The 2021 NAB Show won’t be in-person, NAB said Wednesday. The event had been set for Oct. 9-13 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Consumer advocates praised President Joe Biden’s nomination of Alvaro Bedoya as FTC commissioner. He’s expected to replace Commissioner Rohit Chopra, who awaits Senate confirmation to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The White House made its announcement at around 4 p.m. EDT Monday, and the advocates' comments came beforehand.

Locast shut down service Thursday following a summary judgment court decision in favor of broadcasters suing the nonprofit streaming service for copyright infringement. In a notification on the Locast app, it said its nonprofit operating model “was designed from the very beginning to operate in accordance with the strict letter of the law” and that following the court summary judgment it's suspending operations immediately.

Google violated Section 337 of the 1930 Tariff Act for importing smart speakers and other devices found to infringe five Sonos multiroom audio patents, said a notice of initial determination signed late Friday by Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock at the International Trade Commission. A final ITC determination on Bullock’s ruling is due mid-December.

The FTC plans an open meeting at noon Wednesday, when commissioners will vote on issuing a new policy statement on right to repair restrictions. President Joe Biden’s executive order earlier this month encouraged the FTC to issue rules against anticompetitive restrictions on using independent repair shops or doing do-it-yourself repairs of devices and equipment. See our bulletin here. The FTC will vote on issuing a “new policy statement, following the Commission's ‘Nixing the Fix’ report which was unanimously agreed to and announced on May 6, 2021,” Chair Lina Khan announced July 12.

There are many broadband and tech provisions in President Joe Biden's executive order on promoting competition, with suggestions for the FCC and FTC, per a White House fact sheet. Among them are net neutrality, broadband billing, and a right for consumers to get their tech devices repaired by third parties.

AT&T and Discovery confirmed Monday morning the latter is combining with the former's WarnerMedia. "In connection with the spin-off or split-off of WarnerMedia, AT&T will receive $43 billion," they said. Information on the blockbuster deal can be found here.

The FTC unanimously supported a long-awaited report finding little evidence for some sectors' opposition to letting consumers fix their own devices. “Although manufacturers have offered numerous explanations for their repair restrictions, the majority are not supported by the record,” said the report OK'd 4-0 and issued Thursday afternoon.

Voters greenlit a sequel to the California Consumer Privacy Act, as expected. Opponents conceded Wednesday.

COVID-19 forced the postponement of the NAB Show in Las Vegas to Oct. 9-13, 2021, from April 11-14, said NAB President-CEO Gordon Smith Wednesday. NAB has “witnessed growing concern and uncertainty over what the next six months will bring; enough that there appears to be a good deal of reluctance around participating in large events in the first half of next year.” Evidence suggests it will be “well into next year” before COVID-19 “could be under control in the U.S.,” he said.