Antitrust
Key Republican: Anticompetitive Practices of Big Tech Present a Threat to Innovation
Rep. Ken Buck said tech companies’ practices are anticompetitive and threaten innovation, free speech and national security.
FCC
Biden Calls for Anti-Big Tech Action, CCIA Shows State Privacy ‘Patchwork,’ FCC Continues Robocall Fight
Biden’s call for federal privacy legislation aims to address an increasingly splintered state privacy landscape.
CTA
Broadband Breakfast on February 1, 2023 – What Will the 118th Congress Do on Broadband and Big Tech?
Will Congress have anything new to say about infrastructure investment, wireless communication or net neutrality?
More Big Tech Regulation, Tim Wu Leaving White House, Microsoft Antitrust Hearing
Legislators from both sides of the aisle are calling for increased regulation of Big Tech.
How Long Will it Take Congress to Revamp the Universal Service Fund?
Critics urged the FCC to expand the fund’s contribution sources, but the agency chose to punt the decision to Congress.
FCC
New AT&T Fiber Venture, Mixed Outcomes for Big Tech Bills, Capping Predatory Prison Phone Rates
AT&T’s new Gigapower joint venture will build fiber outside the company’s current footprint.
Joe Biden
NTCA Smart Rural Communities, International Telecommunications Union Conference, Carr on TikTok
‘How do we make sure that you can keep that home grown talent?’
FCC
Kenosha Gets Fiber, Judiciary Committee Advances Journalism Bill, Rosenworcel Touts Women in Tech
SiFi Networks will construct an all-fiber network for 40,000 households in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
X (Twitter)
Twitter Whistleblower Says Company Needs to Work to Permanently Delete User Data
Meanwhile, Twitter shareholders approved a deal to sell the company to Elon Musk, who wants out.
Energy and Commerce
A White House Event, Biden Administration Seeks Regulation of Big Tech
Participants voiced concerns over alleged abuses by big tech companies.
COVID
Carr Speaks Out on Starlink, ECF Awards $42 Million, FTC Drops Zuckerberg as Defendant
Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr doubled-down on previous criticism of the agency’s exclusion of Starlink.
FSF
FCC Advisory Committee Gets Extension, E-Space Adds to Ranks, Think Tank Wants Big Tech in USF
The FCC’s Intergovernmental Advisory Committee, which provides guidance to the commission, has term extended two months.
FCC
FCC Points to Congress on USF, Texas Hires LightBox, Lit Communities Hires Lindsay Miller
The FCC will let Congress make changes to its authority to add contributors to the Universal Service Fund.
Privacy
Tech Policy Conference Panelists Tackle Challenges of Federal Privacy, Antitrust Laws
Academics were concerned about an anti-preference bill, while one state AG said he’s ‘pragmatic’ about a federal privacy law.
Privacy
Positive and Negative Responses to Committee’s Action on American Data Privacy and Protection Act
The American Data Privacy and Protection Act cleared committee 53-2, with pushback from California legislators.
Big Tech
Surveillance Capitalism a Symptom of Web-Dependent Companies, Not Ownership
Former Google executive Richard Whitt critiqued Ben Tarnoff’s argument in ‘Internet for the People’ during Gigabit Libraries discussion.
