fellow-technology and innovation ... Wiley announces promotions, including Lyn Brown to partner, telecom, media and tech, and Frank Scaduto to of counsel, litigation, including telecom, effective Jan. 1 ... Qualcomm promotes Baaziz Achour to chief technology officer, succeeding James Thompson, retiring, effective Feb. 3 ... Paramount Global extends Dorothea Lea’s contract through 2028 as executive vice president-global public policy and government relations ... Ciena appoints board member Lawton Fitt as independent chair-board; Patrick Nettles steps down as executive chair.