Florida appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a June 30 decision by U.S. District Court in Tallahassee to freeze the state’s law regulating social media. Florida filed a notice of appeal Tuesday at the lower court (case 4:21-cv-00220-RH-MAF). Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) pledged to continue the case (see 2107010055). NetChoice, one of the internet industry groups that sued, expects the appeals court to uphold the preliminary injunction, said a spokesperson. “We look forward to solidifying these important findings across the entire 11th Circuit." While Florida "is within its rights to appeal, its continued defense of a law that the district court concluded was clearly unconstitutional simply wastes taxpayers' dollars," said Computer and Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers. A similar Texas bill up for consideration in a special session (see 2107080012) met another roadblock this week as Democratic state senators exited the state Monday to prevent a quorum on a different bill.

“We Are UnStoppable” is the theme of an eight-week, 60-second TV ad campaign that debuted Monday in U.S. markets to promote website accessibility for the disabled, said accessiBe. "Despite web accessibility being a critical topic, especially as people continue to do almost everything online, conversations around it have not yet entered the mainstream TV world,” said CEO Shir Ekerling. “We believe this has to change.” People with disabilities "probably can't use your website," says a narrator in the spot. We found that many telecom and tech associations' websites are accessible, yet some need further improvements.

The FTC scheduled an open meeting at noon EDT July 21, to vote on a new policy statement on right to repair restrictions. See our bulletin here. President Joe Biden’s executive order Friday encouraged the FTC to issue rules against "anticompetitive restrictions" on using independent repair shops or doing do-it-yourself repairs of devices and equipment. The vote follows the "Commission's ‘Nixing the Fix’ report which was unanimously agreed to and announced on May 6,” Chair Lina Khan announced Monday. The commission also expects to vote on whether to rescind a policy statement issued in 1995 on “‘prior approval’ and ‘prior notice’ remedies in merger [and acquisitions] cases.” Speaker registration and comment submission is open through 8 p.m. EST July 18. Tech industry associations didn't comment. The agency is continuing to hold open meetings virtually due to the pandemic. Agendas are posted at least seven days before the next meeting.

Revenue in the global smart appliances market is projected to expand to $76.4 billion by 2026, from $33.8 billion this year, reported MarketsandMarkets Friday. Rising energy prices, changing consumer lifestyles and increasing use of wireless connectivity will be top growth drivers, it said: COVID-19 cut the market's growth rate in 2020 and 2021.

An internet industry group suing Florida for trying to regulate social media warned Texas Thursday not to do the same. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced a special session that began Thursday and will include a bill “safeguarding the freedom of speech by protecting social-media users from being censored by social-media companies based on the user’s expressed viewpoints, including by providing a legal remedy for those wrongfully excluded from a platform.” Lawmakers didn’t vote on Senate-passed SB-12 before the regular session ended (see 2106010052). “Constraining digital services’ ability to take action against harmful content and behavior could put Texans at greater risk of exposure to harms online,” said Computer and Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers. Florida said last week it will appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the decision by the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee to freeze Florida’s law (see 2107010055).

Four in 10 multiple dwelling unit renters are interested in bulk broadband bundled with their rent; 77% of those are willing to pay higher rent in exchange for the service, reported Parks Associates Wednesday. More MDU residents show growing interest in smart home devices, with 41% of such broadband households owning at least one device vs. 34% of single-family households. Social distancing during COVID-19 revealed consumers’ dependence on reliable connectivity for telehealth, videoconferencing, banking and online fitness, said analyst Jennifer Kent.

The pandemic led to surging identity and account takeover fraud, reported Juniper Research Monday, saying merchant losses to online payment fraud will exceed $206 billion globally 2021-25. Remote physical goods purchases are the leading cause of online payment fraud, generating 47% of fraud losses.

Use of connected TV devices leveled off over the past year after being “pulled forward” in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, said a Q2 Leichtman Research Group report. Still, 39% of adults watch video on a TV via a connected device daily, 60% weekly and 70% at least monthly, it said. Despite consumers having more ways to watch video, TVs are “overwhelmingly” their preferred delivery method, said Leichtman. Given a choice of screens, 78% of survey respondents said they prefer to watch video on a TV, 11% on a laptop or desktop computer, 8% on a smartphone and 3% on a tablet. About 82% of U.S. TV households have one internet-connected TV device, with an average 4.1 per TV household, said the report. That’s up from 74% in 2019 and 30% in 2011. Nearly nine in 10 households that bought a TV in the past year have at least one smart TV, it said. Younger people are most likely to use connected TV devices. Among ages 18-34, 54% watch video on a TV via a connected device daily -- compared with 43% of ages 35-54 and 22% of ages 55-plus. Major pay-TV providers lost about 1.9 million subscribers in Q1, while just over a million broadband subscriptions were added. About 250 million more TV households have connected TV devices than pay-TV set-top boxes, said Leichtman. In 2016 that number was 35 million, it said.

Two-thirds of U.S. broadband households have had a remote health consultation, said Parks Associates at its virtual Connected Health conference last week. More than half of 5,000 surveyed in Q2 reported owning a connected health or fitness device that captures biometric data, it said. Analyst Kristen Hanich cited a strong correlation for consumers between familiarity with telehealth and wanting the remote diagnostics and monitoring benefits offered by connected health technology. Health systems are increasingly using AI in patient navigation and clinical decision support, said Ada Health Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Cutler. Delivering the benefits of connected health requires a “holistic view of how to harness data, the cloud, and AI” to improve healthcare experiences, costs, and patient outcomes, said Karen Holzberger, Nuance Communications general manager-diagnostics. As virtual healthcare models evolve, “understanding patient vulnerability is critical,” said John Showalter, Jvion chief product officer, referencing lifestyle choices, activity level, health literacy, social supports and connectedness. AI can point to factors that will drive a better outcome, he said.

Broadcom monopolized “markets for semiconductor components” for television and broadband internet services “through exclusive dealing and related conduct,” the FTC said, filing charges Friday. The company said it hopes to reach a resolution with the agency that's “substantially similar” to a previous settlement with the European Commission involving the same products. The agency issued a proposed consent order, in which Broadcom would need to “stop requiring its customers to source components from Broadcom on an exclusive or near exclusive basis.” The commission voted 4-0-1 with Chair Lina Khan abstaining. The complaint “is a step toward addressing that problem by pushing back against strong-arm tactics by a monopolist in important markets for key broadband components,” said acting FTC Competition Bureau Director Holly Vedova. Broadcom is a “monopolist in the sale of three types of semiconductor components,” the FTC said, citing chips that are the “core circuitry that run traditional television broadcast set top boxes, as well as DSL and fiber broadband devices.” The company “illegally maintained its power in the three monopolized markets by entering long-term agreements with both OEMs and service providers that prevented these customers from purchasing chips from Broadcom’s competitors,” the FTC alleged. Broadcom disagrees its actions “violated the law and [we] disagree with the FTC’s characterizations of our business, [but] we look forward to putting this matter behind us and continuing to focus on supporting our customers through an environment of accelerated digital transformation,” a company spokesperson said. “We are equally pleased that the FTC investigation into our other businesses has been closed without action.”