California's SoFi Stadium, which is hosting Super Bowl LVI, is a "no drone zone," with temporary flight restrictions on drones near the stadium for much of Feb. 13, FAA said Wednesday. For a six-hour span that includes the game, temporary flight restrictions that include drones will be in effect within a 30-nautical-mile radius of the stadium, it said.
A Washington state digital right-to-repair bill cleared the House Appropriations Committee 18-14. Democrats supported the bill; Republicans were opposed. HB-1810, opposed by industry at a hearing last week (see 2201280026), would require manufacturers to make documentation, parts and tools available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms. Urging a no vote at Tuesday's webcast hearing, Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R) worried HB-1810 would hurt companies’ intellectual property rights without benefiting consumers. The House Consumer Protection Committee voted 4-3 Wednesday to clear HB-1801 to study creating a repairability index. All Republicans voted nay. The vote was on a substitute by Chairman Steve Kirby (D) that removed language that would have required manufacturers to label products with repairability scores, which had raised concerns (see 2201190049). More study is needed before requiring a score, said Kirby at the livestreamed hearing. Task force recommendations would be due July 1, 2023, with annual updates on the same day in the next two years.
Michigan cable-TV subscribership grew last year after several years’ decline, the Public Service Commission reported Tuesday. Operators fell by three to 33, but customers increased by more than 18,000 to about 1.6 million, the PSC said. Reflecting a trend of customers moving to internet streaming services, subscribers had been on the decline since 2015 when there were about 2.3 million, it said. Franchise agreements between providers and municipalities decreased to 1,973 statewide from 2,107.
The California Public Utilities Commission reassigned its inmate calling services (ICS) docket (R.20-10-002) to Commissioner Darcie Houck from former Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves, the CPUC said Tuesday. The CPUC received comments Friday on if it may legally regulate video and other non-voice ICS rates, fees and service quality (see 2201310050).
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals postponed oral argument on Florida’s social media law. The hearing had been tentatively scheduled for late April (see 2201100055). The court will later choose a new date, it said, in case 21-12355. Florida is challenging a lower court’s preliminary injunction stopping enforcement of the law that makes it illegal for sites to deplatform political candidates and requires sites to be transparent about policing.
Last week’s decision upholding California’s net neutrality law at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “opens the door to more states acting,” New Street Research analyst Blair Levin wrote in a Sunday note to investors. The court said the FCC can’t preempt states after giving up its own broadband authority (see 2201280057). The Supreme Court seems unlikely to take up the case, said Levin. The decision “raises the stakes for how the FCC addresses state action when it takes up the issue” and federal “legislation is now more likely though it remains an uphill battle,” he said.
Before drafting rules for Colorado’s privacy law, the attorney general’s office will seek comments “over the next few months,” said AG Phil Weiser (D) in prepared remarks Friday. “During this time, we will post a series of topics for informal input on our website and solicit responses in writing and at scheduled events.” The office will post an NPRM by fall with proposed rules and seek more comments, Weiser said. “We expect to be in a position to adopt final rules around a year from now.” Colorado’s law “makes plain that consumers deserve the right to access and control the use of their data,” Weiser said. “Consumers have a right to know what information companies collect about them and how that information will be used, enabling them to reject the sale and use of their private data by third parties.” The process must “be conducted fairly, free from what some have called ‘dark patterns,’ which can unfairly mislead consumers on this issue,” the AG said. “We will need to consider what the process will be for consumers to engage and learn about their data profiles as well as to correct inaccurate data,” and the office might provide guidance on company auditing and data protection assessment procedures, he said. The Colorado law takes effect July 1, 2023.
A 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel didn't “misapprehend or overlook any point of law or fact when it issued its order” in a Kentucky 911 case (21-5435), it decided Friday. The court denied CTIA’s request last month to rehear judges’ ruling that the U.S. District Court of Eastern Kentucky erred in concluding that a Kentucky 911 law conflicts with and is preempted by the 2018 federal Wireless Telecom Tax and Fee Collection Fairness Act (See 2112200038). CTIA didn’t comment now.
The New York Public Service Commission plans eight virtual hearings to get comment on availability, affordability and adoption of residential and commercial broadband, the PSC said Wednesday. It plans two hearings a day Feb. 23-24 and March 2-3. The agency urged state residents to complete a broadband survey and speed test by March 18. The request for feedback is part of docket 21-02182 to study and map broadband.
The California Public Utilities Commission set aside a week, Feb. 14-18, for a hearing on updating state USF contribution. The virtual hearing starts at 10 a.m. PST every day, Chief Administrative Law Judge Anne Simon ordered Thursday in docket R.21-03-002. Carriers and consumers groups raised concerns with a commission proposal last year to switch to a per-access line surcharge for public purpose programs (see 2112010014).