While most of the country is currently frozen, February promises to heat up with several regulatory dates and deadlines broadcasters need to be aware of. But the possibility of another federal government shutdown looms. To end the longest shutdown in history last November, Congress gave themselves until January 31 to pass a budget bill covering the operations of many parts of the federal government, including the FCC. No “continuing resolution” to fund the government at last year’s levels has been adopted … Read the rest
A few months ago, a cluster of cats that died from H5N1 influenza was identified in the Netherlands. This itself wasn’t too surprising since H5N1 is circulating internationally and we know that cats are highly susceptible to the virus, often developing severe disease.
The cats were on what was reported as a dairy goat farm, which always raises some concern that they could have gotten infected from milk. That’s a concern because of the situation with H5N1 influenza in cattle … Read the rest
The English Court of Appeal’s judgment in Ure Energy makes an important contribution to the law of waiver.
By Nell Perks and Anna Kullmann
Key Points:
- Ure Energy confirms that the principle in Peyman v. Lanjani applies in cases of express contractual termination rights.
- For a party to affirm a contract and waive its contractual right to terminate, it must actually know of the facts giving rise to its right to terminate, and the existence of that right.
Introduction
The … Read the rest
Here are some of the regulatory developments of significance to broadcasters from the past week, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations.
- The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Communications & Technology Subcommittee held an FCC oversight hearing. The hearing featured written testimony from FCC Chairman Carr, Commissioner Gomez, and Commissioner Trusty, and questions to the Commissioners from the committee members on various broadcast issues including public
On 12 December, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) finally issued its official response to the public consultation on non-financial misconduct (NFM). This was issued through a Policy Statement PS25/23, finalising new binding regulatory rules and accompanying official guidance on NFM.
The Policy Statement
79 respondents contributed to the consultation, including Squire Patton Boggs. At long last, we have the final rules and guidance, which will be binding on all FCA-regulated firms from 1 September 2026. Or so we thought…
The … Read the rest
I. Introduction
On December 27, 2025, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China promulgated the newly revised Foreign Trade Law, which will take effect on March 1, 2026 (the “2025 FTL”). This legislative act marks a pivotal moment in China’s legal framework governing its economic interactions with the world. Since its initial enactment in 1994, China’s Foreign Trade Law (the “FTL”) has served as the fundamental statute regulating China’s import and export activities, … Read the rest
It’s often said that the ineffective assistance of counsel test is so tough to satisfy that even evidence that a defendant’s attorney slept during trial is insufficient to satisfy the standard. The latest example is Alvarez v. Guerrero, 2025 WL 3719047 (5th Cir. 2025).
In Alvarez, “Juan Carlos Alvarez was sentenced to death for the murders of Michael Aguirre and Jose Varela.” He later appealed, claiming that one of his two trial counsel slept during trial.
A majority … Read the rest
ComputerWorld.com reported that “Two cybersecurity professionals charged with running a ransomware operation have pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct, delay, or affect commerce through extortion.” The January 2, 2026 report entitled “US cybersecurity experts plead guilty to attacking US companies with ransomware” (https://www.computerworld.com/article/4112402/us-cybersecurity-experts-plead-guilty-to-attacking-us-companies-with-ransomware.html) included these comments:
They will be sentenced on March 12, 2026, the US Department of Justice announced this week.
Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin were charged with using the BlackCat ransomware against multiple victims in the US … Read the rest