The Federal Communications Commission released its Order on Thursday approving the myriad of agreements between Verizon and its largest cable competitors. The Order follows last week’s approval with revisions mandated by the Justice Department. While the Computer & Communications Industry Association appreciates the time and effort the FCC took to carefully consider these unprecedented agreements, the…
The FCC voted to suspend its rules on pricing flexibility in the special access market on Thursday, citing the need for updated data collection from service providers. The current rules, adopted in 1999, were intended to increase competition in the special access market. But a truly competitive marketplace never materialized, allowing legacy monopoly carriers to…
The Computer & Communications Industry Association appreciates the excellent work of the Justice Department and the FCC in reviewing a complex deal struck by Verizon and its largest cable competitors that would surely be rejected if it took the form of a merger. Unfortunately, the remedies prescribed by the Justice Department are no match for…
Two members of Congress have introduced legislation to help innovators combat patent trolls. The bill, dubbed the SHIELD Act (Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act) or HR 6245, co-authored by Congressmen Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, would allow tech companies to recover litigation costs for nuisance lawsuits where the plaintiff made…
Despite current economic conditions, Congress seems to be proceeding with a new tax collection mandate. On Aug. 1, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing on Internet sales taxes. The Computer & Communications Industry Association continues to oppose legislative efforts to shift the burden of tax collecting requirements to online retailers…
The Computer & Communications Industry Association continues to oppose H.R. 3179, the Marketplace Equity Act, on which the House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing July 24. The bill would allow states that have fulfilled certain simplification requirements to require out-of-state retailers to collect sales and use taxes on purchases made to residents of…
The House Judiciary’s Intellectual Property subcommittee had a hearing today on abusive patent litigation. All but one witness called for changes to the trade act of 1930. Patent trolls are now using this trade act to block devices and components of American companies. We saw this earlier this year with the International Trade Commission delaying…
A day after the Russian Parliament voted to establish a blacklist of websites that its government could shut down, the Computer & Communications Industry Association said this step raises a red flag for the Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) debate. While the legislation would require further votes and other steps before becoming law, this step…
Ottawa – The Canadian Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from the Society of Composers, Publishers and Music Authors. This means online music stores and others targeted in the lawsuit will not have to pay royalties for providing previews to online users. The consequences of the decision are to reaffirm an expansion of Canadian fair…
