Paramount Skydance is ratcheting up its fight to try to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, saying Monday that it's suing WBD in Delaware Chancery Court. Paramount also said it will nominate a slate of directors for WBD's annual meeting who would enter into a transaction with Paramount rather than Netflix. WBD's board has recommended that shareholders support Netflix's proposed purchase of WBD (see 2601070048).
Consumer Technology Association CEO Gary Shapiro waited until the end of his comments at CES on Tuesday to criticize Trump administration trade policies, while other speakers explained why AI is dominating the annual tech show and why it’s important to industry and consumers. Nearly all the keynotes at the conference this week are focused, at least in part, on AI.
While the tech industry faces continuing challenges, the global tech and durables market will hit $1.3 trillion by the end of this year, said Brian Comiskey, senior director for innovation and trends at the Consumer Technology Association, in an opening keynote Monday at CES. Overall, the market is “static,” he said, with growth in some regions and contraction in others. He cited challenges including uncertainty and pressure from Trump administration tariffs. “Consumers are still buying technology, just more intentionally.”
Consumers should be on the lookout for phone and text message scams during the holidays, said the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau in an alert Monday. Avoid calls or texts from unknown parties, avoid mysterious links and keep an eye out for requests for payment by gift card, the alert said. The bureau also warned about holiday charity scams using phone calls or texts to solicit donations and about package delivery scams claiming that a consumer owes a tariff on an item. “Watch out for text notices saying your purchase is ‘stuck in customs’ or your order will not be delivered until a tariff is paid.” Consumers should check directly with the retailer if they suspect something is wrong, the agency added.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday signaled a willingness to uphold President Donald Trump’s firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a decision that liberal justices said could totally upend existing structures at independent agencies like the FTC and the FCC (see 2511280002).
The FCC appears unlikely to move forward quickly on changing its rules for legacy business data services (BDS), as proposed in an NPRM that commissioners approved ahead of their August meeting (see 2508050056), industry officials said. Unlike other reform proposals that are getting enthusiastic endorsement, at least from industry -- including faster copper retirements (see 2509300039) and streamlined wireline siting rules (see 2511170028) -- the BDS changes are seeing little support.
U.S. Supreme Court justices in oral argument Monday repeatedly challenged and tested Cox Communications' claim that it bears no liability for online piracy by its broadband subscribers. Cox is challenging a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld a lower court's contributory copyright infringement finding against the ISP (see 2408160034). The docket is 24-171.
FCC General Counsel Adam Candeub faced some tough questions as he defended the agency's order establishing a regime that's designed to promote use of the 4.9 GHz band by giving the FirstNet Authority access to the spectrum (see 2509160005). A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument Monday.
ORLANDO -- BEAD-related fiber deployments will face sizable data center competition for fiber-optic cabling, and the BEAD camp is likely to lose out, supply chain experts predicted this week at the Broadband Nation Expo.
USTelecom and other commenters warned the FCC against abruptly detariffing legacy business data services (BDS), as is proposed in an NPRM that commissioners approved ahead of their August meeting (see 2508050056). Unlike most deregulatory proposals from the FCC, industry groups mostly aren’t on board with the BDS changes. Comments were posted Tuesday and Wednesday in docket 21-17.