Three coalitions of industry and public interest groups filed amicus briefs with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans Monday supporting Google's bid to sustain a preliminary injunction barring Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood from enforcing his subpoena of the company’s search practices. Hood, a Democrat, filed an appeal with the 5th Circuit in late March. That was after U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate ordered the preliminary injunction because there was a “substantial likelihood” that Google would prevail in its lawsuit against Hood on claims he violated the company’s First Amendment rights (see 1504010029). If Hood is “allowed to continue, the pressure tactics employed by the Attorney General here would send a dangerous message to large and small service providers, as well as the Internet users who rely on their platforms to communicate, learn, and organize online,” said the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for Democracy and Technology and other groups in a joint brief. “That message would stifle innovation, chill online speech, and flout the public’s First Amendment interest in an uncensored Internet.” The Computer & Communications Industry Association, CEA and Engine also urged the 5th Circuit to affirm the injunction. They said in a joint brief that “although state law enforcement officials are not wholly precluded from enforcing state laws that affect the Internet, Congress unambiguously intended to limit states’ ability to regulate Internet intermediaries’ display of third party content -- which is precisely what Attorney General Hood seeks to do here.” Hood “does not, and cannot, demonstrate any compelling interest in the wholesale gathering of information about a wide and disparate array of protected speech on Google’s various services,” the American Civil Liberties Union and its Mississippi chapter said in a joint brief. “Indeed, the subpoena seeks such a vast amount of information about so many people that by its very nature it cannot be narrowly tailored to any legitimate investigative need. As such, the subpoena is presumptively invalid.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of loans to build broadband infrastructure in rural areas, along with changes to the program required by the 2014 Farm Bill, said a Thursday USDA news release. In a notice in the Thursday Federal Register, USDA said it's establishing two funding cycles to review and prioritize applications for the Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee program, the release said. USDA also is setting a minimum level of acceptable broadband service at 4 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, it said. To be eligible for funding, an applicant must serve an area where at least 15 percent of the households are unserved, it said. USDA is accepting comments on the changes through Sept. 28, the release said. Applications are due Sept. 30.

Subcarrier Communications is buying Houston-based AC Site Management for $2.1 million, a news release from Subcarrier Communications said. Existing AC Site Management customers will continue to be served by Subcarrier's office in Houston, Texas, the release said.

Iowa Communications Network is offering CenturyLink's unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS), said a news release from CenturyLink. ICN operates a fiber broadband network for Iowa's government, healthcare, education and public safety sectors, the release said. With UCaaS available from ICN, the agency's education, public safety and government users can buy a managed services package that includes managed data networking, managed VoIP, and applications such as instant messaging and presence, it said.

Mayors from Syracuse and Kingston, N.Y., joined workers at a bargaining session with Verizon in Rye, New York, Thursday, said a news release from the Communications Workers of America. Four other elected officials from New York state -- mayors of Albany, Utica and Rome and the Town Supervisor of Brookhaven -- wrote letters urging Verizon to stop ignoring their communities' need for high-speed Internet and TV service, the release said. The calls to build out FiOS come as the buildout of FiOS has become a bargaining issue between Verizon and both the CWA and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers as they negotiate a new contract (see 1507290062).

Lawyers for Chattanooga and Wilson, North Carolina filed a joint motion with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to consolidate the municipal broadband cases and modify the briefing schedule, said a filing Tuesday. The cases petition for review of a single FCC Order which pre-empted laws in both Tennessee and North Carolina, which is why the lawyers said it makes sense to combine the cases. For the same reason, the briefing schedule should be modified, as well, the filing said (see 1507210034).

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ruled that the FCC didn't pre-empt state regulation of the fixed, interconnected VoIP service provided by Charter, said an order released by the state commission Tuesday. The MPUC also said Charter’s VoIP service constitutes local telephone service. The MPUC ordered Charter to make a compliance filing in accordance with the finding to explain how it intends to comply with the order and to provide a draft notice to its customers informing them that Charter provides a regulated telephone service and outlining the customer protections provided by law, the order said.

Frontier Communications and the Communications Workers of America District 9 signed an agreement bringing them one step closer to completing Frontier’s planned acquisition of Verizon’s wireline business assets in California, said a news release from Frontier. CWA, representing about 3,400 Verizon employees in California, supports the proposed acquisition and believes approval of the transaction is in the public's and employees’ interests, the release said. Under the agreement, after the transaction closes in the first half of 2016, Frontier will increase its workforce in California with at least 150 new, union-represented positions, the release said.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives plans a public hearing at 1 p.m. on Aug. 24 for HB-1417, which creates a freestanding act maintaining the state's Universal Service Fund. The Rural Telephone Access and Availability Act would extend the life of the Pennsylvania USF until 2022.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tentatively set Oct. 27-29 for the argument session for Montgomery County, Maryland, v. U.S. in docket 15-1240, said a notice from the court. Notice of motions or conflicts with this date are due July 27. The case is about tower siting.