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Corporate Transparency Act Triggers New Federal Filing Requirement for Most Small and Medium Companies.

The federal Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), enacted by Congress on January 1, 2021, established new ownership disclosure and reporting requirements for most small and medium sized U.S. companies (“Reporting Companies”), including both existing and newly created companies. The deadline for filing the required report is January 1, 2025, but companies should not wait to review … Continue Reading

Virginia’s New Consumer Data Protection Act

On March 2, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”) into law, making Virginia only the second state to enact such comprehensive data protection legislation (after California).  The law itself becomes effective on January 1, 2023 and will be codified at Virginia Code §59.1-571. The VCDPA applies to all … Continue Reading

In an Emergency: Which Door Should First Responders Kick In?

About 80% of the 240 million phone calls received by 911 public safety answering points (PSAPs) come from wireless callers. The goal of regulators is that technology automatically identify the location of callers even if callers don’t know where they are or are unable to speak the information because of injury or constraint by an … Continue Reading

FCC Commences Review of Media Ownership Rules

On December 12, 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) commencing the 2018 Quadrennial Review of the Commission’s media ownership rules.  The FCC is required under Section 202(h) of the Communications Act to review most of its broadcast ownership rules every four years to determine whether … Continue Reading

FCC Fines Maker of Light Fixtures. Really.

The FCC proposed a fine of $25,000 against a manufacturer of fluorescent lighting fixtures. Wait a minute. Lighting fixtures? Well, sure, the FCC regulates radio transmitters. And digital devices, which produce radio waves as a by-product that can interfere with communications. But lighting fixtures? Will the bathroom plumbing be next? In fact fluorescent fixtures are … Continue Reading

Leggo Our Spectrum – The Auto Industry’s Win for Vehicular Radar

FCC Order Represents One More Step Towards Fully-Autonomous Vehicles I’ve written on connected and autonomous vehicles in the past, including about an ongoing spectrum fight at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding use of spectrum set aside years ago for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications (specifically, for a technology called DSRC). The FCC now has revised … Continue Reading

Slants Supreme Court Case Slays Ban on Registration of Disparaging Trademarks

I am officially a big fan of The Slants.  I’ve never seen them in concert.  I don’t own any of their albums (I’ve never even downloaded any of their individual songs).  I’m actually still not entirely sure what “Chinatown Dance Rock” really is. But I will forever be indebted to Simon Shiao Tam and crew.  … Continue Reading

Countdown Clock Ticking on Digital Millennium Copyright Act Designated Agent Registrations

(Registered agent contact information must be ELECTRONICALLY filed with the Copyright Office by December 31, 2017) How much is peace of mind worth to you? Does $6.00 and less than an hour of your time sound about right? What if I told you that this alone would significantly reduce the likelihood that you will be … Continue Reading

Major Changes Sought in Nascent Citizens Broadband Radio Service

The Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) has not even been born yet, but already major industry players want to change its basic character.  CBRS, as its name implies, was conceived and approved by the FCC a couple of years ago as a broadband service for locally-focused businesses.  The regulatory paradigm included both a large swathe … Continue Reading

Small Break for Hobbyist Drone Operators: D.C. Circuit Tosses Aircraft Registration Rule

FAA Violated Clear Language of the Law The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week, in Taylor v. Huerta, determined that the FAA’s registration rule cannot apply to small unmanned aircraft (aka, sUAVs, or drones) operated for recreational purposes. Drones operated for recreational purposes, which FAA terms “model aircraft”, are defined … Continue Reading

Update: Effective Date Set for Portions of Foreign-Language EAS Order

Recon, appeal deadlines also established Early last month we reported on the FCC’s “grant” of a petition by several organizations – Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, to be specific – who wanted the Commission to require the provision … Continue Reading
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