Sen Blumenthal's Antitrust Blues
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is arguing that regulators should deal with an explosion of merger and acquisition activity by applying “greater vigilance and vigor” to the exercise of antitrust law.
June 2018
ZTE spends big in fight against ban (Hill, The)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 06/07/2018 - 10:59
Commerce Sec Ross Announces $1.4 Billion ZTE Settlement
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation, of Shenzhen, China (“ZTE Corporation”) and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. of Hi-New Shenzhen, China (“ZTE Kangxun”) (collectively, “ZTE”) has agreed to severe additional penalties and compliance measures to replace the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) denial order imposed as a result of ZTE’s violations of its March 2017 settlement agreement.
Daily Digest 6/7/2018
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 06/07/2018 - 10:54Daily Digest 6/7/2018 (NTIA: digital divide is showing signs of giving way)
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Thu, 06/07/2018
How Nonprofits Help Digitally Disadvantaged Communities Connect
There is, of course, a digital divide among low-income Americans, but there is also what we at TechSoup call an organizational digital divide. Many nonprofits themselves are low-income and benefit greatly from low-cost, uncapped broadband. This is a groundbreaking study on how charities use this resource for both their staff and their clients. Nearly a third of nonprofit respondents report relying on Mobile Beacon service as their main Internet connection. A majority of respondents reported that unlimited data has allowed them to expand their program services.
More than half of US households have ditched landline phones
More than half of US households — 53.9% — rely entirely on cellphones, according to a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2006, only 15.8% of survey respondents said they didn’t have a landline telephone. The iPhone and its Android counterparts launched the next year, and the rate of landline abandonment has since steadily climbed. “There are countries in Europe where 80 to 90% of households are wireless only, so this trend could continue for some time,” said Stephen J.
Court strikes down lawsuit over Twitter ban of person who asked for help to “take out” DeRay Mckesson
A court struck down far-right figure Charles C. Johnson’s lawsuit against Twitter which banned him in 2015 after he sent a tweet asking for help to “take out” high-profile Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson. The California Superior Court in Fresno granted Twitter’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, finding that it was a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) action.
AT&T wouldn't let phone rivals run ads on its DirecTV; then, tiny Mint Mobile cried foul
The CEO of a small wireless carrier that offers consumers an alternative to the major cell phone companies says AT&T refused to run its ads on AT&T's DirecTV service as a way to suppress competition with the telecom giant's own wireless service. AT&T, which is fighting an anti-trust suit brought by the Department of Justice that aims to halt its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, now says it's changed the policy that kept Mint Mobile's ads off its pay TV service.