FCC Issues a Welcome Clarification on FRN Order

By |2026-02-06T20:33:40-06:00February 6th, 2026|Legal News|

As noted yesterday, the FCC announced in a robocall proceeding that all individuals and entities that have a Federal Registration Number (FRN) in the FCC’s CORES database are now required to update it within ten business days of any change in the associated information.  In the underlying Order, the FCC stated its reasons for doing […]

Have a Federal Registration Number? Better Update It Now

By |2026-02-05T19:25:30-06:00February 5th, 2026|Legal News|

Let’s state the obvious.  The FCC’s use of mandatory Federal Registration Numbers was a bad idea from the start.  It became monumentally worse today, when the FCC quietly announced that anyone whose Federal Registration Number contact information isn’t updated within 10 business days is subject to a $1,000 per day fine until it is updated, […]

FCC Enforcement Monitor—The Government Shutdown Edition

By |2025-10-30T12:21:48-05:00October 30th, 2025|Legal News|

Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue is a special edition: FCC Enforcement Monitor—The Government Shutdown Edition While shutdowns of the federal government have become depressingly common, the FCC has generally been […]

Streamline, Simplify, Deregulate: The FCC Adopts “Direct Final Rule” Approach to Expedite Rule Deletions

By |2025-08-01T10:08:55-05:00August 1st, 2025|Legal News|

Earlier this year, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr initiated a sweeping initiative to review “every rule, regulation, or guidance document” that could be eliminated “for the purposes of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens.”  At its July Open Meeting, the Commission voted 2-1 to adopt a Direct Final Rule framework to enable it to act expeditiously in the […]

And They’re Off: FCC Jumps Out of the Gate with Back-to-Back Enforcement Actions and NPRMs

By |2024-01-19T13:05:17-06:00January 19th, 2024|Legal News|

If there was any doubt that the late-2023 confirmation of Anna Gomez as the fifth commissioner would bring a flurry of FCC activity in 2024, the FCC has laid those questions to rest.  In addition to a $150,000 good faith NAL, $500,000 sponsorship ID consent decree, $26,000 EEO report NAL, and some public file NALs, […]

FCC’s ATSC 3.0 Order Takes Long-Awaited Steps to Facilitate Multicast Hosting Arrangements

By |2023-06-26T09:13:27-05:00June 26th, 2023|Legal News|

This past Friday, the FCC released a Third Report and Order and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Multicast Licensing Order), setting forth rules regarding Next Gen multicast hosting arrangements and seeking further comment on ATSC 3.0-related patent issues. Broadcasters providing or contemplating ATSC 3.0 services are likely well aware of how complex the process […]

FCC Announces September 24 Regulatory Fee Deadline and Launches Proceeding on Who Should Pay the Fees

By |2021-09-07T17:22:29-05:00September 7th, 2021|Legal News|

Each year with the end of summer comes an announcement from the FCC as to how it is divvying up its operating costs to then charge its regulatees in the form of regulatory fees.  This annual ritual, required by Congress, makes the FCC virtually unique among federal agencies in funding its operations by passing the […]

FCC Locks the Front Door as Broadcasters Adapt to a Coronavirus World

By |2020-03-12T17:12:47-05:00March 12th, 2020|Legal News|

The FCC announced this afternoon that “effective immediately, [we] will no longer allow visitors into our facilities, absent special permission from the Office of Managing Director.”  However, that announcement, strange as it would be under normal circumstances, was of no particular importance.  That’s because the same document noted that, starting tomorrow, the FCC is asking […]

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