February 2020

Sponsor 

NYU School of Law

New York University

Date 
Fri, 02/28/2020 - 14:00 to Sat, 02/29/2020 - 00:30

Antitrust laws in the United States have evolved with the economy and technological change, moving from the trustbusting of Standard Oil to the last of the “Big Cases” – AT&T and Microsoft.  Today the antitrust laws face a new challenge. Giant platform companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple have achieved unprecedented power over technological markets and everyday life.  The growth of these companies raises the question whether existing U.S.



ISPs sue Maine, claim Web-privacy law violates their free-speech rights

The broadband industry is suing Maine to stop a Web-browsing privacy law similar to the one killed by Congress and President Donald Trump in 2017. Industry groups claim the state law violates First Amendment protections on free speech and the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution. The Maine law was signed by Gov Janet Mills (D-ME) in June 2019 and is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2020.

Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Vice Chairman Tom Udall (D-NM), along with Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced the Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020 to accelerate the deployment of broadband services to Native communities and bridge the digital divide facing Native communities. The bill would expedite the deployment of affordable broadband service on Tribal lands by coordinating and improving the effectiveness of federal resources.

Advisory Regarding ETC Compliance with Lifeline Usage Rule

In an Advisory, the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Inspector General alerted Lifeline carriers, beneficiaries, and the public to the potential for widespread carrier non-compliance with the Lifeline usage rule. The Advisory provides examples of usage rule violations the OIG has encountered in its ongoing investigations of Lifeline carriers, including reimbursements sought for subscriber accounts that have never had any qualifying usage.

Moving from ‘secret sauce’ to open standards for 5G

Back in 2011 Marc Andreesen famously observed, “Software is eating the world.” Fifth-generation wireless technology is part of that evolution. Amidst all the hype about 5G, what makes it different is the simple reality that it uses software to virtualize activities that were once performed by function-specific pieces of hardware. Huawei would be disadvantaged if telecommunications networks threw off their old ways and began to think like Google and other digital-age companies.

Sponsor 

US Department of Agriculture

Date 
Wed, 02/19/2020 - 15:00 to Thu, 02/20/2020 - 22:00

Following the announcement of the 2019 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), USDA organized a series of technical workshops for those interested in the Rural Development Broadband ReConnect Program.



Sponsor 

Center for Strategic & International Studies

Date 
Wed, 02/19/2020 - 20:00 to 22:00

A discussion on the NIST Privacy Framework

There is no one solution for organizations that seek to manage risks to individual’s privacy while ensuring that they are developing innovative products and services. Because it was developed in collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders, the NIST Privacy Framework is flexible and timely, making it the best tool to assist organizations in addressing diverse privacy needs while enabling innovation current with technology trends.