Florida asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse an 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that a state law’s social moderation limits are likely unconstitutional. The state filed a petition for certiorari Wednesday. Tech associations that challenged the Florida law supported SCOTUS review. Since the 5th Circuit upheld a Texas social media law last week, legal observers expect the Supreme Court to hear a case on the constitutionality of state social media laws to resolve the circuit split (see 2209200008).

The full FCC unanimously proposed a combined $3.37 million forfeiture to penalize 21 TV licensees for multiple instances of violating the kidvid rules in 2016 by airing a Hot Wheels commercial during episodes of a Hot Wheels-themed TV show, said a notice of apparent liability Wednesday. Sinclair Broadcast owned 83 of the 115 stations involved, with 10 more owned by Sinclair-affiliated companies Deerfield Media and Cunningham Broadcasting. The filing also lists seven Nexstar stations and numerous smaller broadcasters with individual station violations but pays special attention to Sinclair and proposes the stiffest penalties for the company. “In the last 17 years Sinclair has been fined or admonished 11 times for program-length commercial violations, establishing an extensive history of prior offenses,” the filing said. “Sinclair, as a broadcast television company with roots stretching back five decades, was or should have been long aware of its compliance responsibilities in this context.” The proposed forfeitures “are warranted as a result of Sinclair’s lengthy history of prior offenses for similar violations; the extent, gravity, and circumstances of the violations here; and Sinclair’s ability to pay,” said the notice. It proposes a $2.65 million penalty for Sinclair -- $36,000 per station -- while smaller broadcasters face penalties of $20,000 per station. Nexstar would pay $26,000 per station due to its scale and ability to pay. “Unlike Sinclair, Nexstar does not have a lengthy history of prior offenses of the children’s television commercial rules,” the notice said. The violations were largely reported to the FCC by the broadcasters themselves, the filing said. Congress enacted the Children’s Television Act to put limits on advertising to ensure broadcasting will “remain a special place for kids’ content,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. “Those limits were ignored here, where broadcasters mixed toy commercials with content and violated our rules.” “If non-broadcast sources, including online outlets, are the ocean -- where there may or may not be harsh waves and danger -- then broadcast television is the trusted local pool,” said a statement from Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The notice seems to indicate future kidvid violations might garner even stiffer penalties, assessed per violation, saying, “We use this opportunity to advise broadcast television licensees, satellite providers, and cable operators that the Commission may revise our approach to forfeiture calculations under the Children’s Television Act in future cases.” Assessing forfeitures per violation is supported by law and rule language and “would reflect the fact that the regulations are of long-standing and so should be well understood,” the filing said. The notice makes clear the FCC is still actively focused on enforcing kidvid rules, said University of Minnesota media law professor Christopher Terry. Concerns about whether the rules were still relevant with ubiquitous streaming were raised during kidvid proceedings under the previous administration. "Kid TV rules are still a thing, and broadcasters need to pay attention to the enforcement of them," Terry said. Nexstar and Sinclair didn’t comment.

Florida asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse an 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that a state law’s social moderation limits are likely unconstitutional. The state filed a petition for certiorari Wednesday. Tech associations that challenged the Florida law supported SCOTUS review. Since the 5th Circuit upheld a Texas social media law last week, legal observers expect the Supreme Court to hear a case on the constitutionality of state social media laws to resolve the circuit split (see 2209200008).

The Senate Commerce Committee’s bipartisan kids’ privacy legislation doesn’t need any major amendments to pass, but sponsors are open to clarifying language about what companies and ages are covered, said Jamie Susskind, tech policy adviser to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Wednesday.

Telecom-focused lawmakers are hopeful they will be able to reach a final deal in the coming days to include a short-term extension of the FCC’s expiring spectrum auction authority in a potential continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations past Sept. 30 (see 2209090053). Talks Wednesday appeared to be strongly coalescing around a stopgap reauthorization through Dec. 16 -- in line with the likely expiration of the overall CR -- but there’s been no final deal, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Lawmakers believe the temporary renewal will give them more breathing room to reach a deal on a broader spectrum legislative package during the lame-duck session (see 2208090001).

The FCC should deny or indefinitely defer SpaceX's pending second-generation constellation application pending scientific studies and international discussions that would allow an assessment of the risks -- environmental and otherwise -- it poses, an astronomy professor wrote the International Bureau Sunday. SpaceX and similar proposals would undoubtedly hurt astronomy, public stargazing and indigenous access to the sky, and be a serious debris risk and raise commercial fairness issues that should be addressed, University of Edinburgh's Andy Lawrence said. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's ruling against environmental-based challenges to SpaceX's plans (see 2208260035) didn't show the agency was right to ignore ordering a National Environmental Policy Act review, but rather that the appellants didn't demonstrate actual injury, he said. Lawrence said the decision also didn't seem to rule out including the effect of harm from activities in orbital space as part of an environmental review. SpaceX didn't comment Monday.

A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel repeatedly challenged Reno's right-of-action arguments Monday during oral argument in the city's appeal (docket 21-16560) of a lower court rejecting its franchise fee litigation against streamers Netflix and Hulu (see 2202080088). The 8th Circuit is scheduled to hear oral argument Tuesday in an appeal by Ashdown, Arkansas, regarding a similar dismissed franchise fee suit against the streaming services.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should allow the U.S. to double its word count in its reply brief in a case on President Donald Trump's move to revoke a tariff exclusion for bifacial solar panels, the U.S. argued in a Sept. 15 brief at the appellate court. The government argued that good cause exists for their motion since it must reply to the issue of presidential authority raised by the appellees along with several alternative problems, and because the importance of the issues in question warrant an enlargement of the word count (Solar Energy Industries Association v. United States, Fed. Cir. #22-1392).

Businesses will continue to seek a way forward on a concerning, soon-to-expire exemption in California's privacy law for employee and business-to-business (B2B) data, a California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) official told us Friday. Many privacy lawyers are warning businesses about the carve-out sunsetting at year-end due to the legislature failing to pass an extension. Starting Jan. 1, the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) is “really no longer just a consumer law,” said Sheppard Mullin’s Julia Kadish in an interview.

Businesses will continue to seek a way forward on a concerning, soon-to-expire exemption in California's privacy law for employee and business-to-business (B2B) data, a California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) official told us Friday. Many privacy lawyers are warning businesses about the carve-out sunsetting at year-end due to the legislature failing to pass an extension. Starting Jan. 1, the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) is “really no longer just a consumer law,” said Sheppard Mullin’s Julia Kadish in an interview.