Reporting

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has rewritten the rules of the information age so thoroughly that there's no mode of communication under his control where the rules aren't looser than they were a year ago. Here's a look at what he's done.

While it is clear that alignment with the Internet service providers is currently drawn along party lines, the industry’s attempt to gain favor with lawmakers is not partisan. Entrenched telecommunications companies liberally spread money and attention to everyone who holds office. Sometimes that influence comes in the form of lavish parties with Olympic athletes and lobbyists, but consistently it comes in the form of contributions to campaigns.

With Twitter as his Excalibur, the president takes on his doubters, powered by long spells of cable news and a dozen Diet Cokes. But if President Donald Trump has yet to bend the presidency to his will, he is at least wrestling it to a draw.

President Donald Trump lashed out at The New York Times on Dec 11 over a report that said he watches a minimum of four hours of television each day. 

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote on 12/14 to roll back the net neutrality rules in the United States. While the European Union has such rules in place, telecom providers have pushed the boundaries at times in Sweden, Germany, Portugal and elsewhere, offering a glimpse at the future American companies and consumers may face if protections are watered down. Europe adopted net neutrality rules aimed at ensuring that ISPs in the bloc’s 28 member states can’t pick the web’s winners and losers.

Since the Federal Communications Commission announced just before Thanksgiving that it was planning to gut the rules, there have been about 750,000 calls to Congress made through Battle for the Net, a website run by groups that advocate for net neutrality. By contrast, there were fewer than 30,000 calls in the first two weeks of November.

Various groups have taken the Federal Communications Commission to court, appealing its decision on speeding the transition to fiber and the retirement of legacy network to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, generally thought to be a more friendly venue than the DC Circuit. Asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse and vacate the November order were Public Knowledge, The Greenlining Institute, The Utility Reform Network, and the National Association of State Utility Advocates.

A one-digit mistake by CNN has armed President Donald Trump with new ammunition for another fusillade against the media. CNN reported Dec 7 that Donald Trump Jr. received an email on Sept. 4, 2016, that granted special access to WikiLeaks documents. The network said in an online article that the email had been “described to CNN by multiple sources.” But The Washington Post obtained the email itself and reported in the afternoon of Dec 7 that the message was actually dated Sept. 14, 2016 — a difference that sets Trump Jr.’s receipt 10 days later. The date matters.

As attendees of the telecom industry's premier social gathering were escaping the 44-degree chill and entering the Washington Hilton, several dozen net-neutrality protesters chanted outside. Across the street, on an exterior wall of the Courtyard Marriott, the activists projected in giant lettering, "No Slow Lanes. Open & Equal Internet For All."

On March 19, AT&T and the Justice Department are expected to head to court to decide the future of Time Warner in what could be a historic legal showdown over a massive $85 billion merger. The timing of the trial could put AT&T in an uncomfortable position as it seeks to buy up one of the world's most valuable media and entertainment conglomerates, known for popular TV channels such as CNN and hit film franchises like the “Harry Potter” series.