Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, chastised FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday for comments earlier in the week against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as bringing about the network’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely (see 2509180066). Carr threatened ABC in a podcast interview, saying the network should discipline Kimmel for comments about the Make America Great Again movement's reaction to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (see 2509170064) or face FCC action.

Charter Communications and Cox Communications defended their proposed $34.5 billion deal to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in a joint filing posted Wednesday in docket 25-07-016 (see 2505160060). The CPUC Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates), The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) filed various protests against the deal earlier this month seeking more information about the companies' proposed transaction.

House Communications Subcommittee members traded partisan barbs during a Thursday hearing over a largely GOP-initiated set of broadband permitting bills (see 2509120072) that Democrats claim won’t be effective in speeding up connectivity buildout. Republicans filed many of the 29 bills in past Congresses, including several they previously combined into the controversial American Broadband Deployment Act (see 2305240069). Subpanel Democrats also punctuated the hearing with criticism of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for threats against ABC and parent company Disney that resulted in the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (see 2509180055).

Congressional Democrats swiftly decried FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday night and Thursday for what they see as his central role in pressuring ABC and parent Disney before the network, Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely Wednesday night (see 2509180066). Carr threatened ABC in a podcast interview, saying it should discipline Kimmel for comments about the political affiliation of the suspected killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (see 2509170064) or face FCC action.

Chinese tech company MiniMax is engaged in "willful and brazen" copyright infringement via its Hailuo AI image- and video-generating AI service, said Disney, Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery in a complaint (docket 2:25-cv-08768) filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for Central California. The programmers said MiniMax markets Hailuo AI "as a 'Hollywood studio in your pocket'" and "built its business from intellectual property stolen from Hollywood studios" like them. The suit alleges direct and secondary copyright infringement by MiniMax and seeks unspecified damages, as well as an injunction prohibiting the offering of Hailuo AI without copyright protection measures. Also named as a defendant is MiniMax parent Shanghai Xiyu Jizhi Technology Co.

A bill that headed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) desk Tuesday would prohibit the California Public Utilities Commission from sharing the immigration status of FCC Lifeline applicants or subscribers with other government entities without a valid subpoena or warrant. AB-1303, which passed the state Senate last week, requires a "court-ordered subpoena or valid judicial warrant" for an individual's personal information to be released. It also clarified that Lifeline is a state law "that may provide assistance and services for individuals not lawfully present in the United States" under federal statutes.

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

California, New York and other “blue” states supported an application for review asking the FCC to rescind a Wireline Bureau order delaying some incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507310049). Other groups also supported the review in filings posted Tuesday in docket 23-62.

Groups opposed to the order giving the FirstNet Authority, and indirectly AT&T, control of the 4.9 GHz band through a nationwide license (see 2410220027) and the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA), which had only a few quibbles with the order, clashed in briefs filed this week at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Oral argument has yet to be scheduled in the case (docket 24-1363). The FCC approved the order during the last administration with support from current Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2411130027).

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Tuesday that he’s generally satisfied with how Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is playing out and raised doubts about whether the agency will plow further into the issue. The debate over Section 230 “is still alive,” but given changes by social media companies, Carr is in a “trust-but-verify posture,” he said at a Politico summit focused on AI.