The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected FCC tribal Lifeline support limits and procedures Friday. The 2017 order was vacated and remanded for a new rulemaking in a potential win for wireless resellers like TracFone (see 1902010017). It's a clean win for the order's opponents and the biggest loss for Chairman Ajit Pai so far in court, lawyers said Friday. Others said the FCC likely won’t try a do-over on the order or pursue removal non-facilities-based providers in general from the program.
Federal judges pressed both sides on the FCC's net neutrality rollback case in oral argument (audio) at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Friday. It ran almost four-and-a-half hours, almost twice what was scheduled, plus a break. All three judges questioned challenger contentions the FCC erred in reclassifying broadband internet access as a Communications Act Title I information service, particularly given Chevron deference to reasonable agency decisions on ambiguous statutes, including 2005 Brand X affirmation of Title I cable modem service. Two judges questioned FCC decisions, including to scrap net neutrality rules -- particularly for public safety operations -- pre-empt state and local governments, and use Section 257 authority for transparency rules.
Federal judges pressed both sides on the FCC's net neutrality rollback case in oral argument (audio) at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Friday. It ran almost four-and-a-half hours, almost twice what was scheduled, plus a break. All three judges questioned challenger contentions the FCC erred in reclassifying broadband internet access as a Communications Act Title I information service, particularly given Chevron deference to reasonable agency decisions on ambiguous statutes, including 2005 Brand X affirmation of Title I cable modem service. Two judges questioned FCC decisions, including to scrap net neutrality rules -- particularly for public safety operations -- pre-empt state and local governments, and use Section 257 authority for transparency rules.
The FCC asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to pause the briefing schedule on the 2014 quadrennial review order. With the shutdown to end soon, it wasn’t clear Friday how the court will respond. President Donald Trump reached a deal on a continuing resolution to reopen shuttered parts of the government through Feb. 15, which Congress was expected to have approved as soon as Friday night (see 1901240016). “Out of an abundance of caution, the Commission respectfully requests that the Court stay the briefing schedule until appropriations have been restored by Congress to the FCC" and DOJ, said an unopposed motion Thursday (in Pacer). The FCC’s respondent’s brief is due Feb. 14. The agency had asked that the schedule be resumed when federal funding does, and the 3rd Circuit then grant extension. Now, it's not clear if the court will grant the stay or extension, said Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman. If extension is granted, it would likely cause the other briefing dates in the case to be pushed back, Schwartzman told us.
Votes planned for a Jan. 30 FCC meeting are at risk as the partial government shutdown drags on with no end in sight, agency observers said. Even if lawmakers jump-start negotiations and reopen FCC offices before Jan. 30, time is slipping away for deliberations and votes by officials who would be scrambling to play catch-up and address backlogs. Another complication is the looming addition of Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who hasn't been sworn in despite being confirmed (see 901170036).
New FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks might not wait for the federal shutdown to end before taking office. The Senate confirmed Starks to his first term as a commissioner this month (see 1901030042), after the closure started but when the FCC was mostly operational. Almost two weeks later, the agency apparently still doesn’t have paperwork back from the White House and the State Department that it needs for Starks to move up to the eighth floor.
New FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks might not wait for the federal shutdown to end before taking office. The Senate confirmed Starks to his first term as a commissioner this month (see 1901030042), after the closure started but when the FCC was mostly operational. Almost two weeks later, the agency apparently still doesn’t have paperwork back from the White House and the State Department that it needs for Starks to move up to the eighth floor.
Judge Robert Wilkins will replace Judge Judith Rogers on the panel reviewing challenges to the FCC's net neutrality rollback order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit announced (in Pacer) Monday in Mozilla v. FCC, No. 18-1051. The move doesn't affect the panel's 2-1 majority of Democratic appointees (see 1901020040): President Barack Obama nominated Wilkins and President Bill Clinton appointed Rogers. The other judges are Patricia Millett, another Obama appointee, and Stephen Williams, appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Asked if the switch changed things, Andrew Schwartzman, counsel for petitioner Benton Foundation, emailed: "Not too much. ... Wilkins and Rogers are unlikely to be very different ideologically. However, he has much less of a track record on tech issues. ... He is more active in oral argument than Judge Rogers. ... When Judge Rogers presides, she is very much by-the-book. Judge Millett will now be presiding; she may be more lax about adhering to time limits." Free State Foundation President Randolph May expects the FCC would "feel more comfortable" with Rogers than Wilkins "on the theory that, in general, he may be more reflexively pro-regulatory and more likely to go along with Judge Millett. But this is really reading tea leaves at the margin.”
Judge Robert Wilkins will replace Judge Judith Rogers on the panel reviewing challenges to the FCC's net neutrality rollback order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit announced (in Pacer) Monday in Mozilla v. FCC, No. 18-1051. The move doesn't affect the panel's 2-1 majority of Democratic appointees (see 1901020040): President Barack Obama nominated Wilkins and President Bill Clinton appointed Rogers. The other judges are Patricia Millett, another Obama appointee, and Stephen Williams, appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Asked if the switch changed things, Andrew Schwartzman, counsel for petitioner Benton Foundation, emailed: "Not too much. ... Wilkins and Rogers are unlikely to be very different ideologically. However, he has much less of a track record on tech issues. ... He is more active in oral argument than Judge Rogers. ... When Judge Rogers presides, she is very much by-the-book. Judge Millett will now be presiding; she may be more lax about adhering to time limits." Free State Foundation President Randolph May expects the FCC would "feel more comfortable" with Rogers than Wilkins "on the theory that, in general, he may be more reflexively pro-regulatory and more likely to go along with Judge Millett. But this is really reading tea leaves at the margin.”
The head of a Georgetown Law communications and tech program and another lawyer there expect to change roles when the project gets a new chief, they told us last week. The changes are being sparked by the retirement of Angela Campbell, who for about 30 years headed at the law school the Institute for Public Representation's Communications & Technology Law Clinic. The school has been looking for a successor for some time, and Campbell hasn't decided if she will continue working at Georgetown after her directorship ends June 30. The clinic's Andrew Schwartzman, Benton Foundation senior counselor there, may also leave, he said. "My expectation is that I will do something else as of July 1." He hopes "to have continuing relationship with the Benton Foundation." The Benton Foundation "is honored to work with Andy beyond June 30," emailed Executive Director Adrianne Furniss about Schwartzman. "Among other things, Andy will continue to serve as counsel for Benton who is one of the petitioners" in the Mozilla v. FCC net neutrality case (see 1901030012), she added. Campbell expects to keep working on kids media as a Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood board member; the vice chair now, she likely will be elected chair in June. Her IPR program likely will remain involved in kidvid and political broadcast issues at the FCC and with kids' privacy and FTC Children's Online Privacy Protection Act rules. "It’s a good time while it's going well to have a transition" at IPR, she said. "There are a lot of qualified candidates out there, so I’m pretty confident it will work out well."