The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an FCC motion to extend abeyance on a lawsuit by the League of California Cities challenging the FCC’s June 2020 wireless infrastructure declaratory ruling. Proceedings are stayed until Jan. 30, the court ruled Thursday in case 20-72749. The FCC sought more time to get to five commissioners (see 2211150069). The court has approved multiple previous abeyance requests (see 2207290029) since March 2021.
The Commerce Department’s recent preliminary determination that Southeast Asian solar cells and panels are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties (see 2212020064) left several questions unanswered, and lawyers for the Solar Energy Industries Association hope the agency will clarify these issues as the case proceeds to its final determinations, they said during a webinar Dec. 13.
The Commerce Department’s recent preliminary determination that Southeast Asian solar cells and panels are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties (see 2212020064) left several questions unanswered, and lawyers for the Solar Energy Industries Association hope the agency will clarify these issues as the case proceeds to its final determinations, they said during a webinar Dec. 13.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and her EU counterpart Valdis Dombrovskis reviewed their civil aircraft working group's ongoing analysis "related to Chinese non-market policies and practices in the sector, such as industrial planning and targeting, discriminatory and anti-competitive activities of State- or Party- controlled entities, State-directed purchases, financial support, and forced technology transfer policies. They also exchanged views on the long-term risks to their market-oriented sectors from China’s state-directed industrial dominance goals." Tariffs on European goods and tariffs on U.S. exports related to the Airbus-Boeing subsidy dispute were lifted in June 2021, but the U.S. said its tariffs were paused for five years as the two sides try to work out a permanent agreement on subsidies and on protecting their industries from Chinese competition that they say is a result of oversubsidization and other trade abuses.
Importers and exporters of solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam must complete and sign certifications within the next several weeks for any entries after April 1, 2022, to avoid antidumping and countervailing duties imposed in the preliminary determination of an anti-circumvention inquiry released by the Commerce Department on Dec. 2.
A federal judge declined to pause a Florida Telephone Solicitation Act case Wednesday, despite plaintiff Tyler DeSouza and defendant AeroCare expressing hope about mediation (see 2211280013). U.S. District Court of Middle Florida Judge Roy Dalton in Orlando denied parties’ motion for stay in case 6:22-cv-01047-RBD-LHP. “While the Court encourages mediation, it will not delay the docket in the meantime,” he wrote.
Importers and exporters of solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam must complete and sign certifications within the next several weeks for any entries after April 1, 2022, to avoid antidumping and countervailing duties imposed in the preliminary determination of an anti-circumvention inquiry released by the Commerce Department on Dec. 2.
AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite "is now one of the brightest objects in the night sky, outshining all but the brightest stars," and its use of terrestrial frequencies "poses a new challenge to radio astronomy," said the International Astronomical Union Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (IAU CPS) Monday. The satellite “is a big shift in the constellation satellite issue and should give us all reason to pause,” said IAU CPS Director Piero Benvenuti. The group urged low earth orbit constellations to "be conducted with due consideration of their side effects and with efforts made to minimize their impact on astronomy." AST emailed it's "eager to use the newest technologies and strategies to mitigate possible impacts to astronomy." It said it's working on such mitigations as anti-reflective materials and is "also engaged with NASA and certain working groups within the astronomy community to participate in advanced industry solutions, including potential operational interventions." It said it's committed to avoiding broadcasts inside or adjacent to the National Radio Quiet Zone in the U.S. and additional radioastronomy locations as required or needed. "We also plan to place gateway antennas far away from the NRQZ and other radio-quiet zones that are important to astronomy," it said.
The U.S. District Court in New Mexico denied CNSP’s motion to reconsider the court last month upholding a local telecom law requiring a revenue-based fee in Santa Fe (see 2210120030). “Given the substance of the Motion and the already-pending appeal, a reply would not aid [the court’s] its adjudication of the issue,” Judge Kenneth Gonzales ruled Nov. 15. An opposite conclusion by a New York federal court in Verizon Wireless v. Rochester (6:19-cv-06583) isn’t binding on the New Mexico court, he said. The FCC’s 2018 wireless infrastructure order’s effect “is a new issue, and this Court surmises it will be the subject of ongoing litigation,” said Gonzales. “If or when the standard governing right-of-way fees for wired internet service changes, this Court will dutifully apply it.” Waiting for the district court, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 17 lifted a pause on CNSP’s Oct. 28 appeal (case 22-2131).
Complete Democratic control in Massachusetts could make it easier to pass net neutrality and other bills, state Sen. James Eldridge (D) said in an interview last week. Democrats gained trifectas in four states in the Nov. 8 election. Computer Communications Industry Association (CCIA) President Matt Schruers expects more state attempts at internet regulation in 2023 legislative sessions, he told us.