Eric Urbach

A more targeted approach or full repeal?

A lawsuit trying to restore funding under the Digital Equity Act is at a crossroads.  Lawyers for the Federal Government filed a motion to dismiss the National Digital Inclusion Alliance v Trump lawsuit on February 6, citing unconstitutionality of aspects of the Digital Equity Act, improper court jurisdiction, among other reasons. “Under the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, race-based classifications are presumptively unconstitutional,” the motion states.

As grant funds rolled out from Virginia's Department of Housing and Community Development toward broadband access programs across the state, Dr. Tamarah Holmes, director of the broadband office at the agency, found herself on the phone constantly with internet service provider lawyers rebuffing attempts to change the terms of their contracts. Dr. Holmes said that agreements with ISPs are mostly carried out on the local level, and that they use a standard contract with all ISPs that does not get customized per provider.