Insurance Marketing Coalition Limited v. FCC, which the 11th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court will hear Dec. 18 (see 2312130019), may prove significant, TroutmanAmin’s John Henson blogged Friday. “Part of the decision making will be how much deference does the FCC get in its rulemaking authority,” Henson said, noting the case (24-10277) examines agency authority under the Hobbs Act. “The Hobbs Act is having a moment and especially in the Eleventh Circuit,” he said. Approved 3-1 a year ago, the order adopted a one-to-one robotext consent policy (see 2312130019). Commissioner Nathan Simington dissented, citing the FCC's “factually thin record.” Henson noted the three judges hearing the case were appointed by President-elect Donald Trump during his first term -- Elizabeth Branch, Britt Grant and Robert Luck. They seem aligned with 11th Circuit precedent on limiting the reach of regulatory agencies, Henson said. “It would not stretch the limits of reason to think that the FCC’s 1:1 consent order was not properly enacted,” he said: “If that’s the case, then the Eleventh Circuit, might once again have an opportunity to strike a blow against Hobbs deference.” This term the U.S. Supreme Court will hear McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case from the 9th Circuit, examining the extent to which lower courts must defer to FCC decisions, which also has Hobbs Act implications (see 2410170015). The Hobbs Act gives the appeals courts exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend or determine the validity of some agency orders, including most FCC orders.

The inaugural Starlink direct-to-device constellation is complete, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X last week. He said bandwidth per beam is around only 10 Mbps, "but future constellations will be much more capable."

Sanford Williams, deputy chief of staff for FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, will address the Communications Equity and Diversity Council on behalf of the chairwoman's office (see 2412040036).

The incoming Donald Trump administration "could ... significantly scale back, or even dismantle" programs funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Chips Act, along with routine government expenditures, Pillsbury lawyers blogged Wednesday. They said it's likely the Trump White House will try diverting appropriated funds toward preferred policy priorities. In addition, the incoming administration might refuse to spend funds Congress appropriated and so "'starve' disfavored agencies or offices and further cost-cutting initiatives."

In her last address at the annual FCBA dinner Tuesday, outgoing FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel zinged the Donald Trump administration, fellow commissioners and herself, among others. She's been asked since the November election whether she would try being funny at this year's dinner, Rosenworcel responded, "Why would I start now?" Speaking of her post-FCC activities, she quipped, "I have concepts of a plan." Rosenworcel told the "telecom prom" crowd of more than 1,300 she might become a social media influencer and that she just made a video showing herself unboxing 6 GHz devices. Having an "alternative facts" administration won’t be a big stretch for the FCC, she said, because “for years we called the 10th floor the 8th floor." She noted incoming Chairman Brendan Carr made countless media appearances to curry favor with the Trump administration, but, Rosenworcel said, “I think he’s going to regret the decision to buy a Cybertruck.” She added, "Say goodbye to fluoridated water, say hello to ivermectin for all." Rosenworcel continued, "Say goodbye to remote work, say hello to the new Chipotle" a block from FCC headquarters. She ended her remarks with thanks and kudos to the FCC staff.

NTIA expects to start awarding digital equity competitive grants starting in winter, Deputy Director-Digital Equity Michell Morton said in a webinar Wednesday. The agency has received more than $6.5 billion in applications, she said. NTIA and the Census Bureau have jointly created a set of data sources -- such as the Digital Equity Act Population Viewer and Access Broadband Dashboard -- to be used for digital equity programs, NTIA staffers said. The agency this year has awarded $53.7 million in digital equity planning grants to all states and territories, as well as more than $644 million in digital equity capacity grants. It’s in the process of announcing recipients, Morton said.

The FCC’s Communications Equity and Diversity Council's Friday meeting will include remarks from Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, said an agenda released Wednesday. The meeting will also include updates on the progress of the working groups and “a discussion of working group plans going forward.” The CEDC’s charter lasts six more months, but the presumed next FCC chair, Commissioner Brendan Carr, has said that he plans to end the agency’s promotion of diversity equity and inclusion (see 2411180059).

President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s nominating Gail Slater, an economic adviser to Vice President-elect JD Vance, to lead the DOJ Antitrust Division. Slater, who was Trump’s special assistant to the president for technology, telecommunications and cybersecurity policy at the National Economic Council during his first administration, “will help ensure that our competition laws are enforced, both vigorously and FAIRLY, with clear rules that facilitate, rather than stifle, the ingenuity of our greatest companies,” the president-elect said on Truth Social. Slater was previously Internet Association general counsel and worked at Fox and Roku. Trump took a swipe at major tech companies in announcing the Slater nomination. “Big Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector and, as we all know, using its market power to crack down on the rights of so many Americans, as well as those of Little Tech,” Trump said: “I was proud to fight these abuses in my First Term," and DOJ Antitrust “will continue that work under Gail’s leadership.”

Facebook experienced 2024's largest outage, with its March 5 incident affecting 11.1 million users based on Downdetector data, Ookla said Tuesday. Among carriers, AT&T topped the list, with a Feb. 22 disruption touching 3.4 million customers. “Our reliance on technology is so total that for many it feels like the world is ending when a popular site or service on the internet is inaccessible, and 2024 saw many outages that reminded us how much one such interruption can disrupt the daily lives of millions,” Ookla said.

Much of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's agenda as the agency's incoming chair doesn't require an FCC majority to move forward, New Street Research's Blair Levin noted Monday. Part of that is because Carr can get Congress to act, and some is due to the delegated authority FCC bureaus have, Levin said. Carr's efforts to investigate tech companies and amplify the voice of conservatives on social media platforms don't require a formal FCC proceeding, he said. For example, Carr can tie up Skydance's proposed Paramount purchase, which would signal other networks that unfavorable news coverage could affect M&A approvals. In addition, Carr could have the FCC general counsel issue a policy statement about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that eliminates the expansive immunities courts have read into the statute, Levin said. And Carr doesn't need a majority to stop work on items with which he disagrees, such as bulk billing rules, Levin said. Outgoing Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel "never effectively used her bully pulpit [and thus] had the least consequential term as Chair in modern FCC history," he argued. She failed on such issues as losing spectrum auction authority and not getting an extension of the affordable connectivity program, Levin said. Mentioning Levin's note during a Practising Law Institute event Tuesday, Carr said Levin would need “a food taster” at that night's FCBA annual dinner. Levin's note is a reminder that “it's all downhill from here" for his upcoming stint as chairman, Carr said. “They like you on the way in, they definitely do not on the way out, and I don't expect that pattern to be broken any time soon,” he said. Rosenworcel Chief of Staff Narda Jones said during a different PLI panel that she hadn't read Levin's essay but that her boss was proud of the FCC’s work “to reach communities and stakeholders who haven't necessarily been the focus of the commission's work before.” She pointed to the ACP, formation of the Space Bureau, maternal health mapping, and the Missing and Endangered Persons alarm code as important achievements of the Rosenworcel FCC.