April 15, 2025
Irony, Congress, and the FCC: The Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act of 2025
In a sure sign of our topsy-turvy political times, Democrats in the US Senate and House of Representatives are sponsoring legislation that seeks both to rein in the reach of federal regulatory authority and to promote the fundamental First Amendment value that expression of all viewpoints should be allowed rather than squelched and punished by…
April 14, 2025
The Fragmented Privacy Landscape
The Current State of Privacy Regulation The United States is experiencing a rapid proliferation of state-level privacy laws, creating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. Since California pioneered comprehensive privacy legislation with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in 2018, the trend has accelerated dramatically. Currently, 19 states have enacted their own privacy legislation, each with…
April 11, 2025
“Misinformation” Is Condescending: Do Better, Elites
The concept of “misinformation” is deeply condescending. As commonly used in our discourse, it says the following to and about the public: “You’re getting the wrong information, and it’s causing some bad behaviors. We’re going to get you better information, pat you on the head, and tuck you in.” It’s not nice to talk to…
April 10, 2025
Satellite Broadband Competition—New Hope, but for Which Markets?
Last week, Amazon subsidiary Project Kuiper announced plans to launch the first 27 satellites in its 3,000-plus planned low earth orbit (LEO) constellation from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on April 9. The launch brings long-promised competition in the satellite broadband space for Elon Musk’s 5,000-plus-satellite Starlink system, which, up to now, has…
April 9, 2025
California Finally Abandons Facets of Flawed Social-Media Mandate
Department of Government Efficiency, but the world’s richest person recently scored an important––albeit largely overlooked––First Amendment victory for social media platforms against intrusive, peek-under-the-hood government regulations. In late February, a final judgment and permanent injunction barring enforcement of key parts of California Assembly Bill 587 (AB 587) was agreed to by the parties in X…
April 8, 2025
My Response to the House Commerce Committee Privacy Working Group
In February 2025, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced the creation of a privacy working group to address many of the now-familiar challenges created by our advanced digital economy. Shortly thereafter, the Committee released a Request for Information, inviting expert recommendations for the newly-formed group. I have given some thought to some of…
April 7, 2025
The Spectrum Exchange: Networks, Security, and Innovation
Spectrum management is crucial to our digital future as it provides the invisible regulatory framework enabling efficient and equitable allocation of finite radio frequency resources. Without comprehensive, forward-thinking spectrum policies, our rapidly evolving technological landscape will face stifled innovation and restricted growth. Ensuring responsible spectrum issues involves balancing regulatory frameworks that encourage innovation while ensuring…
April 2, 2025
Free Speech Tradeoffs and Roleplaying Chatbots: Sacrificing the Rights of Many to Safeguard a Few?
First Amendment law entails tradeoffs. Consider Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, a case the US Supreme Court heard in January. It involves an online age-verification statute that ostensibly is designed to prevent minors from accessing sexually explicit content that Texas deems harmful to them but that is not obscene (and thus is constitutionally protected) when…
April 1, 2025
The Supreme Court Seems Unlikely to Revive Nondelegation Doctrine in FCC Case
Earlier this month, I previewed the arguments in Federal Communications Commission v Consumers’ Research. The case asks the Supreme Court whether the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) violates the nondelegation doctrine, which prohibits Congress from delegating the legislative power to executive branch agencies. As my previous post explains, nondelegation is a largely toothless doctrine, mostly…
April 1, 2025
Another Courtroom Loss for AI Creations, as “Automatoners” Prevail Again
Last month, a federal appeals court confirmed what most legal regimes around the world—patent offices, administrative judges, and even supreme courts—have long held: Machines cannot themselves create. Readers of this space are by now hopefully well acquainted with the fierce divisions between autonomists—those who contend that artificial intelligence (AI) is now or will soon become…