The FCC’s Expanding Enforcement Reach: Five Things You Need to Know
While the FCC is well-known for broadcast and telecom regulation, the Commission regulates broadly, reaching communications networks, the marketing and sale of electronic devices, space-based services, diverse grant and subsidy programs, broadband labeling, and more. It also recently voted to grant itself broad authority over much of the internet.
The FCC has ramped up investigations in recent years, expanding staff in its Enforcement Bureau, conducting sweeping investigations, promoting novel legal theories, and adopting increasingly large forfeitures. The FCC already investigates communications providers, manufacturers of FCC-regulated devices, retailers, and many others – and the reach of that enforcement work is set to extend even further following the Commission’s April 25 vote to reclassify Broadband Internet Access Service under Title II of the Communications Act. The Commission has also increasingly sought to play a role in national security, cybersecurity, and supply chain matters.
Wiley’s TMT Practice has decades of experience helping clients navigate complex FCC investigations in every major area of agency oversight, including media regulation, licensed activity, privacy and security, accessibility, national security, cybersecurity, supply chain, and equipment regulations, to name just a few. Please join us for a webinar discussion of:
- Trends in FCC enforcement and areas of controversy
- Lessons from significant FCC recent enforcement actions
- A preview of how Title II reclassification may expand the FCC’s enforcement work, and what that means for broadband providers, edge service providers, and others
- The role of the Federal Trade Commission and state Attorneys General
- Practical tips for how to navigate, respond to, and resolve an FCC investigation
