Streaming services increasingly are cracking down on password sharing as they see the success that Netflix has had with its initiative, industry analysts tell us. Executives at streamers tell Wall Street the effort will help drive revenue growth.

Communications Litigation Today is tracking the below lawsuits involving appeals of FCC actions.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., remains optimistic that she can get enough panel members on board with her Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) during the August recess to open a viable path for the stalled measure during the waning days of this Congress. Three Senate Commerce Republicans who are also senior members of the Armed Services Committee and are seen as potential converts on S-4207 told us just before the chamber recessed that they remain highly dubious about the measure.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated to the 10th floor plans for a full commission vote on restructuring radio group Audacy’s petition for a declaratory ruling seeking expedited foreign-ownership review as part of George Soros-affiliated entities purchasing its stock (see 2404230054), a commission official confirmed to us Thursday. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, preemptively claimed credit for Rosenworcel’s decision after pressing Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington about Audacy last week (see 2408090051).

It's "astonishing that the FCC is once again seeking to impose heavy-handed regulation on internet access," TechFreedom and the Washington Legal Foundation told the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday. The groups urged the court in an amicus brief Wednesday that it should reverse the commission's order restoring Title II classification of broadband (see 2408130001). Their brief said the "only question for this court" is whether the FCC has the statutory authority to act (docket 24-7000), arguing the order is a violation of the major questions doctrine.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (see 2406280043) doesn’t foreclose the FCC's ability to act on net neutrality and other important public issues, Stephanie Joyce, senior vice president-chief of staff at the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday.

The objective of Consumers' Research was getting a case about the Universal Service Fund contribution methodology before the U.S. Supreme Court. That case resulted in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' recent 9-7 en banc decision that found the contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax," legal experts said during a Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition webinar Wednesday. The 5th Circuit remanded the contribution factor for Q1 2022 to the FCC for further work.

Opponents of giving the FirstNet Authority effective control of the 4.9 GHz band, as promoted by AT&T and the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA), have been at the FCC repeatedly in recent weeks, driven in part by rumors that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel may support that plan. But industry officials say how the FCC will come down remains uncertain. With Commissioner Anna Gomez expected to recuse herself, because of work before she joined the commission, Rosenworcel will likely need support from at least one Republican commissioner.

Seeking to invalidate New York’s Affordable Broadband Act, ISP groups asked that the U.S. Supreme Court review a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 2-1 ruling that federal statute doesn't preempt the state law. However, SCOTUS should wait until lower courts finish reviewing the FCC’s net neutrality order, CTIA, NTCA, USTelecom, ACA Connects, the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association and the New York State Telecommunications Association said in a petition for a writ of certiorari Monday.

The FCC "must point to clear congressional authorization" before claiming it can reclassify broadband as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act, a coalition of industry groups told the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its challenge of the commission's net neutrality rules. The court granted a temporary stay of the rules earlier this month (see 2408010066). The petitioners -- ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA, USTelecom, the Wireless ISP Association and several state telecom associations -- said in their opening brief filed late Monday (docket 24-7000) that the "best reading of the federal communications laws forecloses the commission’s reclassification."