President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday his incoming administration “will make cybersecurity a top priority at every level of government,” after Russian government-sponsored hackers breached several federal government agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce and Homeland Security. The House Homeland Security and Oversight committees launched an investigation into the breach, in which hackers penetrated federal cyber defenses via vulnerabilities in SolarWinds Orion software used for network management systems. DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency directed all agencies to disconnect the software.
California will extend the FCC’s expired pandemic connectivity pledge for 90 days, California Public Utilities Commissioners agreed unanimously at their livestreamed meeting Thursday. The nonvoluntary moratorium on disconnections and late fees amid COVID-19 will cover traditional landline, facilities-based VoIP and wireless providers. Commissioners also voted 5-0 to make public much of a 2019 service quality report on AT&T and Frontier Communications.
The FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee OK'd recommendations from the Increasing Broadband Investment in Low-Income Communities working group Thursday (see 2010290057). The delayed report met with mixed reactions.
Google got slapped Thursday with another antitrust lawsuit, this time from 35 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico (see 2012170037). As with states’ lawsuit against Facebook last week (see 2012100003), attorneys general from both parties in most states joined the complaint against Google, alleging the search firm violated Sherman Antitrust Act Section 2. Google said the AGs would harm search results at businesses’ cost.
Texas filed a multistate lawsuit against Google for anti-competitive conduct, exclusionary practices and deceptive representations, state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced Wednesday. Also signing the suit were Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah.
Three years after commissioners voted 3-2 to repeal net neutrality regulation from the Obama administration (see 1712140039), FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the results show it was right to act. The FCC may take on a few other issues before he leaves Jan. 20, Pai said Wednesday during an Institute for Policy Innovation webcast.
The FCC may approve in coming weeks the latest Communications Act Section 706 report. It's expected to conclude that broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner and say 25/3 Mbps downstream/upstream remains an appropriate benchmark for fixed service, FCC and industry officials said. FCC Democrats want to wait for the new administration, officials said. The report is due in February, after the start of Joe Biden's presidency.
ISPs will pay $1 per pole annually for attaching to electric cooperative infrastructure in Georgia’s unserved areas over the next six years and nearly $30 in served areas, Georgia Public Service Commissioners agreed at a virtual meeting Tuesday. They voted 5-0 for a modified version of a dual-rate regime suggested by electric membership cooperatives setting how much EMCs may charge telecoms.
Tech and communications interests were closely monitoring Tuesday talks on a FY 2021 appropriations omnibus package and COVID-19 aid legislation, since they're potential vehicles for a range of telecom policy proposals. Lawmakers have until Friday to reach a deal on omnibus spending; a continuing resolution to fund the federal government expires that evening (see 2012110054).
Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., will release a discussion draft Friday for updating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 2010050061), he said at a hearing Tuesday. It will have “revolutionary” concepts for preventing online piracy and protecting individual users, he said.