Lauren Feiner

As part of an initiative to purge its own regulations, the FCC says it’s removed rules (that hadn’t taken effect) to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers. They were already struck down by a federal appeals court, but advocates can still appeal to the Supreme Court. Free Press General Counsel Matt Wood says the deletion, which came without advanced notice, is “a premature housekeeping step,” that helps “score points with broadband monopolies and their lobbyists.”

The Justice Department released an unsealed indictment against Oak View Group CEO Timothy Leiweke, alleging he conspired with competitor Legends Hospitality to rig the bids for an arena project. Leiweke allegedly convinced Legends not to bid on the project in exchange for subcontracts he later reneged on. The DOJ says Oak View and Legends cooperated and entered non-prosecution agreements, including penalties of $15 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

Congress can still vote to effectively bar states from enforcing their own AI laws after what Politico calls the Senate’s “rules referee” decided it meets the criteria to be included in the bill. That slashes opponents’ hope it would be excluded through the Byrd Rule, which restricts the kind of provisions that can be included in reconciliation bills. The Senate version ties the enforcement ban to states’ ability to receive broadband infrastructure funds.

The Supreme Court sent a fax spam case back to a lower court after determining it erred in deferring to the Federal Communications Commission’s legal interpretation. After the FCC said the law didn’t cover online fax services, a lower court decertified a class of fax recipients seeking damages for receiving unsolicited ads. SCOTUS says the court should have made its own interpretation, which could be meaningful for medical professionals who still use faxes.