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.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision doing away with Chevron deference won’t grind the next FCC to a halt but could prompt congressional action on the USF, former FCC officials said during panel discussions Thursday at Broadband Breakfast’s "Broadband in the Trump Administration" event.
Communications industry lobbyists told us they expect President-elect Donald Trump to soon follow his pair of Tuesday night FTC selections (see 2412100073) with a nominee for the FCC seat Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel plans to vacate Jan. 20. The lobbyists mentioned Arielle Roth, telecom policy director for Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as the apparent front-runner for the nomination, though the Trump team hasn’t yet made a final decision. Trump said Tuesday he’s picking Republican FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson as permanent chair of the commission and will nominate Mark Meador, a former antitrust staffer for Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah., to the commission seat that Chair Lina Khan currently holds.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned arguments from Mission Broadcasting and DirecTV Monday about whether the latter has standing to bring a retransmission consent price fixing case against the broadcaster. DirecTV has accused Mission of conspiring with Nexstar – which operates Mission’s stations and includes Mission’s profits in its SEC filings -- to overcharge the MVPD in retrans negotiations. DirecTV appealed the case after the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion from Mission to dismiss the case over DirecTV’s standing. During Monday’s oral argument, Wiley attorney Stephen Obermeier, representing Mission, argued that DirecTV lacked standing to bring the case because it didn’t ultimately reach a retransmission consent agreement with Mission and never paid the prices it said are anticompetitive (see 2407250038). Non-purchasers have historically not been granted standing in antitrust cases because their injuries are speculative, Obermeier told the court. The 2nd Circuit panel questioned that, with one judge suggesting that since DirecTV has reached retrans agreements with Mission previously and because there is only a small pool of MVPDs purchasing retrans rights, it is possible for DirecTV to show that it lost subscribers and income over the failure to reach a contract with Mission. That doesn’t match prior rulings, and ignores that the injury to DirecTV is caused by third parties – customers – electing not to subscribe, Obermeier said. Judge Richard Sullivan pressed DirecTV’s representative, King & Spalding attorney Paul Mezzina, about whether the company’s arguments would mean new entrants lack standing to bring such complaints. For example, if, hypothetically, Sullivan founded a competitor to DirecTV with private equity money, “you're saying that we'd be out of luck because we didn't have prior dealings?” Sullivan asked. Mezzina said that the hypothetical wasn't the case that he needed to win. DOJ also argued in favor of remanding the case Monday, saying that the lower court’s narrow ruling on what constitutes harm in price fixing cases should be reversed.
Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said Wednesday he has “no plans to resign,” an apparent response to talk that he was eyeing a Jan. 20 departure, in tandem with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, when Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr takes the gavel (see 2411210028). Several Senate Commerce Committee Democrats told us earlier Wednesday they were concerned that he would leave early and they were considering joining Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in pushing Starks to stay into the early months of President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration. Punchbowl News first reported Tuesday night that Schumer is urging Starks to stay. Meanwhile, Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington also is facing pressure to delay an early potential exit, but his departure doesn’t appear as imminent.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is in prime position to take over the commission’s chairmanship in January following former President Donald Trump’s election to a second term, giving him leeway to make potentially sweeping changes on a range of high-profile communications policy matters, lawyers and other observers said in interviews Wednesday. Carr’s agenda if he becomes chairman is likely to mirror elements of the FCC chapter he wrote for the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy agenda (see 2407050015), but he may need to delay non-bipartisan actions until the Senate can confirm a Republican nominee to fill current Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s seat if she resigns, as is tradition, observers told us.
NAB names Sean Perkins, ex-CTA, chief marketing officer-senior vice president-global connections and events ... Wiley adds Stacey Sutton and Amanda Jesteadt from Carlton Fields as partners in telecom, media and technology practice ... Phishing detection company Bolster appoints Rod Schultz, ex-Dust Identity, as CEO ... Southern Linc promotes Alan McIntyre to vice president-engineering and operations … Tech company Odine hires Truva founder and 6G pioneer Ilhan Akyildiz as research and development adviser.
The FCC “is not in the business of regulating content, full stop,” said Commissioner Anna Gomez Tuesday in a speech on the dangers of disinformation at The Media Institute’s Free Speech Gala. “Mis- and disinformation cloud our view of reality and inhibit our ability to discern the truth,” said Gomez, adding that “regulatory options are limited” in combating the problem. Modern technology and the decentralization of news have made it easier for false stories to spread further, Gomez said. She noted the response to hurricanes Helene and Milton as a recent example of the harms of disinformation. “Unworthy news sources” spread rumors that “dissuaded survivors from seeking help, and weakened morale among our first responders.” Gomez said “preserving local media” is a possible antidote to misinformation, because it offers “community specific information in an easy-to-access, reliable format.” As the U.S. “contends with a growing frequency in weather-related disasters, it is imperative that we make preserving local media a priority.” During the event, The Media Institute honored former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley with a lifetime achievement award. In addition, it presented former America’s Public Television Stations CEO Patrick Butler with the American Horizon Award. Cahill Gordon Senior Counsel Floyd Abrams, who represented The New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case, received the Institute’s Free Speech award.