Brazil’s Supreme Court has mandated social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to pay a daily fine of R$5 million (approximately $900,000 USD) after the platform failed to comply with an order to suspend its operations in Brazil. The court’s decision follows an update reported by Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL), indicating that X’s…
Legal News Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has expanded its legal team with the addition of litigator Tom Grodecki, who has been appointed as a partner in their London office. The firm announced this new hire on September 16. Grodecki brings to the table extensive experience in advising clients on a wide range of matters, including…
Jones Day has announced the addition of Elizabeth Dominguez Yaeger as a partner in its real estate practice, based in their Washington office. Yaeger brings extensive experience representing private equity firms, lenders, real estate funds, and data infrastructure owners and operators in both domestic and cross-border transactions. Her practice areas focus on real estate, digital…
Verizon Communications Inc. has announced an agreement to acquire rival telecommunications operator Frontier Communications Parent Inc. for an enterprise value of $20 billion. This acquisition is set to significantly enhance Verizon’s high-speed internet service capabilities at a time when internet usage is witnessing a substantial increase due to the growing trend of video streaming and…
Dechert LLP’s recent decision to withdraw its operations from Chicago has resulted in a notable shift in the legal landscape, particularly with Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP seizing the opportunity to enhance its white-collar defense practice. Among the significant moves, Andrew Boutros, a prominent figure with extensive experience and established client relationships in industries such…
Starlink has announced its compliance with a Brazilian court’s order to block access to Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, ceding from its earlier stance that it wouldn’t adhere until Brazilian officials unfroze its assets. Starlink stated in an update that while it has initiated legal proceedings in the Brazilian Supreme Court challenging the asset…
The Brazilian Supreme Court on Friday suspended the operations of X (formerly Twitter). This move followed the platform’s non-compliance with Brazil’s legal requirement to appoint a local representative. Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the order, emphasizing the necessity of adhering to this legal obligation, highlighting a significant moment in the ongoing conflict between Elon Musk’s…
In a recent report by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Canada’s Bill C-26 has come under scrutiny for allegedly promoting security measures that lack transparency. The legislation, currently under Senate review after passing through Parliament in June, grants the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) expanded cybersecurity powers. Among these is the ability to issue…
AT&T has agreed to pay a $950,000 fine in response to an August 2023 outage affecting users across four states. The telecommunications giant failed to deliver 911 calls and delayed notifications to eight 911 call centers, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced in a press release on Thursday. The outage, which lasted for 1 hour…
Kirkland & Ellis has expanded its restructuring practice in Germany with the addition of Christian Halàsz and Friedrich Schlott as partners, the firm announced Tuesday. Christian Halàsz’s expertise lies in cross-border and domestic financial restructurings, workouts, insolvency, and multijurisdictional collateral enforcement. His client base spans diverse sectors including automotive, telecommunications, packaging, paper, transport, mining, and…
Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Wolf Theiss have taken leading roles in two significant European transactions within the telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries. Spanish telecommunications company Cellnex has entered into an agreement to sell its tower business in Austria to a consortium including Vauban Infrastructure Partners, EDF Invest, and MEAG for €803 million ($894 million)….
A telecommunications company has agreed to pay a $1 million fine for transmitting spoofed robocalls featuring a deepfake of President Joe Biden’s voice, urging New Hampshire residents not to vote. Lingo Telecom, based in Texas, came to a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as announced today by the agency. The FCC emphasized that…
In a high-profile antitrust class action, Verizon, alongside AT&T and T-Mobile, faces allegations of tacit collusion and price-fixing in the American telecommunications market. The class action demands more than $268 billion in restitution, a figure Verizon dismisses as “pure fantasy.” John Travis Pittman, a partner at Holmes, Pittman & Haraguchi, filed the complaint on behalf…
In a notable transaction, Sullivan & Cromwell advised Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ in acquiring a minority stake in Sotheby’s for approximately $1 billion. The legal counsel for the auction house included Mayer Brown, Slaughter and May, and Hughes Hubbard & Reed. The acquisition involves newly issued shares, with the investment directed towards debt…
Linklaters is advising Bharti Global, the investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, on a $4 billion acquisition of a 24.5% stake in BT Group from French tycoon Patrick Drahi. Bharti is executing the purchase via an acquisition vehicle called Bharti Televentures U.K. from Drahi’s troubled telecommunications and cable group, Altice. Bharti is also applying for U.K….
Womble Bond Dickinson has announced the addition of Benjamin Busboom as an environmental partner in their Denver office. Busboom will be part of the corporate and securities practice group. His expertise spans a range of areas crucial to the energy transition, including environmental, energy, and natural resources matters. Specifically, he has a well-established track record…
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright significantly limits federal agencies’ ability to alter regulatory policies from one administration to another. This ruling effectively dismantles Chevron deference and overrules the 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X. This development greatly diminishes the flexibility agencies previously had in adjusting regulatory…
The Federal Communications Commission’s hopes of enforcing net neutrality rules faced a significant setback last week. A panel of appeals court judges blocked the regulations on Thursday, ruling that broadband providers are likely to win the case on the merits. The US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit had previously issued an administrative stay…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has once again blocked the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rules from going into effect, just days before a prior pause order was set to expire. This ruling comes as part of an ongoing legal challenge against the FCC’s authority to enforce these rules. According…
House lawmakers are intensifying their inquiry into the Washington-based nonprofit Optica’s connection with Huawei Technologies Co., following reports by Bloomberg News that shed light on the scientific society’s extensive relationship with the Chinese telecommunications firm, which is currently under sanctions. The scrutiny aligns with Washington’s concerns about potential foreign influence operations in the U.S. research…
Boyden Gray PLLC has garnered top recognition in Law360’s Legal Lions this week. The accolade follows a significant legal victory where the full Fifth Circuit declared the Federal Communications Commission’s system for subsidizing telecommunications service for rural and low-income users as unconstitutional. Detailed insights on this ruling can be found in the original article by…
Internet service providers (ISPs) are campaigning against a stipulation in a $42.45 billion government fund that obliges them to offer broadband for as little as $30 a month to low-income individuals. The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, part of a broader US legislative effort, requires ISPs receiving federal funds to provide at least…
Deeply Divided Court: Judges Disagree on Telecom Subsidies in FCC Case A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has declared telecommunications subsidies for schools, low-income, and rural users as unconstitutional. This decision is seen as a significant development in the ongoing legal dispute over the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC)…
In a significant move impacting South Africa’s pension system, President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Pension Funds Amendment Bill. This legislative change introduces a new two-pot system aimed at enhancing retirement savings in the country. The newly signed bill mandates substantial modifications to the existing Pension Funds Act, the Post and Telecommunications-Related Matters…
US senators are seeking explanations from AT&T about why it stores extensive call and text message records on a third-party analytics platform known as the “AI Data Cloud.” Last week, AT&T revealed that customer data was illegally downloaded from its workspace on Snowflake, the third-party cloud service in question. The breach compromised call and text…