A shortage of federal judges to resolve copyright, trademark, patent and contractual disputes means judges face "increasingly complex litigation and growing caseloads" and "endless" waits for parties initiating civil actions, U.S. Courts wrote Monday. The federal courts said the number of civil cases pending for more than three years grew from 18,280 on March 31, 2004, to 81,617 on March 31, 2024. The courts said employing magistrate judges, senior judges and visiting judges to reduce case delays is often seen as "Band-Aid measures that are insufficient to resolve case backlogs." The courts urged passage of the Judges Act (S-4149), which would authorize additional U.S. District judges. The bill has passed the Senate and is pending before the House.

McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates laid out why the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that, under the Hobbs Act, courts must accept the FCC’s interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. McLaughlin pointed to PDR Network v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic, a 2019 SCOTUS case about FCC authority to implement the TCPA. The court handed down what was seen as a middle-of-the-road decision in that case (see 1906200055). “There, the Fourth Circuit held that it was bound by the FCC’s interpretation of the TCPA, just like the Ninth Circuit did,” said a brief SCOTUS posted Monday. “Although a majority of this Court didn’t reach the question, four Justices concluded that the Hobbs Act ‘does not bar’ a party ‘from arguing that the agency’s interpretation of the statute is wrong,’” the brief said: “Like PDR Network, this case involves private TCPA claims for money damages and the appeal turns on whether an FCC order bound the court.” Nothing in the Hobbs Act’s text “supports the Ninth Circuit’s reading,” McLaughlin said: “Nor is there any other basis to conclude that Congress designed the Hobbs Act to strip district courts of their authority to interpret a federal statute. … No one doubts that district courts may not hear pre-enforcement petitions seeking those specific forms of relief.” But the Hobbs Act “says nothing about other kinds of actions, like a private action for money damages, that are properly filed in federal district court under ordinary federal-question jurisdiction.” SCOTUS is to hear oral argument Jan. 21 in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson. The case is viewed as having larger implications for the FCC beyond its legal interpretation of the TCPA (see 2410170015).

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Monday partially granted and partially rejected U.S. arguments for dismissing Ligado's L-band takings suit against the federal government (see 2310130003). In an order Monday (docket 23-1797L), Judge Edward Damich said Ligado seems to have a rational argument that Congress has essentially barred DOD from conducting business with any entity contracting with Ligado for ancillary terrestrial component operations in the L band, putting the company's business in jeopardy. However, Damich also said, Congress may put limits on the L-band license that can't be challenged as a taking even if it effectively terminates the license. But because the FCC, in licensing the L band to Ligado, required cooperation with the DOD, Ligado's case can go forward, the judge ordered. He gave the government 45 days to respond to the company's complaint.

FCC and Alaska regulators will review Liberty Broadband's spinoff of GCI announced this week (see 2411130025), Liberty emailed us Wednesday. Charter Communications' purchase of GCI-less Liberty isn't expected to require FCC approval.

The cost of internet service rose 1.1% between October 2023 and last month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index unadjusted data released Wednesday. BLS said October prices for all items were 2.6% higher year over year before seasonal adjustment. NCTA blogged Wednesday that the 1% drop in internet prices between September and October marked the third month in a row and the fourth out of the past five that internet prices were less than previous months. "Over the last few years, when inflation was much higher, broadband prices consistently bucked the trend and didn’t mirror the jumps in prices that many other core goods and services saw that drove inflation, a trend that still holds true today," it added. BLS said smartphone prices in October fell 9.9% year over year, while prices for computers, peripherals and smart home assistants were down 5.4%. The cost for cable, satellite and streaming TV service was down 0.3% year over year, while wireless phone service was down 0.4%. TV price tags were down 4.5%, the cost of residential phone service was up 1.9% year over year and video purchase/subscription/rentals rose 5.6%.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel released a nine-part podcast series called “FIRSTS Conversations” about “leaders who cleared the path for others or launched an innovative technology that changed how we operate and live our modern day lives,” said an agency news release Wednesday. Rosenworcel is the FCC’s first female permanent chair. The debut episode’s guest is former FCC Chairman Bill Kennard, the first African American to head the agency. Other guests include documentarian Ken Burns, ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogdan-Martin and AOL founder Steve Case. “For every historic ‘first’ there are always people who came before them, who cleared the path and made it easier for others to follow and go even farther,” said Rosenworcel in the release. “That’s the virtuous cycle, and what this podcast speaker series aimed to uncover.” Rosenworcel previously hosted a podcast called Broadband Conversations from 2018 to 2020, on "women who are making a difference in our digital lives."

The FCC's 988 call georouting rule has a compliance deadline of Jan. 13 for nationwide commercial mobile radio service providers and Dec. 14, 2026, for non-nationwide providers (see 2411080002).

Nokia anticipates President-elect Donald Trump will make his tech priorities clear early in the new administration, Brian Hendricks, Nokia’s chief policy and government affairs officer, said in a statement on Monday. “It is critical that programs like rip-and-replace and the Affordable Connectivity Program, which require new funding, be part of the early focus,” Hendricks said: “Failure to address these programs will risk expanding the digital divide, particularly in rural parts of the country. Aggressive action to restore spectrum auction authority to the [FCC] and to prioritize critical bands for future wireless deployments will provide the needed opportunity to fund and stabilize these programs via auction proceeds.” Hendricks called on the administration to work with Congress.

Minus the end of the affordable connectivity program (ACP), EchoStar saw its wireless subscriber numbers growing in Q3, CEO Hamid Akhavan said Tuesday as the company announced Q3 financial results. EchoStar said it ended Q3 with 912,000 Hughesnet satellite broadband subscribers, and that it's adding subscribers as it offers high-speed unlimited data via its Jupiter 3 satellite. It finished the quarter with 7 million Boost wireless subscribers, and discounting ACP issues, it added 62,000 subscribers in Q3, it said. ACP-related subscriber churn crested in Q3, said Jeff Boggs, senior vice president-finance for EchoStar's Hughes. He said ACP should have significant impacts in Q4. Akhavan noted the proposed sale of Dish Network to DirecTV is expected to close in late 2025. If the DirecTV deal doesn't go through, then EchoStar still has "a path forward" using cash from other sources, he said. EchoStar ended Q3 with revenue of $3.9 billion, down from $4.1 billion in Q3 2023 due to fewer subscribers, it said. In addition, it ended Q3 with 8 million pay-TV subscribers -- 5.9 million Dish subscribers and 2.1 million Sling TV subscribers. It said its 5G voice service covers 208 million Americans, and it plans to expand coverage to Boston, Pittsburgh and Seattle in coming weeks, taking it to more than 216 million Americans covered by year's end. Akhavan said that while few devices were compatible with its terrestrial network at the start of the year, today it has a larger portfolio, including iPhones 15 and 16 and most Android devices. EchoStar expects it will notably grow its Boost Mobile market share in 2025. Asked about not joining the Mobile Satellite Services Association, Akhavan said it's largely a "spectrum availability partnership" and EchoStar's spectrum holdings are sufficient without needing to join.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and other officials condemned Friday an alleged wave of hate texts following the presidential election's conclusion Tuesday night. The NAACP said Thursday it received reports of texts in multiple states, including Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania, from an unknown source, urging that recipients report to a plantation to pick cotton. The "messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and stoke the flames of fear that many of us are feeling after Tuesday's election results,” NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson said. “These messages are unacceptable,” Rosenworcel said. “That’s why our Enforcement Bureau is already investigating and looking into them alongside federal and state law enforcement.” The FBI said Thursday night it’s “aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.” Cloud-based mobile phone service provider TextNow believes at least some of the messages came through its service in what it called “a widespread, coordinated attack.” As “soon as we became aware, our Trust & Safety team acted quickly, rapidly disabling the related accounts in less than an hour,” the company said in a statement. President-elect Donald Trump’s team sought to distance itself from the text messages amid criticism from the NAACP and others that his campaign’s rhetoric prompted the onslaught. Trump’s “campaign has absolutely nothing to do with these text messages,” a spokesperson said in a statement. The Biden administration condemned “these hateful messages and anyone targeting Americans based on their ethnicity or background.” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) and New York AG Letitia James (D) both raised alarm bells about the text messages. “These messages are horrific, unacceptable, and will not be tolerated,” Brown said. “If you have been sent one of these texts, I am asking for you to please come forward and report it.” James called the messages “disgusting and unacceptable,” and also encouraged anyone “who has received an anonymous, threatening text message to report it to my office.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and other congressional Democrats also condemned the texts. There “are extremists in America who feel empowered” following Trump’s election to a second term to send the “racist, vile and threatening” messages, Jeffries said Friday. “We will not be intimidated by anyone.” House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York urged “a full investigation into the source of these despicable messages and call for the perpetrators of this hateful scheme to be held accountable for their actions.”