Here are last week’s most-read stories on court proceedings affecting telecom, tech and media that were covered in-depth by our sibling publication Communications Litigation Today. Current subscribers can click the reference number hyperlink or search the story title. Nonsubscribers can gain access by signing up for a complimentary preview.
Ukraine continues to be a vibrant IT market despite the ongoing war, speakers said Thursday during the Ukraine Recovery Conference, held Wednesday and Thursday in London. Ukraine led the world in digitization even before Russia invaded and continues to do so, being an example for other countries on e-government, they said. It's now the best place for the world's public and private sectors to test digital products, services and hypotheses, said Prime Minister Mykhailo Federov.
An upcoming Supreme Court decision in Biden v. Nebraska, which concerns the White House’s student loan forgiveness program, could clarify to what degree the court’s major questions doctrine (see 2302080064) could be used to challenge the actions of federal agencies such as the FCC, said HWG's Chris Wright and FCC Deputy General Counsel Jacob Lewis Thursday on a virtual FCBA panel.
FCC nominee Anna Gomez faced tough questions Thursday on net neutrality, data privacy, the Standard General/Tegna deal and how she would balance her current role leading the U.S. delegation in preparing for the World Radiocommunication Conference if she's confirmed to the FCC. The Senate Commerce Committee nomination hearing saw Commissioner Geoffrey Starks hit by many of the same questions on his nomination for a second term on the FCC. Commissioner Brendan Carr, also being renominated, and Fara Damelin, nominee for FCC inspector general, faced fewer questions.
Without intervention, China will repeat the strategy that let it largely erode the West's once-unassailable advantage in telecommunications technology, but this time China will focus on AI, cloud computing and other vital core technologies, said Nate Fick, State Department's inaugural ambassador-at-large-cyberspace and digital policy, Wednesday at a Hudson Institute event. He was confirmed in September (see 2209150049). Citing China's subsidization of domestic companies and its financing of internet architecture deployments in developing nations, Fick said that "we are not going to match them dollar for dollar." Instead, the U.S. needs to identify specific technologies and geographies that matter most and build coalitions around them, he said.
Congress hopes to advance comprehensive legislation to regulate AI in a matter of months, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told a Center for Strategic & International Studies event Wednesday.
House Agriculture Committee members heard from stakeholders Wednesday about the state of USDA's broadband programs and policy ideas related to the 2023 farm bill. Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and others at the hearing cited the need for federal and state agency coordination on ongoing programs and ensuring the scalability of broadband networks in rural communities (see 2209150077).
Open radio access networks are starting to hit their stride, executives said during a TelecomTV summit Wednesday. Speakers said the outlook has changed in just more than a year.
The rollout of next-generation 911 to public safety answering points remains at the top of the agenda for the National Emergency Number Association and its members, CEO Brian Fontes said in an interview. NENA's annual meeting is this week in Grapevine, Texas. Fontes warned against a "patchwork" of service across the U.S.
The FCC approved a draft ATSC 3.0 order with sunset dates for the substantially similar and A/322 physical layer requirements (see 2304070045) and is expected to release it soon, FCC and industry officials told us. The order extends the substantially similar requirement for four years, and will require the FCC to examine the progress of the new standard one year before the sunset date. The order also similarly extends the physical layer requirement. The substantially similar requirement had been set to end in July. The A/322 physical layer was to sunset in March, but that was temporarily stayed by the agency earlier this year.