Overnight Tech: Anticipation builds for net neutrality ruling

LEDE: The technology community is waiting with anticipation for an appeals court ruling to determine the fate of the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules.

Observers say April is the sweet spot for a decision to come down after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the expedited case in early December. In anticipation, interested parties have been refreshing the court’s webpage at 10 a.m. every Tuesday and Friday — when the court releases opinions.

{mosads}Any decision could have big implications, but many expect the case to eventually land at the Supreme Court. Internet service providers and their trade groups quickly sued the FCC last year after it used its authority to bar those companies from discriminating against any online traffic.

There are a number of possible outcomes from the three-judge panel, apart from a straight ruling in favor or against. The FCC’s order runs hundreds of pages and touched both home and mobile Internet service. Critics have also challenged the rules on multiple fronts — from procedural issues to charges that the FCC simply overstepped its authority.

For a recap of December’s oral arguments click here.

For our story on one of the key judges, click here.

FCC CONFIDENCE: During an interview on C-SPAN’s “The Communicators’ series, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler expressed confidence the court would favor his side: “I feel pretty confident in the outcome… We’ll see how the court decides.”

WIKI EDITS: The twitter-bot created to track anonymous Wikipedia edits originating from Congress caught an interesting item Thursday: An edit originating from the House of Representatives scrubbed reference to a mini-controversy from 2014 about Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) on the congressman’s page. However, it was quickly restored by another user. Carter’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on whether it made the original edit.

H-1B CAP HIT AFTER A WEEK: The U.S government hit its cap on H-1B high-skilled visas for fiscal year 2017 after only a week of enrollment. There is a 65,000 cap on the visas, with a number of exemptions, including 20,000 extra for those with advanced degrees. US Citizenship and Immigration Services will hold a lottery where it will hand out the allotment to approved applicants. The visas are highly prized in the technology industry and have become a frequent sparring point during GOP presidential debates this year. Critics want to bring reforms to the program to cut down on abuse, while those in the tech industry have pushed to expand the cap.

VERIZON AND INCOMPAS COME TOGETHER ON SPECIAL ACCESS: In a letter to the commission on Thursday, Verizon and trade group INCOMPAS said the agency should develop a regulatory regime for special access services “that is legally sustainable, that recognizes the changes in the marketplace over the last ten years, that is flexible enough to accommodate new technology and new competitive circumstances going forward, and that will encourage the transition from legacy services to IP and more advanced communication services.” They advocate for a technologically neutral framework — which would be good for competitors that don’t want to have another fight with incumbents every time broadband infrastructure advances. You can read the full letter here.

CONTEXT: The chairman’s office is expected to circulate an item on Thursday dealing with special access deals, where Internet providers sell dedicated connections to big businesses.

VERIZON TO MAKE YAHOO PLAY?: Verizon is planning to proffer a first-round bid for Yahoo’s core businesses next week, Bloomberg reports. That would allow them to grow their web infrastructure, which in turn could be combined with Verizon’s data to make the company a real player in the advertising space. Bloomberg reports that Google parent Alphabet is also considering making a bid.

ON TAP:

At 8:30 a.m., the Center on Privacy & Technology and Georgetown Law hosts a conference on surveillance and the black community.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is pressing the company Oculus VR to answer more questions about its collection and sharing of information gathered from customers who purchase its virtual reality headset.

Google’s self-driving cars are hitting the road in Phoenix, Ariz.

The number of patent lawsuit in the first quarter of 2016 dropped to its lowest point in a few years, but the technology industry continued to be the target of the majority of cases.

The hacking tool the FBI bought to access the iPhone 5c of one of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters won’t work on newer phones, FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday night.

Uber said Thursday it has made good on a 2014 pledge to hire 50,000 drivers with links to the military within 18 months.

Please send tips and comments to David McCabe, dmccabe@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com and Mario Trujillo, mtrujillo@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com

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