Insights on Communications & Technology

Below is a roundup of headlines that matter and key takeaways from the industries and issues we’re following closely. We’ll be back later today with more in-depth analysis.

The Government of Australia is proposing a new bill that would grant additional powers to law enforcement and national security agencies.

On July 11, 2018, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing titled “Protecting Customer Proprietary Network Information in the Internet Age.”

The US Department of Justice remained busy in its first year of the Trump Administration, charging 20 individuals with violations under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — the second highest year of individual prosecutions since 1977.

Where is my child? Ask any parent who has ever lost sight of their child and they will tell you that these short moments of panic can feel like a lifetime. Thankfully, events like these can in many ways soon be a thing of the past.

The 2018 edition of Legal 500 US has rated 50 Arent Fox LLP attorneys as national leaders in their field. In addition, 18 of the firm’s practice areas were ranked among the best in the country, including new recognition for the firm’s Trademark Litigation and White Collar groups.

Arent Fox LLP is pleased to announce the election of 10 new partners and two new counsel, effective January 1, 2018.

The 2017 edition of Legal 500 US has rated 50 Arent Fox LLP attorneys as national leaders in their field. In addition, 17 of the firm’s practice areas were ranked among the best in the country. Legal 500 highlighted Arent Fox’s extensive capabilities across a number of areas of the law.

In recent months, a number of bills have been introduced or passed in Congress that would ease federal health care programs’ restrictions on telehealth. Currently, Medicare has strict limitations on telehealth.

Arent Fox LLP recently served as outside counsel to the Seattle Seahawks and its affiliate company, First & Goal Inc., in a renewal of the stadium naming rights transaction with CenturyLink, Inc.

The Federal Communications Commission recently solicited public comment on how it can better facilitate broadband-enabled health care solutions by adopting new policies or removing existing regulatory barriers.

Just before Christmas, The Joint Commission (TJC) published an update clarifying its previous guidance regarding practitioners’ use of text messaging. TJC now says that practitioners may communicate with each other via secure text messaging systems.

From large corporations to small nonprofits, from urban centers to rural communities, the 2016 elections will have an impact across all sectors of the economy and globally as well.

At its monthly Open Meeting on October 27, the Federal Communications Commission adopted, but has not yet released, new privacy rules requiring retail broadband providers to offer consumers more choice over how their personal information is used.

Recently another federal district court ruled that text messages sent from a group messaging platform were not autodialed, even when transmitted in bulk, because of the significant human intervention required to initiate a text message campaign through the platform.

Consumer advocate groups—Public Knowledge, Consumer Watchdog, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, TURN-The Utility Reform Network and Consumer Federation of America—recently filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and a petition with the Federal Communications Commission agai

The 2016 edition of Legal 500 US has rated 46 Arent Fox LLP attorneys as national leaders in their field. In addition, 14 of the firm’s practice areas were ranked among the best in the country.

On April 5, 2016, Chairwoman Edith Ramirez of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the release of a new web-based tool to assist developers of mobile health apps in understanding what federal laws they must comply with.

The Federal Trade Commission amended its Telemarketing Sales Rule at the end of 2015 to ban certain forms of abusive payment methods.

The Supreme Court ruled interactive computer service providers like Yelp cannot be held legally responsible for info created and developed by third parties.

Arent Fox LLP obtained summary judgment for CallFire, Inc. when a federal district court judge ruled the cloud telephone service provider could not be liable in a class action lawsuit that claimed the company violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

On June 29, 2015, PayPal’s General Counsel released a blog post indicating that the company will be tweaking its proposed revisions to its User Agreement regarding PayPal’s ability to send its customers autodialed or prerecorded messages.

On June 22, 2015, the FCC released an order authorizing interconnected VoIP providers to obtain telephone numbers directly from the Numbering Administrators, rather than through intermediaries or wholesale carriers.

The 2015 edition of Legal 500 US has rated 50 Arent Fox LLP attorneys as national leaders in their field. In addition, 15 of the firm’s practice areas were ranked among the best in the country.