LA QUINTA, Calif. -- The FCC seemed more open to collaboration with states in its final NPRM for its rulemaking to possibly reclassify broadband as a Title II service, a California Public Utilities Commission staffer said during a panel Tuesday at NARUC’s meeting here. NARUC Telecom Committee Chairman Tim Schram told us Monday that the state regulator association would probably have a resolution about the FCC net neutrality rulemaking at its February meeting in Washington (see 2311130063).

FCC commissioners approved an open-ended notice of inquiry Wednesday that asked how AI can fight robocalls, as well as potential risks from the technology. Commissioners also approved an order providing survivors of domestic violence with safe and affordable access to communications and an order and Further NPRM protecting consumers from SIM swapping and port-out fraud. None of the items was controversial and all were approved 5-0.

Basket Entertainment, a developer of online games and mobile apps for the Roblox platform, hired John Cannata as a vice president and added him to its board in July to identify acquisition targets to grow its user base, but Cannata almost immediately “engaged in an outrageous campaign of double-dealing,” alleged Basket’s complaint Monday (docket 2:23-cv-01028) in U.S. District Court for Middle Florida in Fort Myers. Basket alleges Cannata went behind the company’s back and acquired ownership interests in at least two online games for himself “without ever presenting them as opportunities” to his employer, said the complaint. The “usurped games” continue to generate millions of dollars in monthly revenue for Cannata, who “actively concealed his misconduct,” and later “misrepresented his prior and ongoing negotiations and transactions” with the games’ creators, it said. Cannata also “surreptitiously acquired an interest in derivative games that directly compete” with Basket’s titles, it said. In so doing, Cannata “flagrantly breached the most basic fiduciary duties a director and officer owes to a corporation,” said the complaint. Cannata “usurped these lucrative corporate opportunities while Basket was in the middle of a capital raise, causing Basket reputational harm and disrupting cash flow that could have been used to acquire games,” it said. The 12-count complaint seeks compensatory damages and disgorgement of the profits Cannata earned, plus punitive damages “to the extent allowed by law to punish Cannata for the intentional wrongful acts.” Efforts to reach Cannata for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The World Wildlife Fund “regrettably” devotes “a substantial portion” of its Sept. 14 motion to dismiss plaintiff Sonya Valenzuela’s privacy complaint attacking her and her counsel, said Valenzuela’s memorandum of points and authorities Thursday (docket 2:23-cv-06112) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles in support of her opposition to the motion. Valenzuela alleges WWF invaded her privacy with its use of FullContact software to record and “deanonymize” internet protocol addresses when she used WWF’s website chat function (see 2307280032). WWF’s motion to dismiss asks the court “to draw adverse credibility inferences” about Valenzuela and her lawyer, Scott Ferrell of Pacific Trial Attorneys, on grounds that Valenzuela is a serial litigant, said her memorandum. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently made “exceptionally clear” that WWF’s tactics are “improper,” it said. The 9th Circuit held in its Jan. 23 decision in Langer v. Kiser that it’s “necessary and desirable” for committed individuals to bring serial litigation to enforce and advance consumer protection statutes, as Valenzuela “does here,” it said. WWF should be “sternly reminded” of the 9th Circuit’s “admonition” that courts mustn’t “discredit and/or penalize a plaintiff for being a litigation tester,” it said. WWF’s “implicit challenge” to Valenzuela’s standing to sue “is without merit,” said her memorandum. Though WWF doesn’t “expressly challenge” her standing to sue, its argument that she fails to allege any injury “should be construed as making that challenge,” it said. The 9th Circuit has held that claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act, such as those that Valenzuela raises in her complaint, “protect concrete, substantive privacy interests, which is sufficient to confer standing,” it said.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said during a Federalist Society panel discussion Friday that the Supreme Court’s growing focus on the major questions doctrine and the expected death of the Chevron doctrine (see 2306290063) has potential benefits in forcing lawmakers to make hard policy decisions.

An FCC NPRM released Thursday proposes allowing schools and libraries to apply for funding from the E-rate program for Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet access services that can be used off-premises. FCC Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented, as they did last month on a declaratory ruling clarifying that the use of Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-rate funding (see 2310190056).

The House approved an amendment Wednesday night to the FY 2024 Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee funding bill (HR-4664) that would defund the FCC's Communications Equity and Diversity Council, but the proposal’s prospects remained in doubt Thursday after chamber leaders abruptly pulled the measure off the floor amid misgivings from some Republicans. House GOP leaders are eyeing a pivot to a continuing resolution to fund the government past Nov. 17 but were still deliberating on its contours Thursday afternoon.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon for Southern New York in Manhattan denied former Amazon third-party seller Shenzhen Zongheng Domain Network's petition to vacate an arbitration award in Amazon’s favor, and granted Amazon’s cross-motion to confirm that award, said her signed opinion and order Tuesday (docket 1:23-cv-03334).

Congress must act quickly to address AI-driven harms in U.S. elections, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday on the Senate floor. He hosted the fifth and sixth AI Insight Forums, where attendees heard from experts about elections, privacy and liability. Attendees included: Microsoft Information Integrity Director Matthew Masterson, Meta Vice President-Public Policy Neil Potts, Google Global Elections Integrity Director David Vorhaus, Anti-Defamation League Vice President-Center for Technology & Society Yael Eisenstat, TechFreedom Free Speech Counsel Ari Cohn, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson (R), Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro, Center for Democracy & Technology Vice President-Policy Samir Jain, Match Group CEO Bernard Kim and Mozilla President Mark Surman. Schumer raised concerns about AI-generated political ads and uncensored chatbots harming candidates from both parties. “If we don’t enact the right guardrails soon, we could soon live in a world where political campaigns regularly deploy totally fabricated -- yet totally believable -- images and footage” of candidates from both parties, “distorting their statements and greatly harming their election chances,” he said.

Broadband providers and allies are heavily lobbying the 10th floor regarding the pending digital discrimination order on the FCC's November agenda (see 2310240008), raising red flags and pushing for changes, per docket 22-69 filings Monday. Fans of the draft order are also calling for changes.