Supreme Court to decide how 1988 videotape privacy law applies to online video
Salazar v. Paramount hinges on video privacy law’s definition of “consumer.”
Jon Brodkin
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Jon Brodkin
Senior IT Reporter
[email protected]
Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. Jon graduated from Boston University with a degree in journalism and has been a full-time journalist since 2000. He joined Ars in 2011 and previously worked for the Sentinel & Enterprise, MetroWest Daily News, and IDG's Network World. Jon lives in Massachusetts and likes to play beach volleyball. To send Jon encrypted email, his public key is here; he can also be reached securely on Keybase.
Recent stories by
Jon Brodkin
White House alters arrest photo of ICE protester, says “the memes will continue”
Lawyer calls it “outrageous that the White House would make up stories.”
Jon Brodkin
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644
Judge orders stop to FBI search of devices seized from Washington Post reporter
Order says gov’t must stop search while court reviews Washington Post motions.
Jon Brodkin
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88
Trump FCC threatens to enforce equal-time rule on late-night talk shows
FCC disputes long-standing view that the shows are exempt from equal-time rule.
Jon Brodkin
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193
Spotify won court order against Anna’s Archive, taking down .org domain
Lawsuit was filed under seal; Anna’s Archive wasn’t notified until after takedown.
Jon Brodkin
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63
Verizon starts requiring 365 days of paid service before it will unlock phones
Verizon changed prepaid brands’ policy a week after FCC waived unlocking rule.
Jon Brodkin
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123
Netflix to pay all cash for Warner Bros. to fend off Paramount hostile takeover
Netflix and Warner seek quick shareholder vote as Paramount tries to upend deal.
Jon Brodkin
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123
Judge orders Anna’s Archive to delete scraped data; no one thinks it will comply
WorldCat operator hopes default judgment will convince web hosts to take action.
Jon Brodkin
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112
Most Read
Calif. counters FCC attack on DEI with conditions on Verizon/Frontier merger
Verizon touts “expanded reach of almost 30 million fiber passings” across US.
Jon Brodkin
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Six months later, Trump Mobile still hasn’t delivered preordered phones
Lawmakers seek FTC investigation, but Trump has taken control of the agency.
Jon Brodkin
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138
FBI fights leaks by seizing Washington Post reporter’s phone, laptops, and watch
FBI searches home and devices of reporter who has over 1,100 government contacts.
Jon Brodkin
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99
Starlink tries to stay online in Iran as regime jams signals during protests
Iran shut off Internet as it cracks down on protests; even Starlink has problems.
Jon Brodkin
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89
Verizon to stop automatic unlocking of phones as FCC ends 60-day unlock rule
FCC waives rule that forced Verizon to unlock phones 60 days after activation.
Jon Brodkin
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88
Supreme Court takes case that could strip FCC of authority to issue fines
AT&T and Verizon claim right to a jury trial was violated by FCC fines.
Jon Brodkin
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50
SpaceX gets FCC permission to launch another 7,500 Starlink satellites
Including previous approvals, Starlink can now deploy 15,000 Gen2 satellites.
Jon Brodkin
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142
Cloudflare defies Italy’s Piracy Shield, won’t block websites on 1.1.1.1 DNS
Italy fines Cloudflare 14M euros for not blocking pirate sites on 1.1.1.1 DNS service.
Jon Brodkin
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202
Wi-Fi advocates get win from FCC with vote to allow higher-power devices
FCC says new category of devices “can operate outdoors and at higher power.”
Jon Brodkin
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62
Warner Bros. sticks with Netflix merger, calls Paramount’s $108B bid “illusory”
Larry Ellison pledged $40B, but “he didn’t raise the price,” Warner chair says.
Jon Brodkin
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115
Letting prisons jam contraband phones is a bad idea, phone companies tell FCC
“Jamming will block all communications,” including 911 calls, CTIA tells FCC.
Jon Brodkin
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106
Anna’s Archive loses .org domain, says suspension likely unrelated to Spotify piracy
“We don’t believe this has to do with our Spotify backup,” Anna’s Archive says.
Jon Brodkin
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75
No one loves President Trump more than FCC Chairman Brendan Carr
Carr used to insist on FCC independence. Now he uses FCC to fight Trump’s battles.
Jon Brodkin
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100
FCC chair scrubs website after learning it called FCC an “independent agency”
Meanwhile, Ted Cruz wants to restrict FCC’s power to intimidate broadcasters.
Jon Brodkin
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86
Texas sues biggest TV makers, alleging smart TVs spy on users without consent
Automated Content Recognition brings “mass surveillance” to homes, lawsuits say.
Jon Brodkin
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159
UK to “encourage” Apple and Google to put nudity-blocking systems on phones
Government seeks “nudity-detection algorithms” in iOS and Android, report says.
Jon Brodkin
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164
Verizon refused to unlock man’s iPhone, so he sued the carrier and won
Verizon changed policy after he bought the phone, wouldn’t unlock it despite FCC rule.
Jon Brodkin
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180
Trump tries to block state AI laws himself after Congress decided not to
Trump claims state laws force AI makers to embed “ideological bias” in models.
Jon Brodkin
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138
After NPR and PBS defunding, FCC receives call to take away station licenses
NPR and PBS stations targeted by group involved in Carr’s news-distortion probes.
Jon Brodkin
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269
Supreme Court appears likely to approve Trump’s firing of FTC Democrat
Conservative justices seem ready to back Trump control of independent agencies.
Jon Brodkin
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287
FCC boss Brendan Carr claims another victory over DEI as AT&T drops programs
AT&T accused of “financial play to curry favor” with Trump administration.
Jon Brodkin
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76
India orders device makers to put government-run security app on all phones
Apple will refuse to preload state-run “snooping” app on iPhones, report says.
Jon Brodkin
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158
Supreme Court hears case that could trigger big crackdown on Internet piracy
Justices want Cox to crack down on piracy, but question Sony’s strict demands.
Jon Brodkin
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170
Tech firm’s new CTO gets indicted; company then claims he was never CTO
Corvex named Brian Raymond as CTO days before indictment for illegal chip exports.
Jon Brodkin
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60
Tech company CTO and others indicted for exporting Nvidia chips to China
Four arrested and charged with illegal exports, smuggling, and money laundering.
Jon Brodkin
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38
Trump revives unpopular Ted Cruz plan to punish states that impose AI laws
Cruz plan to block broadband funding lost 99-1, but now it’s back—in Trump form.
Jon Brodkin
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108
Massive Cloudflare outage was triggered by file that suddenly doubled in size
“I worry this is the big botnet flexing,” CEO said. But outage was self-inflicted.
Jon Brodkin
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103
GOP overhaul of broadband permit laws: Cities hate it, cable companies love it
Cities and counties call congressional plan an “unprecedented federal intrusion.”
Jon Brodkin
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