Content Regulation

A federal district court in Massachusetts Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction preventing the enforcement of a Massachusetts statute that criminalizes the dissemination of electronic material that is “harmful to minors.”

The Judicial Conference of the United States announced Tuesday a pilot project to allow cameras in some federal district courtroom proceedings.

A federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s indecency policy, siding with broadcasting companies that argued the rules were unconstitutionally vague and chilled free speech.

ABC, Fox Television, CBS and others challenged the FCC after the agency in 2004 issued greater restrictions and fines for vulgar language aired on radio and television stations.

A federal bankruptcy court in Texas became one of the first to find that individuals can be held liable for linking to defamatory blog posts earlier this year.

The court in In re Perry held that an individual's e-mail opened him up to a defamation claim even though he did not author any of the inflammatory postings himself.

The Federal Communications Commission announced on Thursday its plan to modify how it regulates broadband Internet services by outlining a "third way" that would allow the commission to reclassify the "transmission component" of the Internet as a telecommunications service.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed several measures allowing cameras in the courtroom, the Blog of Legal Times reports.

The Federal Communications Commission has been exploring ways to reassert its  authority over the Internet after last week's federal appellate court decision cast doubt on whether the commission has the authority to enforce its net neutrality policy.

A federal appeals court ruled today that the Federal Communications Commission does not have the authority to order an Internet service provider to change its management policies.

Media companies may be able to own print and broadcast media in large markets, at least for now, after a federal appeals court on Tuesday lifted its own stay on changes to the Federal Communications Commission's media cross-ownership rules, The Associated Press reported.