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If you missed them when they were posted, here are some of the latest FSF Blogs. As usual, they are not only timely, but they cover a range of topics -- this time including broadband policies, spectrum for Wi-Fi, privacy regulation, and copyright protection secured by the Constitution. Oh, and a bit of administrative law.

And you can always find our latest Perspectives from FSF Scholars and FCC comments on our website.

Free State Foundation Blog

August 9, 2022

As the states establish mechanisms for doling out billions of dollars in federal broadband subsidies, time is of the essence. Proposed legislation in California therefore would expedite the regulatory approval process via a 180-day shot clock.

"Welcome to California, Nevada-California Border, U.S. 95" by Flickr user Ken Lund is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

A recent op-ed warns, however, that opposition from advocacy organizations more concerned with promoting municipal broadband than meeting funding deadlines threatens to leave significant amounts of money on the table – and, consequently, a significant number of Californians unnecessarily unserved.

Continue reading this blog here.

Free State Foundation Blog

August 12, 2022

Earlier today, in a development that will benefit WiFi users and make way for modern wireless vehicle safety capabilities, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously affirmed the Commission's November 2020 Order repurposing 45 MHz of fallow spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use.

Image by Jagathish Saravanan

In a Statement, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association called the court's decision in Intelligent Transportation Society of America v. FCC "an enormous victory for American consumers," one that will lead to "even more reliable high-speed Wi-Fi and access to next-generation automotive safety applications."

Continue reading this blog here.

Free State Foundation Blog

On August 4, Senators Roger Wicker and Ben Ray Lujan introduced the Proper Leadership to Align Networks (PLAN) for Broadband Act. That same day, a companion bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Tim Walberg and Peter Welch. The PLAN for Broadband Act would require the President, in consult with the heads of several federal agencies, to develop a "National Strategy to Close the Digital Divide" as well as an "Implementation Plan." Under the Act, the National Strategy would have to be submitted to Congress within one year of the legislation's enactment, and the Implementation Plan would have to be submitted to Congress 120 days later.

The PLAN for Broadband Act was prompted by a May 2022 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) titled "Broadband: National Strategy Needed to Guide Federal Efforts to Reduce Digital Divide." As Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long explained in a June 14 blog post, the GAO report warned about significant wasteful duplication of funding and effort to increase broadband access that could result from the lack of coordination among over 133 broadband access-related funding programs under the purview of 15 different agencies. To address this concern, the GAO report recommended that the Executive Office of the President develop and implement a national broadband strategy.

Continue reading this blog here.

Free State Foundation Blog

As Free State Foundation President Randolph May wrote in his July 2022 Perspectives from FSF Scholars, "A Major Ruling on Major Questions": "There are aspects of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in West Virginia v. EPA that will be studied and debated by scholars—and, indeed, by judges, lawyers, and executive branch officials—for years to come." Indeed, some the implications of that decision were discussed in the Federalist Society's August 1 online panel event, "The Future of Chevron Deference at the Supreme Court." The panel features Columbia Law School Prof. Thomas Merrill, Jones Day attorney Yaakov M. Roth, and moderator Eli Nachmany. Prof. Merrill and Mr. Roth offer their insights into what the role of the Chevron doctrine may be going forward and how it will relate to the major questions doctrine. One interesting matter that was discussed during the event is whether courts will apply the major questions doctrine as a threshold inquiry prior to any application of Chevron's two-step inquiry – or whether the major questions doctrine will be subsumed into Chevron's first step, which has to do with whether Congress clearly spoke to the matter at hand.

For more on West Virginia v. EPA, check out FSF President May's press release from June 30 of this year responding to the decision as well as his July 2022 Perspectives.

Read this blog here.

Free State Foundation Blog

August 18, 2022

For anyone remotely interested in intellectual property law, and more particularly copyright law, I want to commend to your attention a very important amicus brief just filed in the Supreme Court by Curt Levy and the Committee for Justice. The brief opposes what it characterizes (rightly in my view) as a radical interpretation of the fair use doctrine by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

In the context of explaining why the Warhol Foundation's unduly expansive interpretation of the fair use doctrine should be rejected, the Committee for Justice's brief states: "Copyright protections serve to vindicate the fundamental civil right that authors have to the fruits of their labors. This is how the Founders understood it at the time they enacted the Constitution with its Copyright Clause, and this is how this Court has understood it ever since." According to the brief, the Warhol Foundation "wants to change this accepted understanding of the Copyright Clause by replacing it with a utilitarian-based regime…."

Continue reading this blog here.

Free State Foundation Blog

August 18, 2022

At a virtual news conference last Thursday, the FTC announced the adoption of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on "commercial surveillance" (that is, the use of personal information) and "lax" data security practices.

Over forceful objections from the two Republican Commissioners, and in the face of significant congressional progress on a bipartisan, bicameral federal comprehensive data privacy bill, this action by the majority initiates a "Magnuson-Moss" rulemaking pursuant to Section 18 of the FTC Act.

Continue reading this blog here.

Click HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Welcome and Introduction by Randolph May, President, The Free State Foundation, and a Fireside Chat – The View from the FCC, with Moderator: Seth Cooper, Director of Policy Studies and Senior Fellow, The Free State Foundation, and Panelists: Brendan Carr – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission; Nathan Simington – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission; and Mignon Clyburn – Former Commissioner and Acting Chairwoman, Federal Communications Commission.

Click HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Fireside Chat – The “Hottest Topics” in Communications and Internet Policy, with Moderator: Randolph May, President, The Free State Foundation, and Panelists: Meredith Baker – President and CEO, CTIA – The Wireless Association; Chris Lewis – President and CEO, Public Knowledge; Michael Powell – President and CEO, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association; and Jonathan Spalter – President and CEO,USTelecom – The Broadband Association.

Click HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Keynote Address by Russell Hanser, Director, Communications Policy Initiatives, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, with an Introduction by Bryan Tramont, Managing Partner, Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer, LLP, and Reactions by Robert Branson, President and CEO, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council.

Click HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Fireside Chat – The View from the FTC, with Moderator: Maureen Ohlhausen – Former Acting Chairman and Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, and Panelists: Christine Wilson – Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, and Noah Phillips – Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission.

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In case you missed it…please see:

Videos of the Free State Foundation's Events in 2021 on FSF's YouTube Channel

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s Farewell Address on January 8 – Click Here

Ilya Shapiro, Director of Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies on January 22 – Click Here

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington's Maiden Address on February 16 – Click Here

Fireside Chat with FTC Commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson on March 19 – Click Here

Fireside Chat with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on March 23 – Click Here

"Hot Topics in Communications Policy" Panel on April 27 – Click Here

Congressman Bob Latta's Keynote Speech on May 27 – Click Here

The Free State Foundation's book, A Reader on Net Neutrality and Restoring Internet Freedom, by Randolph May and Seth Cooper, is available from Amazon here. Read more about the book here.

By the way, when you are shopping for books or other items on Amazon, please login through AmazonSmile here. If you do so, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your purchases to the Free State Foundation. We know that it is a small donation, but every little bit helps to support our work!