The 4th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court affirmed a district court jury’s finding of willful contributory copyright infringement against Cox Communications for the piracy actions of some of its 6 million internet customers, but it reversed the jury’s vicarious liability verdict, said a three-judge panel’s published opinion Tuesday (docket 21-1168). Circuit Judge Allison Jones Rushing wrote the opinion, in which Judges Pamela Harris and Henry Floyd joined.

The Media Alliance and Great Public Schools Now seek to intervene in support of the FCC in eight petitions for review of the commission’s Nov. 20 digital discrimination order, now consolidated in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the nonprofits’ unopposed motion Tuesday.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are co-sponsoring the latest version of a bill that would update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced Thursday. Cantwell and Cruz support the latest iteration of COPPA 2.0, which they said includes stakeholders' suggestions for technical corrections and small modifications. Cantwell recently explored options for seeking unanimous consent on COPPA 2.0 and the Kids Online Safety Act (see 2312040058). “Children and teens are uniquely vulnerable in the online world and can be unaware and overwhelmed by the ways social media platforms can use their personal information to target them,” Cantwell said in a statement. “This bill strengthens protections, closes loopholes and raises the age of kids covered under our privacy law to make sure more children and teens are protected.” Cruz said the bill would “empower parents to safeguard their children’s online privacy and hold tech companies responsible for keeping minors safe from data collection.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a substantial interest in the resolution of NetChoice’s constitutional challenge to AB-2273, California’s social media law, because it “implicates the stability” of the internet economy and “core constitutional rights of participants in that economy,” said the Chamber’s amicus brief Wednesday (docket 23-2969) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief supports NetChoice’s challenge and affirmance of the district court’s preliminary injunction blocking California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) from enforcing AB-2273 (see 2309190006).

German corporation Conti, owner of the "Flaminia" vessel, petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit for rehearing on whether the court had personal jurisdiction over Mediterranean Shipping Co. in a suit seeking to confirm a $200 million arbitration award against the shipping giant. Conti said the grounds on which the appellate court rejected personal jurisdiction were twice waived since the company failed to raise them before the trial court and in its opening brief, and are wrong as a "factual matter" (Conti 11. Container Schiffarts-Gmbh & Co. KG M.S., MSC Flaminia v. MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., 5th Cir. # 22-30808).

The FCC unanimously approved its entire open meeting agenda Thursday, including an order making it easier for consumers to revoke consent for being robocalled, an order revising wireless mic rules (see 2402150037), an NPRM on a licensing framework for in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing missions, and an NPRM seeking comment on using prerecorded script templates aimed at facilitating multilingual emergency alerts. “In the United States, over 26 million people have limited or no ability to speak English,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel at the open meeting. “That means we have to get creative and identify new ways to reach everyone in a disaster.”

House Communications Subcommittee members were universally positive about the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks Act (HR-1513) and four other communications network security bills during a Thursday hearing. House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and other lawmakers used the hearing to continue the drumbeat for Congress to allocate an additional $3.08 billion to close a funding shortfall for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, as expected (see 2402140055). Several Democrats touted the stopgap funding push for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (see 2402130074) as another priority for securing U.S. networks.

A bench trial is scheduled to begin April 22 at 9 a.m. on Count II of Verizon’s complaint that the Southwick, Massachusetts, denial of its cell tower application constituted an effective prohibition of wireless services under the Telecommunications Act, said a trial procedural order (docket 3:21-cv-10414). A joint pretrial memorandum is due April 2 that will include the probable length of the trial, a concise summary of evidence that will be offered by each party and a statement identifying any evidentiary issues that, if raised during the trial, would likely delay the trial by 15 minutes or longer, said the order, signed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni for Massachusetts in Springfield. A pretrial conference is set for April 5, it said. The final exhibit and witness lists from each party are due April 15, it said. The judge granted summary judgment Feb. 5 in Southwick’s favor on Count I of Verizon’s March 2021 complaint that the town’s denial of Verizon’s cell tower application wasn’t supported by substantial evidence in the written record (see 2402060050).

The top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee said that getting Chinese shipments banned from the de minimis program is how he'd like to close out his congressional career. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., is retiring at the end of 2024. "I think we will see this moving forward, if only for the animus toward China" in Congress, he said.

Public interest and consumer groups urged the FCC take a more aggressive stance on a November Further NPRM about protecting consumers from SIM swapping and port-out fraud (see 2311150042). CTIA said the commission should “pursue a flexible and risk-based approach” toward customer account security and fraud deterrence. Reply comments were due this week in docket 21-341, and they largely mirror initial comments (see 2401180053).