Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has come under close scrutiny. Section 230 provides important immunity to online platforms for the content of third-party users.

While there are possible useful reforms to be made to Section 230, forcing major changes to an important law on the basis of a political quarrel would let petty politics reshape one of the most important laws that governs the Internet.

ICLE supports the petition for certiorari filed by the National Association of Broadcasters (“NAB”), et al. seeking this Court’s review of the order issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC.

In order to maximize the benefits of broadband to society, including through the provision of public safety communications and services, public policy must promote the proper incentives for broadband buildout.…

Advanced broadband networks are hot topics, but little attention is paid to the critical investments in infrastructure necessary to make these networks a reality. The FCC’s proposed 621 Order is an important measure to help providers deploy high speed broadband across a fragmented municipal regulatory environment.

ICLE submitted comments to the FCC on the First Amendment implications of the leased access rules. Associate Director, Legal Research Ben Sperry argued the changes in the video marketplace towards competition undercut the justification for subjecting regulation of cable operators' speech to only intermediate scrutiny.

In this ex parte letter, ICLE analyzes the law and economics of both the underlying statute and the FCC's proposed rulemaking that would affect the interpretation of cable franchise fees. For a variety of reasons set forth in the letter, we believe that the Commission is on firm legal and economic footing to adopt its proposed Order.  Congress intentionally enacted the five percent revenue cap to prevent LFAs from relying on cable franchise fees as an unlimited general revenue source. In order to maintain the proper incentives for network buildout — which are ever more-critical as our economy increasingly relies on high-speed broadband networks — the Commission should adopt the proposed Order.

This morning a diverse group of more than 75 academics, scholars, and civil society organizations — including ICLE and several of its academic affiliates — published a set of seven “Principles for Lawmakers” on liability for user-generated content online, aimed at guiding discussions around potential amendments to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.

In the opening seconds of what was surely one of the worst oral arguments in a high-profile case that I have ever heard, Pantelis Michalopoulos, arguing for petitioners against the…