With FCC commissioners set to vote Oct. 19, the Department of Transportation questioned whether the -27 dBm/MHz out-of-band emission limit allowed by the FCC for very-low power portable devices and mobile access points in the 6 GHz band will be harmful to cellular vehicle-to-everything operations in the adjacent 5.9 GHz band. The FCC’s draft order addresses the C-V2X concerns raised by DOT.
The Biden administration needs to soon update its China-related chip export controls and apply “full blocking sanctions” to Huawei and China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., top House Republicans recently said in a letter to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Those measures and others will address what the lawmakers said has been a ”failure” by the administration and the Bureau of Industry and Security to properly enforce the Oct. 7 chip restrictions, which placed new license requirements on a host of chip-related exports and activities involving China.
Trade lawyers and importers are wondering how the anti-stockpiling element of a two-year pause on trade remedy circumvention deposits will be enforced.
With the deadline to reach a deal on trade in steel and aluminum with the EU three weeks away, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is talking less about the commitment to reach a deal by the end of the month, and more about "progress."
New FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez’s acting chief of staff Deena Shetler spoke at a National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters panel with other 10th-floor aides Thursday, one of the first public appearances for Gomez’s new team. The panel, which included Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s Media Adviser David Strickland, also discussed media ownership, virtual MVPDs and advertising diversity. “We’re drinking from a firehose right now,” said Shetler, who has had the job just over a week.
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Affordable Connectivity Program enjoys general bipartisan support in Congress, but it's soft support, with ACP's looming lack of funds still not rising to the level of lawmakers' top priority, said Angelina Panettieri, National League of Cities legislative director-technology and communications, at NATOA’s annual conference Thursday. Several speakers urged localities to be active in weighing in on states' broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program plans, especially with advocacy on the challenge process design. "This is a zero sum game” since an inappropriately targeted BEAD subsidy means less money for areas with real needs, said Brian Roberts, policy analyst-city and county of San Francisco.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo publicly committed Wednesday to brief Senate Commerce Committee members on the DOD study on repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for commercial 5G use sent to the Commerce Department last week (see 2309280087). Panel ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and several other members raised questions about the DOD study during a hearing on implementing the 2022 Chips and Science Act.
Amazon’s market power over sellers creates “artificially high prices across the web,” alleges a Tuesday antitrust class action (docket 2:23-cv-01523) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle. Rather than fostering a free and competitive e-commerce economy, “Amazon chose the path of quick and unfettered profits by unlawfully exercising their monopolistic powers in violation of antitrust law,” it said.
The U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan in Detroit should deny plaintiff Michael Dahdah’s motion for leave to amend his dismissed Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaint against Rocket Mortgage as “premature,” pending the court’s resolution of Rocket’s motion to compel Dahdah’s claims to arbitration (see 2309150060), said Rocket’s opposition Monday (docket 4:22-cv-11863). Because motions to compel arbitration “raise threshold questions about whether the court is the proper forum to resolve the dispute, the resolution of such motions must precede the resolution of motions to dismiss raising merits issues,” said Rocket. The court should vacate its dismissal order and take up the motion to compel arbitration “before reaching the Rule 12(b)(6) issues,” it said. If the court were to deny the motion to compel, “it would be appropriate to take up the Rule 12(b)(6) issues at that time, including by reinstating the dismissal order and by considering whether to grant leave to amend,” said Rocket.
The FTC risks violating the First Amendment and Section 230 with its proposed rule for combating deceptive online reviews, Amazon and tech associations told the agency in comments posted Monday (see 2306300029). Consumer groups recommended the agency increase liability for online platforms not doing enough to police fake and deceptive reviews.