States are still deciding if they should join New York and nine other AGs suing to stop T-Mobile from buying Sprint, AG offices told us this week. Completing the deal could depend on the state case, unless a global settlement satisfies everyone involved, said Pennsylvania State University law professor Susan Beth Farmer. A pre-trial status conference scheduled Friday in New York is expected to be for scheduling purposes, and the court probably won't decide then on a preliminary injunction, said a spokesperson for New York AG Letitia James (D). The lawsuit was filed at U.S. District Court for the Southern District (see 1906140041).

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said he's calling companies in to talk next week about insecure equipment in U.S. networks. Starks focused on that during a speech at Wednesday's FCBA lunch. Starks discussed use of equipment by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks during his initial news conference as a commissioner in February (see 1902080056).

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said he's calling companies in to talk next week about insecure equipment in U.S. networks. Starks focused on that during a speech at Wednesday's FCBA lunch. Starks discussed use of equipment by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks during his initial news conference as a commissioner in February (see 1902080056).

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation to remove Section 230 immunity for big tech companies unless they prove to the FTC every two years that content removal decisions are politically neutral. The bill drew concern from House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. They warned against government regulation of speech.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said he's calling companies in to talk next week about insecure equipment in U.S. networks. Starks focused on that during a speech at Wednesday's FCBA lunch. Starks discussed use of equipment by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks during his initial news conference as a commissioner in February (see 1902080056).

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation to remove Section 230 immunity for big tech companies unless they prove to the FTC every two years that content removal decisions are politically neutral. The bill drew concern from House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. They warned against government regulation of speech.

CTA supported proposed updates to FCC rules for over-the-air reception devices, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 19-71. Cities and others continue to counsel restraint (see 1906050014). Other groups are raising RF health concerns. “The availability of broadband is an important factor in the growth of emerging technologies,” CTA said. “Emerging technologies use smaller form factors than previous generation’s macro towers, and these smaller form factors must be closer to end-users. Over the past two years, the Commission took important steps to streamline state and local review of infrastructure siting. … Expanding the OTARD rule to include all fixed wireless equipment is a reasonable next step for the Commission to consider.” Incompas also supported the change. “Fixed wireless is a solution that some of our members use to deliver critical voice and broadband services to their customers,” it commented: “INCOMPAS supports the Commission’s proposal to eliminate the restriction that currently excludes hub and relay antennas from the scope of the Commission’s OTARD provisions.” The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas and other local governments said the FCC doesn’t have the authority to act. “The Commission lacks the legal authority, delegated, implied, or ancillary, to take the actions it contemplates,” filing said. “Parties that are supportive of the proceeding fail to demonstrate that there is a predicate for action,” the cities said: “Numerous non-governmental parties offer insights that there is no national movement or scheme to deny OTARD deployments, and the Commission’s proposed actions could retard current plans for wireless developments.” San Francisco also opposed the rules. “The Commission cannot extend the OTARD rule simply because the Commission believes it will be speed-up broadband deployment,” it said: “Where, as here, the Commission is acting under a directive from Congress, the Commission must show that its actions are consistent with that directive, and are not prohibited by other federal laws.” The Wireless ISP Association, which asked for the change, said initial comments broke down into two camps. “Those in the real estate business that seek to maintain the status quo giving zoning and homeowners’ associations unmitigated control over the way their residents’ access video content, and those providers that desire a limited change to the OTARD rule so that consumers have more choices and providers are better able to extend service and offer competitive choice,” WISPA said.

As Congress mulls new regulatory approaches to major tech companies, it might want to look at creating an exemption to Communications Decency Act Section 230 to hold service providers liable for publishing or restricting certain kinds of content, the Congressional Research Service reported. Minus an express exemption, there could be legal questions about new laws imposing liability that might conflict with Section 230 general immunity, CRS said Monday. It said such rules might also have First Amendment issues. It said any move to a comprehensive federal data protection law might need to weigh whether to be prescriptive or outcome-based, the definition of protected information and the role of the FTC or another federal enforcement agency. It said reclassification of ISPs as common carriers could create legal uncertainty about data protection obligations since they no longer would be under FTC jurisdiction. It said antitrust action against such tech companies also would raise complicated legal questions such as market definitions for dynamic technology industries. Since many tech companies provide services for free, demonstrating a monopoly could be difficult, CRS said.

CTA supported proposed updates to FCC rules for over-the-air reception devices, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 19-71. Cities and others continue to counsel restraint (see 1906050014). Other groups are raising RF health concerns. “The availability of broadband is an important factor in the growth of emerging technologies,” CTA said. “Emerging technologies use smaller form factors than previous generation’s macro towers, and these smaller form factors must be closer to end-users. Over the past two years, the Commission took important steps to streamline state and local review of infrastructure siting. … Expanding the OTARD rule to include all fixed wireless equipment is a reasonable next step for the Commission to consider.” Incompas also supported the change. “Fixed wireless is a solution that some of our members use to deliver critical voice and broadband services to their customers,” it commented: “INCOMPAS supports the Commission’s proposal to eliminate the restriction that currently excludes hub and relay antennas from the scope of the Commission’s OTARD provisions.” The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas and other local governments said the FCC doesn’t have the authority to act. “The Commission lacks the legal authority, delegated, implied, or ancillary, to take the actions it contemplates,” filing said. “Parties that are supportive of the proceeding fail to demonstrate that there is a predicate for action,” the cities said: “Numerous non-governmental parties offer insights that there is no national movement or scheme to deny OTARD deployments, and the Commission’s proposed actions could retard current plans for wireless developments.” San Francisco also opposed the rules. “The Commission cannot extend the OTARD rule simply because the Commission believes it will be speed-up broadband deployment,” it said: “Where, as here, the Commission is acting under a directive from Congress, the Commission must show that its actions are consistent with that directive, and are not prohibited by other federal laws.” The Wireless ISP Association, which asked for the change, said initial comments broke down into two camps. “Those in the real estate business that seek to maintain the status quo giving zoning and homeowners’ associations unmitigated control over the way their residents’ access video content, and those providers that desire a limited change to the OTARD rule so that consumers have more choices and providers are better able to extend service and offer competitive choice,” WISPA said.

The FAA expects to publish an NPRM for drone remote identification by September (see 1805210045), more than a year after the original deadline for issuing a final rule, said Deputy Associate Administrator-Office of Security and Hazardous Materials Angela Stubblefield. Remote ID would allow authorities to identify unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) through device registration.