AT&T suffered a wireless outage Tuesday night that apparently started in the Southeast and spread throughout the U.S., based on social media and other reports. A software issue caused the outage, which was resolved, AT&T said Wednesday. The FCC is investigating, a spokesperson emailed.
California should “probably pass” legislation allowing the attorney general to pursue civil penalties against large AI developers if they cause “severe harm” to residents, X Chief Technology Officer Elon Musk said Tuesday. Tech entrepreneur Andrew Ng spoke against SB-1047 in May, calling it a “ridiculous” regulation (see 2405300064). “This is a tough call and will make some people upset, but, all things considered, I think California should probably pass the SB 1047 AI safety bill,” Musk said. “For over 20 years, I have been an advocate for AI regulation, just as we regulate any product/technology that is a potential risk to the public.” The law would apply to companies training models with more than $100 million in computing power, and in incidents that cause at least $500 million in damage to critical infrastructure or mass casualties.
The California Public Utilities Commission proposed $174.4 million in federal broadband grant awards for 15 last-mile projects in Santa Clara and four other counties. Recommended grantees include three tribal entities, the CPUC said Friday. The commission has a vote planned for its Sept. 26 meeting on two draft resolutions (T-17845 and T-17846) including the recommended awards. The CPUC recommended a $91 million round of federal grants earlier this month (see 2408090016). Commissioners last Thursday agreed on another $237 million in grants using money from 2021's American Rescue Plan Act and the state's general fund (see 2408220044). CPUC members may also vote Sept. 26 on a proposed decision approving volume two of the CPUC’s proposed rules for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. The CPUC submitted both volumes of its initial plan to NTIA on Dec. 26, 2023, the draft released Friday noted. During the NTIA’s review of California’s volume two, the federal agency requested changes “on seven separate occasions,” it said. “The deadlines for submitting BEAD applications will be announced by the [CPUC] Communications Division Staff, after the NTIA approves the final eligibility map.” California still needs NTIA volume-two approval to access its $1.86 billion BEAD allocation.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to partially uphold an injunction against a California age-appropriate social media design law (see 2408160015) means similar legislation at the federal level is likely unconstitutional, a policy expert at the International Center for Law & Economics said Monday. Innovation policy scholar Ben Sperry argued that duty of care provisions in the Kids Online Safety Act, which the Senate passed last month 91-3 (see 2407300042), likely violate the First Amendment. The 9th Circuit found the Age-Appropriate Design Code Act’s (AB-2273) impact assessment requirement is violative because it requires that platforms make judgments about what online content could harm children. Sperry argued that under KOSA, platforms would be incentivized to censor all but “the most benign speech” to avoid triggering children’s anxiety or to avoid “bullying” claims.
Verizon’s Simple Mobile premiered its LifeLine discount program on Friday targeting California residents. The prepaid carrier is offering a 30 GB monthly wireless plan for as little as $1. The plan previously offered 10 GB/month. With the affordable connectivity program “going away, we wanted to create a best-in-class offer with a best-in-class brand that truly serves our communities,” said David Kim, chief revenue officer at Verizon Value.
California and Google reached a public-private agreement to fund news publishers, which advocates are presenting as an alternative to legislation requiring tech platforms to compensate news outlets for use of their content. “California news publishers will be the beneficiaries of a News Transformation Fund, to be administered by the UC Berkeley School of Journalism, providing financial resources that preserve and expand California-based journalism,” said a news release from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D). Wicks introduced the California Journalism Preservation Act (AB-886), which the California Senate Appropriations Committee was considering. Under the agreement, "nearly $250 million in public and private funding” will be provided over the next five years by the state and technology platforms, “with the majority of funding” going to California newsrooms, the release said. “The goal is to front-load $100 million in the first year to kick-start the efforts.” The investment could increase if more funding becomes available, the release said. The money will go to “California-based state and local news organizations, particularly those serving California local news deserts, underserved and underrepresented communities, and outlets that prioritize California coverage.” The deal also creates a “National AI Innovation Accelerator,” which will provide organizations and communities “with financial resources and other support to experiment with AI to assist them in their work,” the release said. “This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy,” said Alphabet President of Global Affairs Kent Walker. The News/Media Alliance, which has pushed for federal legislation that allows journalism outlets to jointly negotiate with tech companies over content rights, praised the agreement but said it underscores the need for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (see 2306150053). Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced that bill last year. “Assemblymember Wicks has shown incredible commitment to news publishers, and through her efforts has extracted concessions from one of the world’s largest tech giants,” said NMA President Danielle Coffey in a release. “Google is a dominant monopoly that reaps significant revenue off scraping and repackaging quality news content, depriving publishers of the opportunity to monetize their content and reinvest in journalists,” Coffey said. “Today’s announcement reinforces the need for federal legislation and potential court remedies to address this broken marketplace.”
The California Public Utilities Commission gave the green light Thursday to $237 million in grants for last-mile broadband infrastructure projects across primarily rural areas of the state. The funding comes from 2021's American Rescue Plan Act and the state's general fund. CPUC President Alice Reynolds called the pair of 5-0 votes on resolutions T-17833 and T-17835 awarding the grant applications "a fabulous example of putting these funds to work." Recipients include incumbent providers, communities and tribes. The projects cover more than 30,000 unserved locations in Alpine, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Barbara and Tulare counties. The CPUC made $88.5 million worth of similar grant awards in July (see 2407110057).
Communications Litigation Today is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Provisions in California’s age-appropriate social media design law likely violate the First Amendment, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday in a victory for NetChoice (docket 23-2969) (see 2407170046). A three-judge panel found the Age-Appropriate Design Code Act’s (AB-2273) impact assessment requirement likely violates the First Amendment because it requires that platforms make judgments about what online content could harm children. The ruling, issued by Judge Milan Smith, affirms a district court decision enjoining enforcement of the law’s Data Protection Impact Assessment requirement. However, the court remanded the case back to the district court for further consideration on other aspects of the law. It’s “unclear from the record” whether other challenged provisions “facially violate the First Amendment,” or the unconstitutional aspects can be separated from valid provisions of the law, the court said. NetChoice is “likely to succeed” in showing that the law’s requirement that “covered businesses opine on and mitigate the risk that children may be exposed to harmful or potentially harmful materials online facially violates the First Amendment,” Smith wrote. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in September granted NetChoice's request for a preliminary injunction. The lower court ruled the state has “no right to enforce obligations that would essentially press private companies into service as government censors, thus violating the First Amendment by proxy.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) appealed. NetChoice Litigation Center Director Chris Marchese called the decision a victory for free expression: “The court recognized that California’s government cannot commandeer private businesses to censor lawful content online or to restrict access to it.” Bonta’s office didn’t comment Friday.
California appropriators last week halted multiple telecom-related bills meant to help vulnerable communities. Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D) blamed the broadband industry after the Senate Appropriations Committee held back her bill that would have banned digital discrimination as the FCC defines it (AB-2239). However, that committee and its Assembly counterpart advanced several other telecom and privacy bills to final floor votes.