The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation filed comments Wednesday supporting an FCC proposal to forbear from enforcing incumbent interconnection obligations specific to local exchange carriers. Initial comments the agency's IP interconnection NPRM, approved by commissioners in October (see 2510280024), are due Jan. 5 in docket 25-304.
Industry groups are concerned about FCC proposals to relax restrictions on sharing disaster reporting information with public safety authorities and the public but are broadly supportive of agency plans to streamline the disaster information reporting system (DIRS), according to comments filed in docket 21-346. Public disclosure of outage reporting data “could compromise public safety and network security, particularly at a time when vandalism of communications network infrastructure is on the rise,” said ACA Connects. The FCC should focus on more education and engagement with state public safety officials, “not a lowering of standards for protecting sensitive information from public disclosure.” But Public Knowledge said wider dissemination of outage data could improve public safety and enhance competition by giving the public another category in which to compare providers.
The Democracy Forward Foundation has asked a federal court to compel the FCC to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests for emails and messages from Chairman Brendan Carr and his staff related to the agency's actions against media companies. “DFF filed FOIA requests to shed light on the actions and priorities of FCC leadership, particularly given the agency’s use of its authority to restrain protected speech and expression,” said the complaint, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Discussion about a draft executive order seeking to block states from regulating AI is “speculation” until something is announced, a White House official said in a statement Thursday (see 2511190059). However, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) and others condemned the possible preemption attempt.
There remains a need for the federal government to establish “lanes” limiting how states can regulate AI technology, Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., told reporters Wednesday.
Use of AI in U.S. schools is linked to increased privacy risk, the nonpartisan Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) noted in a report Wednesday that surveyed more than 1,000 students, teachers and parents between June and August. In addition, the report found parents were the group most worried about school-related data privacy and that transgender and immigrant students are experiencing increased privacy issues.
The Department of Labor should withdraw a proposed rule that would force states to share unemployment data because it’s unconstitutional and contradicts state privacy laws, consumer and labor advocates said in recent comments to DOL. Government offices in California, Texas, Nevada, Connecticut and Washington raised questions and concerns about the proposal.
The Trump administration’s creation of large government databases consolidating the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans in an attempt to purge voter rolls is unlawful, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), League of Women Voters and others.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and other Hill Democratic leaders castigated FCC Chairman Brendan Carr during what amounted to a one-party bicameral hearing Monday for his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509180066). Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast stopped preempting Kimmel Friday night, as expected (see 2509260054). The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing potential dates soon for an FCC oversight hearing that ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats have been requesting to confront Carr (see 2509220059), lobbyists told us.
The House Commerce Committee voted 50-1 Wednesday to advance a revised version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979), despite some members’ misgivings about including a shorter sunset period as a compromise with pro-automotive industry lawmakers. HR-979 and its Senate Commerce Committee-advanced companion, S-315, would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology, mostly affecting electric vehicles (see 2502100072). The bill’s supporters unsuccessfully tried to attach it to a December 2024 continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations (see Ref:2412180033]).