Comcast and Nexstar are battling over discovery in a year-old retransmission consent case Nexstar v Comcast, which involves Nexstar’s relationship to sidecar broadcaster Mission and WPIX New York, according to filings Friday and Monday in docket 1:21-cv-06860 in the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York.

The top trade official from the EU, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, said the incentives for the green transition in the Inflation Reduction Act appear to discriminate against automotive, battery, renewables and energy-intensive businesses operating in the EU. "It will not be easy to fix it -- but fix it we must," he said during an Oct. 31 speech at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Prague. He also said, "This is an issue of concern for many countries and businesses, which I have raised with our US partners over these past weeks, and it featured prominently in today's discussions."

Pay no mind to an FCC brief observing possible justifications for a challenged California LifeLine rule, the National Lifeline Association said Friday at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The California Public Utilities Commission agreed with the FCC office of general counsel’s August analysis in case 21-15969. FCC precedent supports finding the California rule isn’t preempted, the CPUC said.

The FTC’s amended complaint to block Meta’s Within Unlimited buy “sufficiently pleads that the proposed acquisition may substantially lessen competition,” said the agency’s response Thursday (docket 5:22-cv-04325) in opposition to Meta’s Oct. 13 motion to dismiss the case. Meta’s assertion that the FTC “has not alleged facts sufficient to support a claim” based on theories of anticompetitive harm in the long history of antitrust case law “ignores the statutory authority under which the FTC proceeds in this matter,” it said. The FTC brought the case “to obtain interim, injunctive relief to preserve the status quo to protect the Commission’s ability to conduct its administrative adjudicatory proceeding on the merits,” it said. “The ultimate merits issue as to which the FTC must raise substantial questions is not whether the acquisition will substantially lessen competition” but whether there is a reasonable probability of anticompetitive effect from the acquisition, it said. “The FTC has done just that with respect to its allegations of harm to actual potential competition and perceived potential competition.” Meta’s arguments to the contrary “ignore the FTC’s burden, and instead discuss (or invent) issues relevant to the ultimate merits of claims brought directly under Section 7 of the Clayton Act,” it said.

The top trade official from the EU, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, said the incentives for the green transition in the Inflation Reduction Act appear to discriminate against automotive, battery, renewables and energy-intensive businesses operating in the EU. "It will not be easy to fix it -- but fix it we must," he said during an Oct. 31 speech at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Prague. He also said, "This is an issue of concern for many countries and businesses, which I have raised with our US partners over these past weeks, and it featured prominently in today's discussions."

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week imposed sanctions on 15 Khordad Foundation, an Iranian organization responsible for the bounty on author Salman Rushdie. 15 Khordad Foundation has "committed millions of dollars" toward a bounty on the author since 1989 and has raised the bounty amount several times, most recently to $3.3 million, OFAC said in an Oct. 28 news release. The foundation, along with other Iranian entities, has led to the death and injury of several people associated with Rushdie, including writers, translators and publishers, OFAC said.

The FTC should tread carefully if it's considering banning certain types of social media ads for children, advertisers and advocates said in interviews this week, citing the potential for legal challenges.

The California Privacy Protection Agency board weighed draft changes Friday to proposed state privacy rules required by the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). The board, meeting virtually, showed support for several proposed modifications, which were posted with explanations earlier this month (see 2210170048), while flagging some issues for follow-up in later rulemakings. It was the first board meeting since California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) appointed real estate developer and CPRA author Alastair Mactaggart a member.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed Thursday she has received a letter from acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen asking that the agency mandate voluntary protections for radio altimeters agreed to by Verizon and AT&T in the C band (see 2206170070) for 19 other providers who bought spectrum in the record-setting auction. “I have seen the letter” and “we are in discussions with our colleagues at NTIA,” Rosenworcel told reporters after the FCC meeting. Commissioner Brendan Carr said he was happy to look at FAA concerns, but believes the time to raise new objections has passed.

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently sent a proposed charging letter to Seagate Technology alleging that it violated U.S. export controls by providing controlled items to a company on the Entity List. Seagate said the Aug. 29 letter accused it of violating the Export Administration Regulations by providing hard disk drives to the blacklisted company and its affiliates between August 2020 and September 2021.