May, 04 2010, 01:20pm EDT
Will the Obama Administration Abandon its Technology Agenda?
Crawford, Wu and Ammori on the FCC’s Authority to Protect the Open Internet
WASHINGTON
Free Press will host a teleconference for
reporters on Wednesday with three well-known Internet law experts on the
Federal Communications Commission's authority to carry out many of the
most important aspects of the National Broadband Plan and to protect the
open Internet.
University of Michigan law professor and former Obama
economic adviser Susan Crawford, Columbia Law School
professor Tim Wu (invited), and University of Nebraska
law professor Marvin Ammori will speak with the press
on Wednesday, May 5 at noon (EST).
President Obama's FCC may be poised to retreat in its Net
Neutrality efforts and hinder its promises to bring broadband to all
Americans. The Washington Post reported on Monday that
Julius Genachowski, the FCC chairman, is close to caving to pressure
from the powerful phone and cable lobby and abandoning the top items on
the Obama administration's technology agenda.
We will address key questions such as: What would happen if
the FCC fails to reassert its authority by reclassifying broadband
transmission? What is the legal basis for claims that the FCC could
enact the National Broadband Plan under Title I of the Communications
Act?
Next Steps for Chairman Genachowski and the FCC
When: Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Time: Noon (Eastern)
Call-in: 888-792-8352 (Code
73237147)
Who: Susan Crawford, professor at the
University of Michigan Law School
Marvin Ammori, Free Press senior
advisor and professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of
Law
Tim Wu, chairman of the board at
Free Press and professor at Columbia Law School (invited)
Josh Silver, executive director
of Free Press
Last week, Ammori, Crawford, and Wu, sent a letter to FCC
Chairman Julius Genachowski outlining the legal argument to reclassify
broadband. https://www.freepress.net/files/Crawford_Ammori_Wu_Letter.pdf
Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities.
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Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Tuesday again blocked the passage of House-approved bipartisan legislation meant to shield journalists and telecommunications companies from being compelled to disclose sources and other information to federal authorities.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) brought the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act—which would prohibit the federal government from forcing journalists and telecom companies to disclose certain information, with exceptions for terroristic or violent threats—for a unanimous consent vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) argued Tuesday that passing the PRESS Act is "more important now than ever before when we've heard some in the previous administration talk about going after the press in one way or another," a reference to Republican President-elect Donald Trump's threats to jail journalists who refuse to reveal the sources of leaks. Trump, who has referred to the press as the "enemy of the people," repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to "kill this bill."
Cotton, who blocked a vote on the legislation in December 2022, again objected to the bill, a move that thwarted its speedy passage. The Republican called the legislation a "threat to national security" and "the biggest giveaway to the liberal press in American history."
The advocacy group Defending Rights and Dissent lamented that "Congress has abdicated their responsibility to take substantive steps to protect the constitutional right to a free press."
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Antitrust advocates on Tuesday welcomed a pair of court rulings against the proposed merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, which was challenged by Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and multiple state attorneys general.
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Advocacy groups applauding the decisions also pointed to the high cost of groceries and the anticipated impact of Kroger buying Albertsons—a $24.6 billion deal first announced in October 2022.
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
Dhillon's most prominent work includes founding the Center for American Liberty, a legal organization that focuses heavily on anti-transgender cases in blue states. The organization's "featured cases" section highlights several lawsuits, such as Chloe Cole's case against Kaiser Permanente; a lawsuit challenging a Colorado school's use of a transgender student's preferred name; a case against a California school district seeking to implement policies that would forcibly out transgender students; and a lawsuit against Vermont for denying a foster care license to a family unwilling to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding transgender youth.
Reed also highlighted Dhillon's attacks on state laws protecting transgender people, as well as her expression of "extreme anti-trans views" on social media—including calling gender-affirming healthcare for trans children "child abuse."
Last year, The Guardian's Jason Wilson reported that the Center for American Liberty made a six-figure payment to a public relations firm that represented Dhillion in both "her capacity as head of her own for-profit law firm and Republican activist."
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