Marc S. Martin Partner

In a politically divided 3-2 vote, the FCC updated its data breach notification rules, which had been in effect since before the release of the first iPhone.

The White House recently issued its most extensive policy directive yet concerning the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) through a 100-plus-page Executive Order (EO) titled "Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” and accompanying “Fact Sheet” summary.

Perkins Coie presented at Digital Hollywood’s “AI Bill of Rights, Ethics & the Law” Summit, a one-day virtual conference that seeks to advance the conversation around the establishment of a national regulatory policy for artificial intelligence (AI).

The Federal Communications Commission recently adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to reestablish its authority over broadband internet access service by reinstating its net neutrality rules.

Governor Gavin Newsom recently approved California’s SB 244, also referred to as the Right to Repair Act, positioning California as a pivotal state advocating for comprehensive electronics or appliance repair rights.

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on the feasibility, benefits, and limitations of techniques that can help advance the FCC’s understanding of “nonfederal” spectrum usage.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) unveiled his much-anticipated, bipartisan legislative framework for regulating artificial intelligence during recent public remarks. To support this new framework and the resulting policy proposals, Senator Schumer has formed a bipartisan AI working group that will work closely with the leaders of the Senate’s Commerce, Homeland Security, Antitrust, Judiciary, and Intelligence committees to shape the draft legislation.

Federal Communications Commission’s Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the formation of a Privacy and Data Protection Task Force at the FCC during a recent speech at the Center for Democracy and Technology Forum on Data Privacy.

The National Science and Technology Council recently bolstered the Biden administration’s continued focus on responsible AI development by announcing an update to the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan.

The EU was in the process of implementing its AI Act, first proposed on April 21, 2021, before generative AI chatbots were widely released. This Update provides a fresh look at the AI Act’s legislative status and its substantive evolution before it becomes legally effective.

The recent dramatic growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continues to be a focus of the Biden administration.

Equal access to high-quality, affordable broadband internet service has never been more critical, particularly as Americans increasingly rely on broadband for everything from work and education to healthcare and entertainment. Accordingly, as part of a broader effort to combat digital discrimination, the Federal Communications Commission recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks to promote and facilitate equal access to broadband internet service for everyone.

Published over the holidays, President Biden signed the $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which includes a wide range of artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives and investments. It also directs several federal agencies to help ensure the responsible use of AI technologies, including the prevention of algorithmic bias. This Update includes a summary of the AI appropriations and initiatives.

The Federal Communications Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks to strengthen and broaden its breach notification rules arising from the unauthorized disclosure of customer proprietary network information.

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules requiring broadband internet service providers to display labels that enable consumers to easily compare broadband service offerings.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy, a part of the Executive Office of the President, recently published a white paper entitled “The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: Making Automated Systems Work for the American People.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently denied a petition to review a 2020 Federal Communications Commission order that permitted callers to place commercial non-telemarketing robocalls to residential phone numbers and that established uniform call limits for such calls.

By a 6-3 majority, the U.S. Supreme Court in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency held that the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases by making industry-wide changes violated the “major questions” doctrine.

The Federal Communications Commission recently adopted certain final rules, policies, and proposed rules to “stem the tide of foreign-originated illegal robocalls.”

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission published a Notice of Inquiry on February 28, 2022, inviting public comment on vulnerabilities that threaten the security and integrity of the Border Gateway Protocol, which is central to the internet’s global routing system.

On February 15, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously adopted new rules intended to give tenants in multi-tenant environments greater choice in selecting broadband and cable service provider services

The Federal Communications Commission recently proposed new rules that would require internet service providers to display labels that allow consumers to comparison shop for broadband services.

In recent years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has worked closely with the U.S. Department of Justice and other Executive Branch national security agencies to restrict China’s influence on U.S. telecommunications.

Congress recently passed the long-awaited bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The law allocates over $1 trillion in new and repurposed funds to upgrading the country’s infrastructure.

This update summarizes a recent publication subject to public comment adopted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): “A Proposal for Identifying and Managing Bias in Artificial Intelligence.” 

President Biden’s recent "Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy" promotes fair competition regulations across a diverse group of key U.S. industries and includes 72 separate initiatives involving more than a dozen federal agencies.

In what could be a harbinger of the future regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States, the European Commission published its recent proposal for regulation of AI systems.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project et al. is significant for both the decision’s effect on the regulation of the broadcast television industry and its clarifications of administrative law. In Prometheus, the Court restored the Federal Communications Commission’s 2017 order on reconsideration to repeal or modify three core broadcast television ownership rules. This client update summarizes the decision and provides key takeaways on the ruling’s implications for M&A and other transactions in the broadcast industry.

In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid et al., the U.S. Supreme Court provided some clarity that stakeholders have been awaiting since 2015 by adopting a narrower interpretation of the term “autodialer” for purposes of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The Court reversed an expansive interpretation of “autodialer” adopted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that the Court noted would have prohibited many commonplace uses of cell phones by consumers. The Court found that for a dialing system to constitute an autodialer, it must have the capacity to either store or produce a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator. This narrower interpretation comes as a relief to a broad range of businesses and nonprofit organizations, among others, that believed the Ninth Circuit’s broad interpretation unfairly ensnared legitimate communications practices that did not harm consumers.

Shortly after his inauguration, President Biden appointed Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as acting chairwoman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

Telecommunications is the largest communications sector in the United States. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are the largest and most diversified telecommunications companies in the United States.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices have the potential to transform our home and work environment by integrating a growing range of “smart” wirelessly connected sensors into our daily lives.

What can we expect from the Federal Communications Commission from the incoming administration of President-elect Biden?

In this white paper, the authors discuss the legal concerns arising from the potential bias manifestations in ML algorithms used in the healthcare context under U.S. law. They briefly describe the legal landscape governing algorithmic bias in the United States and offer some emerging tools that build on existing recommended best practices, such as adversarial debiasing and the use of synthetic data for detecting, avoiding, and mitigating algorithmic bias

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the promise to revolutionize healthcare with machine learning (ML) techniques to predict patient outcomes and personalize patient care, but use of AI carries legal risks, including algorithmic bias, that can affect outcomes and care.

In a recent decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit largely upheld three Federal Communications Commission (FCC) orders intended to facilitate the rapid deployment of 5G wireless facilities nationwide.

The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted on June 9, 2020, to adopt a Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to promote broadcast internet services through a new broadcast standard called ATSC 3.0.

Daily television news featuring both life-and-death developments and state- and municipal-level policy announcements have spurred a quarantine-fueled "golden age" for television, especially local news.

International trade and cyber security issues, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, have increased existing tensions and distrust between the United States and China.

In response to the ongoing public health emergency, the Federal Communications Commission released a Report and Order on April 2 establishing a COVID-19 Telehealth Program, along with a broader Connected Care Pilot Program, to support connected care services and devices.

In response to great interest from Silicon Valley, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has released draft rules that would make valuable spectrum available for unlicensed wireless broadband services (i.e., Wi-Fi) in the 6 GHz band (5.925-7.125 GHz).

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many buyers and sellers of tech services and goods are in the process of (1) examining their existing tech agreements to determine whether the pandemic constitutes a force majeure event under the governing law of the agreement and excuses related failures or delays in performance, and (2) assessing how to negotiate new tech agreements within the uncertainty of the pandemic. 

In response to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, governments are scrambling to regulate this new technology. New York and New Jersey have recently proposed bills to study and regulate artificial intelligence. The authors of this article discuss the proposed laws.

The U.S. government and industry face pressure to compete with China, the EU, and others in the race to implement the next great advance in wireless network technology known as 5G.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit added a new chapter in the ongoing saga over how and whether to regulate providers of broadband internet access service when, on October 1, 2019, it largely upheld the Federal Communication Commission’s repeal in 2018 of net neutrality rules, but vacated its effort to preempt state regulation of the same and remanded several other issues without vacatur.

In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down key portions of a 2018 order by the Federal Communications Commission that would have exempted certain small wireless facilities from environmental and historic preservation review.

In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in every sphere of the economy has increased dramatically.

The Federal Communications Commission recently adopted new measures to combat unwanted robocalls in a unanimous Declaratory Ruling and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

In a recent decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a federal district court was not necessarily bound by the Federal Communications Commission’s prior interpretation of a federal statute over which the agency has authority to implement and enforce.

As of January 1, 2019, video game developers and publishers are now subject to certain accessibility requirements under the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) that apply to manufacturers and providers of advanced communications services (ACS).

As of January 3, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has suspended most of its operations for the duration of the government shutdown due to the agency’s exhaustion of available funds. This alert summarizes how and the extent to which the shutdown affects FCC operations, based on the FCC’s plan for orderly shutdown released on December 18, 2018 and Public Notice released on January 2, 2019.

In an effort to reform and streamline its formal complaint procedures, the Federal Communications Commission has issued a new uniform set of procedural rules.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently adopted a number of orders and proposed rules affecting the availability and use of millimeter-wave spectrum for advanced fifth generation (5G) wireless networks.

The Federal Communications Commission recently adopted an order containing sweeping regulatory changes to speed the deployment of advanced wireless services to provide connectivity for innovative Internet of Things, augmented reality, unmanned vehicles, and artificial intelligence-driven devices, services, and systems.

Marc Martin, James Snell and Debra Bernard authored the article, "A Closer Look At Long-Awaited D.C. Circ. Robocall Ruling," on Law360 regarding the long-awaited decision in ACA International v. Federal Communications Commission.

Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) issued its long-awaited decision in ACA International v. Federal Communications Commission, No. 15-1211 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 16, 2018).

In a sweeping deregulatory measure, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently adopted a final order to repeal most of the net neutrality rules, known as the “Restoring Internet Freedom order”

On the eve of Thanksgiving, the FCC released a draft order to repeal its own net neutrality rules.

Last year, the contentious net neutrality debate appeared to be finally settled when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order.

Unsolicited robocalls are the top consumer complaint made to the Federal Communications Commission, which receives over 200,000 complaints a year.

Since we published our previous update, the FCC has adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to begin the process of rolling back the rules and regulatory framework for net neutrality. 

New development: President Trump signed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval on April 3, 2017.

This update was republished in Cyberspace Lawyer.

As anticipated, the Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission are taking steps to pare down the 2016 Broadband Privacy Order now that they are in the majority.

Roughly two weeks since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the new Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, has taken steps providing further evidence that he plans to roll back FCC actions taken under former Chairman Tom Wheeler, including net neutrality and broadband privacy.

This update was republished in Law360 on 02.13.2017, "The Future Of Net Neutrality Under The New FCC."

In the days since the recent election, many tech, media and telecom industry observers remain unsure of what to expect from the Federal Communications Commission under the Trump administration.

The Federal Communications Commission recently released an order containing new privacy protections for customers of broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers, which was adopted by a 3-2 vote along partisan lines.

The FTC has no jurisdiction over common carriers even when they engage in non-common carrier activity, according to a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit opinion.

For two decades, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has relied on an inter-agency consulting process to evaluate matters before it that potentially raise issues of national security, foreign policy and trade policy.

On its third try, the Federal Communications Commission finally got the sweeping net neutrality court victory it had been seeking for years.

As previously promised in last year’s Open Internet Order, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or the Commission) has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comment on proposed privacy requirements for broadband internet access service providers.

Two days after the expiration of the informal deadline to replace the Safe Harbor Framework  invalidated by the Court of Justice of the European Union in October 2015, the EU and US have come to terms on a new framework—the “EU-US Privacy Shield.”

Marc Martin was one of four attorneys who weighed in on arguments over net neutrality and how broadband Internet service providers should be regulated to protect the consumers.

The Federal Communications Commission recently adopted in a partisan 3-2 vote a notice of apparent liability for forfeiture and order (the NAL) against AT&T Mobility LLC with an unprecedented proposed penalty of $100 million as well as numerous other compliance obligations, marking the first time the agency has enforced its net neutrality transparency rule.

Last week, an FCC divided on partisan lines adopted a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture and Order (the NAL) against AT&T with an unprecedented proposed penalty of $100 million as well as numerous other compliance obligations, marking the first time the agency has enforced its net neutrality transparency rule.

Privacy and data security are high priorities of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the leadership of Chairman Tom Wheeler. In addition to significant enforcement actions against AT&T and TerraCom/YourTel that take a page out of the playbook of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the FCC’s recent Open Internet Order for the first time imposes the privacy obligations of Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act) on broadband Internet service providers.