California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) rules could take effect in April or later, said California Privacy Protection Agency Executive Director Ashkan Soltani at the agency board’s virtual meeting Friday. The law itself takes effect Jan. 1. Board member Alastair Mactaggart raised concerns about the process’ estimated length. "It's urgent that we get this stuff out to the community as soon as possible,” he said.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a Q&A with members of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. needs the EU to succeed in developing its green transition technologies, just as the EU needs the U.S. to succeed in that arena.

Notable changes in how the FCC handles satellite license applications seem likely due to efforts within the agency and congressional pressure on it, but timing is up in the air, space regulatory practitioners said. The Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act introduced earlier this month (see 2212090064) isn't going anywhere in the remaining lame-duck session of Congress but stands good chances of being reintroduced and making progress in the next, we were told. Introducing it now was "a stake in the ground," and now staff can get feedback that could lead to amendments to it in the next session, said Hogan Lovells space lawyer George John.

Amazon will bring its Dec. 6 demurrer to California’s antitrust complaint against the company to San Francisco County Superior Court March 7, said Amazon in a notice Thursday (docket CGC-22-601826). A demurrer under California law argues that a complaint should be dismissed because it fails to assert facts sufficient to support a cause of action.

None of the issues raised in the Dec. 7 order from the U.S. District Court for Northern Florida in plaintiff Jordan Copeland’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaint against Parler (see 2212090041) “are impediments to arbitration and in fact confirm that the case must be arbitrated,” said Parler’s reply Wednesday (docket 3:22-cv-21243). The “uncontested evidence alone” is sufficient to find that Copeland agreed to Parler’s terms, including to resolve all disputes through arbitration, said the right-leaning social media platform. The screenshots that Parler provided “unambiguously show” that Copeland “was required to agree to Parler’s terms as part of registration,” it said. Copeland “does not contest” Parler’s assertions but argues only that Parler “has not met its burden of proving an agreement” because it has not produced screenshots of what Copeland “clicked through when he began to use and benefit from Parler’s services,” it said. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Berman v. Freedom Financial Network “is non-binding authority and of little persuasive value,” said Parler. The panel affirmed the district court’s order denying defendants’ motion to compel arbitration in a putative class action under the TCPA. The panel concluded that the defendants’ webpages didn't provide “reasonably conspicuous notice” of terms of service because of the small font size and format. If Berman “is persuasive at all,” it weighs in favor of Parler in compelling arbitration, said the platform. “The terms of service to which Copeland assented were conspicuously presented to him, unlike those in Berman.”

California’s age-appropriate social media design law violates the First Amendment by telling sites how to “manage constitutionally protected speech,” NetChoice said Wednesday in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate AB-2273 (see 2209150070). The tech group drew comparisons to its free speech challenges against social media content moderation laws in Texas and Florida.

Senate Communications Subcommittee members from both parties targeted FCC and NTIA implementation of connectivity programs created in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and COVID-19 aid measures Tuesday, as expected (see 2212120064), including concerns about deficient data the commission used to develop its new broadband maps. Lawmakers also touched on other telecom policymaking matters they hope Capitol Hill can address during the lame-duck session or in the next Congress. Senate Commerce Committee leaders saw a potential one-week extension of their talks on one lame-duck priority, a compromise spectrum legislative package (see 2212070068), appear via a proposed continuing resolution to fund the federal government past Friday.

U.S. lawmakers unveiled legislation this week that would block certain transactions with TikTok or other social media companies under the influence of China, Russia and several other foreign countries. The Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act, introduced in the Senate by Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and in the House by Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., “would protect Americans by blocking and prohibiting all transactions” with TikTok, the lawmakers said.

Eight plaintiff states in a robocalling lawsuit want the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas in Houston to deny the motion in limine of defendants Health Advisors of America (HAA) and its owner, Michael Smith, that would exclude arguments and evidence that Smith is personally liable for his Telephone Consumer Protection Act wrongdoing and dismiss him from the lawsuit, said the states in an opposition filing Monday (docket 4:20-cv-02021).

The plaintiff in the class action alleging State Farm violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act believes it's more likely than not he will amend his complaint to address various issues raised in State Farm’s motion to dismiss (see 2212050027), said a joint initial status report Friday (docket 1:22-cv-05546) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. State Farm’s motion to dismiss asserted that Gebka failed to allege “any facts to support any vicarious liability theory” that could hold State Farm liable under the TCPA for calls it didn't make, said the report. State Farm also alleges Gebka in previous litigation attributed to Allstate the originating calls alleged in the State Farm complaint, and that he “invited the balance of the calls” when he sought insurance quotes from State Farm agents. Gebka’s attorneys believe if the case is certified as a class action, a jury trial would last five to six days, said the report. State Farm contends if Gebka’s lawyers carry through with plans to certify a class involving the marketing activity of 19,000 State Farm Agents over the past four years, any trial of a certified class would be “months-long,” it said.