Communications Litigation Today is tracking the below lawsuits involving appeals of FCC actions.

House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui of California and the subpanel’s 10 other Democrats said Wednesday they’re backing the FCC’s proposal that requires disclosures on political ads created with generative AI (see 2407250046). The FCC is facing pushback from congressional Republicans over the AI proposal, as demonstrated during a July House Communications hearing (see 2407090049). NAB and the Motion Picture Association are seeking a 30-day extension for comments on the proceeding in docket 24-211 (see 2408120034). Comments are currently due Sept. 4, replies Sept. 19. “We believe that this action is necessary considering the growing impact of generative AI tools on our electoral process,” the House Communications Democrats said in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “While AI is not new, the speed at which we are witnessing the deployment of generative AI is staggering. During this election season, we have already seen AI deployed to manipulate, confuse and misinform voters.” The Democratic lawmakers pushed back against claims by Republican Federal Election Commission Chairman Sean Cooksey and others that the FEC has sole authority over political reporting requirements and disclaimers (see 2406060051). “Such arguments ignore the relevant statutes and decades of precedent,” the Democrats said: “We also find it worrisome that such a simple, consumer-friendly proposal that imposes minimal burdens has evoked such strong opposition from Republicans -- even well before the full text of the proposal was released to the public” in late July (see 2407250046).

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) urged school districts to restrict smartphones in classrooms this academic year. “Excessive smartphone use among youth is linked to increased anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues,” Newsom said Tuesday in a letter to California schools. “The evidence is clear: reducing phone use in class leads to improved concentration, better academic outcomes, and enhanced social interactions.” Newsom highlighted a 2019 law he signed that authorizes districts to regulate smartphone use during school hours. Also, the governor is working with the state legislature to “further limit student smartphone use on campus,” he said. Multiple states are examining ways of directing their public schools to limit students' mobile phone use (see 2407190012).

A federal court in California should "use its broad power” to end Google’s illegal Play Store monopoly, which has resulted in anticompetitive distribution of video games on Android devices, the FTC said in a filing Monday (docket 3:20-cv-05671-JD). Epic Games sued Google in 2020, challenging the platform’s 30% app store commission fee for downloads of Epic’s Fortnite. A federal jury in December 2023 found Google guilty of maintaining an illegal monopoly, siding with Epic on all counts. Google is appealing. Epic in March asked U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco to force Google to remove barriers to app store competition on Android devices. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California should “use its broad power to order a remedy that stops the illegal conduct, prevents its recurrence, and restores competition,” the FTC said in its amicus brief. Injunctive relief should “restore lost competition in a forward-looking way and should ensure a monopolist is not continuing to reap the advantages and benefits obtained through the antitrust violation,” the agency said. The FTC asked the court to consider structural relief and potential remedies that “address unlawfully acquired scale or unlawfully erected entry barriers, be it in the context of a single product or across lines of business.” The commission voted 3-0 to file the brief, with Commissioners Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson recused. Holyoak was recused due to her work on behalf of Utah in the state’s antitrust case against Google. Ferguson was recused owing to his role as solicitor general of Virginia, which participated in Epic v. Google.

T-Mobile condemned a plan allowing people without social security numbers to seek low-income telephone support in California. In comments this week, T-Mobile subsidiary Assurance Wireless said the California Public Utilities Commission’s July 22 proposed decision "poses a serious threat to the integrity and the functionality of” California LifeLine. Consumer advocates applauded the plan that requires providers to accept applications from those without SSNs, though they raised major privacy concerns with a proposal to use LexisNexis’ TrueID authentication software for identity verification. The CPUC may vote Aug. 22 on the proposal in docket R.20-02-008 (see 2407230040).

Opponents of giving the FirstNet Authority effective control of the 4.9 GHz band, as promoted by AT&T and the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA), have been at the FCC repeatedly in recent weeks, driven in part by rumors that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel may support that plan. But industry officials say how the FCC will come down remains uncertain. With Commissioner Anna Gomez expected to recuse herself, because of work before she joined the commission, Rosenworcel will likely need support from at least one Republican commissioner.

Space Norway's ASBM-1 and ASBM-2 satellites, which include Viasat's GX10A and GX10B Ka-band payloads, successfully launched Sunday from Vandenburg Space Force Base in California, Viasat said. The two satellites will deploy in a highly elliptical orbit, and Viasat said it will use them to extend its broadband network to Arctic region coverage. It said the Ka-band payloads are expected to enter service in early to mid 2025.

California will award almost $91 million more in its fifth round of broadband grants, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced Thursday. The commission recommended approval for projects in Marin, Mendocino, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Sutter counties, benefiting an estimated 32,000 Californians. This brings the total amount in grants CPUC has recommended to $435 million for projects in 22 counties, out of an available $2 billion from the Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program (see 2407110057).

The 5G Automotive Association called for expeditious FCC approval of a long-awaited order finalizing rules for cellular vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band. Representatives of the group met with aides to Commissioners Anna Gomez, Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138. 5GAA said that based on Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's statements (see 2407170042), the order “appears to be generally consistent with 5GAA’s most recent advocacy” on C-V2X use of the band. Fremont, California, meanwhile, became the latest city to seek a waiver of the current rules for deploying C-V2X for roadside and on-board units for “a wide range of applications to enhance public safety, efficiency, and overall traffic management.”

The rise of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrats' presidential nominee should have few implications for FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, industry observers agree. If anything, Rosenworcel’s ties to Harris are likely stronger than they are to President Joe Biden, they said. Biden waited until October 2021, more than nine months after his inauguration, to designate Rosenworcel as the first woman to chair the agency on a permanent basis (see 2110260001).