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October 7, 2024 On July 23, 2024, two days after announcing that he would exit the 2024 presidential race, President Joe Biden wrote on social media that he would address […]

Updated January 4, 2024 Contents Text and Legislative History Section 104: Online Family Empowerment Stratton Oakmont, Inc. v. Prodigy Services Co Judicial Interpretation Section 230(c)(1): Publisher Activity Early Interpretations: Zeran [...]

October 12, 2023 Contents Introduction Background Statutory Background: Section 230 Interactive Computer Service Role as Publisher or Speaker Treatment As 'Publisher or Speaker' Non-Publisher Activity Information Provided by Another Information [...]

August 17, 2023 This Legal Sidebar is the third installment in a three-part series on efforts to require online services to verify the ages of their users. Part I provided [...]

August 17, 2023 For almost as long as the internet has existed, journalists and lawmakers have sounded alarms over children's ability to access harmful material online. The targeted material has [...]

August 17, 2023 This Legal Sidebar is the second installment in a three-part series on efforts to require online services to verify the ages of their users. Part I discussed [...]

December 8, 2022 A central question any time Congress exercises its legislative power is what consequences may follow from violating the law. For laws that create private rights of action--in [...]

Updated November 4, 2022 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the principal agency responsible for enforcing federal consumer protection laws. In addition to enforcing several specific laws, the agency enforces [...]

October 24, 2022 On October 7, 2022, President Biden signed and issued the Executive Order on Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities (the Data Protection EO or the [...]

Updated August 31, 2022 On July 20, 2022, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 53-2 to advance the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), H.R. 8152, to the [...]

March 14, 2022 Contents Introduction Biographical Information Making Predictions About Nominees Evaluating the Work of a U.S. District Judge The Role of a U.S. District Judge The Unique Nature of [...]

March 14, 2022 Contents Legal Concepts: Obscenity and Laws Restricting Speech to Minors Historical Antecedents: FCC Regulation of Indecent Content First Attempt: The Communications Decency Act Legislative History and Enactment [...]

February 28, 2022 On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden announced the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of [...]

Contents General Federal Preemption Principles Overview of the FCC's Preemption Authority Under the Communications Act The FCC's Jurisdictional Authority Specific Statutory Provisions Addressing Preemption Clear Statement Rule Current Issues Net [...]

August 12, 2021 A foundational principle of the United States, as reflected in various portions of the U.S. Constitution, is the notion that states retain certain sovereign powers. One such [...]

July 22, 2021 Data privacy continues to be an important issue for legislators at both the state and federal levels, and a frequent consideration for privacy legislation is whether consumers [...]

April 7, 2021 Contents Text and Legislative History Section 104: Online Family Empowerment Stratton Oakmont, Inc v Prodigy Services Co Judicial Interpretation Section 230(c)(1): Publisher Activity Early Interpretations: Zeran v [...]

April 28, 2021 The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) makes it illegal to call any wireless phone number using an 'automatic telephone dialing system' (an autodialer) or an artificial or [...]

Updated February 11, 2021 Contents Supreme Court 2019-2020 Term Review of the EENR Decisions Clean Water Act: County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability [...]

Updated October 16, 2020 Update: On October 15, 2020, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the FCC will adopt rules interpreting Section 230 of the Communications Decency [...]

September 24, 2020 Contents Background Introduction to Contact Tracing Digital Tools Concerns and Issues Federal Data Protection Laws and Digital Contact Tracing The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) [...]

July 20, 2020 As some states and localities have paused re-opening efforts in response to recent increases in COVID-19 cases, internet access continues to serve a critical role to help [...]

July 9, 2020 Many states, territories, and localities have implemented public health orders to limit the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in their respective communities, including stay-at-home orders, orders [...]

May 21, 2020 As states and localities have directed their citizens to stay home in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, internet traffic in the United States has shifted dramatically. The [...]

February 13, 2020 On December 30, 2019, President Trump signed the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act) into law. The TRACED Act is Congress's latest [...]

Companies that provide cable television service (cable operators) are subject to regulation at the federal, state, and local levels. Under the Communications Act of 1934, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC [...]

July 22, 2019 Robocalls--calls placed using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice--continue to be one of the most common consumer complaints received by the Federal [...]

November 1, 2018 On June 28, 2018, with subsequent minor amendments, the State of California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), a law that generally restricts certain businesses' ability [...]