California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) cleared a social media bill and multiple broadband measures by Friday’s deadline to sign or veto bills from the state legislature. On Friday, Newsom signed SB-1056 to require social media platforms with at least 1 million monthly users to say if they have a mechanism for reporting violent posts. Also, he approved SB-884 to require the CPUC to establish an electric undergrounding program that requires telecom providers to put non-wireless infrastructure underground and pay proportionate costs; SB-717 to require a report about broadband deployment barriers on government-owned structures, private and public lands and buildings and public rights of way; and AB-1426 to clarify nonprofit religious organizations may get grants from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband adoption account. On Thursday, Newsom signed AB-2752 to clarify what data the California Public Utilities Commission must collect for mapping broadband access. Also last week, Newsom signed bills to make phone calls free for many incarcerated persons and vetoed an industry-supported bill to change the CPUC’s broadband grant review process (see 2209300063).
The U.K. imposed new sanctions pertaining to Russia's escalation of the conflict in Ukraine by annexing the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhiz, the government announced Sept. 30. The new restrictions include bans on export of services and the designation of Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of the Central Bank. The U.K. said Nabiullina "has been instrumental in steering the Russian economy" through the invasion of Ukraine by extending the ruble into Ukrainian lands occupied by Russia.
More than a dozen amendments involving trade have been proposed for the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill the Senate passes every year, and is expected to take up in a lame-duck session after the November election.
Dish Network landed the highest national TV customer satisfaction ranking for the fifth straight year, reported J.D. Power Thursday. Overall satisfaction was 699 points on a 1,000-point scale for cable and satellite and 774 points for streaming, it said: “Among both groups, the biggest driver for choosing a television provider is a lower price.” FuboTV ranked highest in the live TV streaming segment with a score of 789, it said. Sling TV (786) ranked second and YouTube TV (779) was third.
Dish Network landed the highest national TV customer satisfaction ranking for the fifth straight year, reported J.D. Power Thursday. Overall satisfaction was 699 points on a 1,000-point scale for cable and satellite and 774 points for streaming, it said: “Among both groups, the biggest driver for choosing a television provider is a lower price.” FuboTV ranked highest in the live TV streaming segment with a score of 789, it said. Sling TV (786) ranked second and YouTube TV (779) was third.
China's General Administration of Customs in a Sept. 26 notice laid out steps it would take to strengthen its customs supervision and boost trade facilitation for "transit goods," according to an unofficial translation. Transit goods refer to goods shipped from overseas that continue to be shipped to a different country via land routes in China.
The Court of International Trade in a Sept. 22 opinion denied plaintiff Kaptan Demir Celik Endustrisi ve Ticaret's motion to stay its countervailing duty review challenge pending resolution of a case over the previous review of the same CVD order. Judge Gary Katzmann said the stay would not promote judicial economy since the pending cases are before CIT and not the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and that Kaptan has not put forth any "pressing need" for a stay. The judge commented on the lack of any "talismanic formula" for finding when a stay motion should be granted and the need to weigh the various conditions at play.
The South Carolina Public Service Commission cleared Palmetto Telephone to expand authority to provide local exchange and exchange access services to customers in TDS Telecom territory in the state. In Tuesday's order in docket 2022-190-C, the PSC also granted flexible regulation of Palmetto’s local exchange services offerings in the new area, like it had in existing areas. Service in the new area by the “established” South Carolina CLEC “will enhance competition … by offering additional service options and high service quality to South Carolina telecommunications users,” the PSC said.
The FCC will release a notice of funding opportunity “in the coming months” for organizations seeking funding through the affordable connectivity program’s outreach grant program, said Derik Goatson, Office of Native Affairs Policy legal adviser, during a Consumer Action webinar Tuesday (see 2208050023). The grant program’s review process will “prioritize applicants who target underserved low-income households and communities with low ACP enrollment rates,” Goatson said, noting “many of these communities are often tribal communities.”
A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel repeatedly challenged Reno's right-of-action arguments Monday during oral argument in the city's appeal (docket 21-16560) of a lower court rejecting its franchise fee litigation against streamers Netflix and Hulu (see 2202080088). The 8th Circuit is scheduled to hear oral argument Tuesday in an appeal by Ashdown, Arkansas, regarding a similar dismissed franchise fee suit against the streaming services.