What Washington is doing to tech, and what it means for the people who build it. I read the bill text, the FTC complaint and the BIS rule, then tell you what actually changes for the people shipping products.
From November 25, an opt-out from one category of informational texts or calls can be limited to that category; marketing opt-outs still stop all marketing.
Senders may name one exclusive opt-out channel (reply words, key-press or a site or number) if they disclose it in every message.
The same order asks whether to cut the ten-business-day deadline, ban one-way texting and require a one-step 'revoke all' option. Comments are due November 25.
TCPA damages run $500 per violation, and courts aren't bound by the FCC's reading of the statute.
The Copyright Office intends to recommend renewing every existing Section 1201 exemption except medical device repair, which goes back through full comment.
Ten proposed classes are open for comment, including removing post-sale ads from devices, routing home camera video to a local server and keeping devices alive after a maker drops support.
Device makers' new argument: service software is a separate work, behind separate locks, sold in its own market.
Comments are due December 7, 2026; opposition February 22, 2027; replies March 22, 2027.
DHS Order #2026-01, released July 24 and published October 20, bars civilian agencies from buying DeepSeek products and orders them removed from agency IT.
Removal also covers "third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations," an undefined phrase.
Federal contractors reach the order through FAR 52.204-30: no covered products in performance, reasonable inquiry, and a 3-business-day report.
The FASC rule lets orders reach prime contractors and subcontractors at any tier, and contractor-operated systems.
The FTC accepted a proposed consent order on October 19 letting Publicis buy LiveRamp for about $2.2 billion, with five years of non-discrimination and data firewall duties.
Publicis can't use LiveRamp customer data to develop, train or improve its own products unless the customer expressly authorizes it.
The neutrality duty covers LiveRamp's standalone products. New products Publicis builds with LiveRamp can go to whichever customers Publicis chooses.
Comments are due November 23. WPP and Omnicom are already moving off LiveRamp, according to Marketing Dive.
The FCC let Federated Wireless treat six protection zones in Isaias's path as 'inactive' while Hurricane Isaias outages take its sensors offline, until October 23 at the latest.
Without the waiver, a sensor that can't tell whether the Navy is transmitting must switch the zone on, which Federated said would hit about 10,000 CBRS devices.
The order cites 20 earlier waivers since 2022, and the 2026 orders repeat the same five conditions nearly word for word.
If you run a private network on CBRS, a power cut at someone else's sensor site is one of your outage modes.
The ITC instituted Inv. No. 337-TA-1525 on October 5, naming Apple as the only respondent; trinamiX wants a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders.
The accused products are iPhones and iPads plus components such as the processor, TrueDepth VCSEL, flood illuminator and near-infrared camera module.
One commissioner wanted public interest evidence gathered from the start because of the technology's role in 'privacy, safety, and security.'
The ITC told its judge to look hard at trinamiX's U.S. industry claim, including spending by third parties and outside the United States.
FMCSA granted a five-year exemption (Oct. 7, 2026 to Oct. 7, 2031) letting Level 4 driverless trucks use cab-mounted beacons instead of warning triangles.
Any Level 4 carrier can use it after a written notice to FMCSA signed under penalty of perjury. No approval step follows.
The conditions read like a spec: amber SAE J595 Class 1 lights at least 100 inches up, redundant power, activation within five minutes, crash reports within five days.
OOIDA and safety groups opposed it; FMCSA says triangles' own safety value has never been well measured.
The Copyright Office's notice of inquiry on music streaming fraud (Docket No. 2026-6) asks ten sets of questions for Congress. Comments close November 23, replies December 21.
It asks about KYC, a shared database of known fraud, labels for content ineligible for statutory royalties, and no-fault injunctive relief.
Rep. Fitzgerald's request centered on generative AI; the notice treats AI as one subject among ten.
It landed a day after Michael Smith's 18-month sentence for bot-streaming AI-generated tracks.
DHS proposes that colleges pay $70,000 per F-1 student before a first OPT recommendation and $30,000 for each later one, STEM extension included. Comments close November 9.
The fee is not tied to an employer, but DHS says schools may pass it to students or employers.
DHS estimates $8.4 billion to $16.5 billion a year in fees and says the amount was set to be comparable to the $100,000 H-1B payment, which was extended to September 2027.
NAFSA says the proposal will hurt innovation and economic growth and plans detailed comments.
An FTC advance notice (91 FR 62347) asks whether platforms whose ad-optimization tools further government and business impersonation scams should face a rule. Comments close November 30.
'Platform' means any public-facing site or app selling paid ads or listings, not just the five big names in the footnote.
Options on the table include advertiser verification, pre-posting review, takedown duties and a safe harbor for platforms that do all of it.
The FTC argues ad-optimization services may fall outside Section 230; ICLE's Daniel Gilman says the agency should have asked questions before announcing a rulemaking.
BIS raised the national security line for civil drones from 30 minutes of endurance to three hours, effective August 13. Drones below it ship license-free to most countries.
Thermal imagers, certain lasers and inertial sensors keep a drone under national security controls at any endurance.
The same day, a Section 232 proclamation set 100 and 25 percent tariffs on imported drones from September 3, and 25 percent on Annex III components from February 9, 2027.
If you build drones here with imported motors, batteries or docks, both actions land on you at once.