Enlarge / Police officers surround Jacob Wohl as he taunts protesters during a "Trump/Pence Out Now" rally at Black Lives Matter plaza August 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Michael Santiago )

The Federal Communications Commission yesterday proposed a $5.1 million fine against two right-wing political operatives accused of making over 1,100 illegal robocalls. The calls were an attempt to convince people not to vote.

The recorded messages sent before the November 2020 election "told potential voters that if they voted by mail, their 'personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts,'" the FCC said. Those messages were apparently targeted at Black voters and told them, "don't be finessed into giving your private information to the man."

John Burkman and Jacob Wohl were already facing felony charges in Wayne County Circuit Court for "orchestrating a robocall to suppress the vote in Detroit and other cities with significant minority populations," as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced in November 2020. They were also indicted in Ohio , and New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking fines that would add up to $2.75 million .

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Oscar Wong)

The Federal Communications Commission today opened enrollment for $50-per-month broadband subsidies for US residents who have low incomes or who lost income during the pandemic. Over 825 Internet service providers across the US are participating in the program, with the full list of ISPs in each state and territory available here . All the biggest ISPs and hundreds of smaller ones are participating, so the subsidies should be available in most areas with home Internet access.

Cable, fiber-to-the-home, DSL, and fixed wireless ISPs are among the home-Internet services included in the program. The subsidies aren't just for home Internet, as many mobile providers are participating in the program as well. To enroll, go to getemergencybroadband.org and click on "Apply Now." I received error messages when clicking the link today, but other people said it was working, so hopefully everyone who needs it will be able to get through without much trouble.

Congress approved the subsidy program in December, providing $3.2 billion. "This pandemic-related program will continue until the $3.2 billion in federal funding runs out or six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares an end to the pandemic," the FCC said today . "Eligible households will be able to receive on their broadband bill a discount of up to $50 per month, or $75 on qualifying Tribal lands. They will also be eligible for a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price."

Enlarge / Baltimore chief prosecutor Marilyn Mosby being interviewed by NBC News in August 2016, in the neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested shortly before his death from a spinal cord injury. (credit: Getty Images | Larry French )

Baltimore's chief prosecutor has asked the Federal Communications Commission to stop a local Fox News affiliate's negative coverage about her, claiming that the "tone of the coverage" violates FCC rules.

The office of Marilyn Mosby, the Maryland State's Attorney (SA) for Baltimore, filed the formal complaint last week against "FCC-licensed station WBFF, a Baltimore City-based Fox News-affiliated network." The complaint asked acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and the rest of the commission "to enlist the full investigative and enforcement powers granted to you by the federal government to take action against the WBFF as soon as possible." Mosby is a Democrat and WBFF is part of the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The closest the complaint comes to alleging a factual error is in reference to a guest on one segment who said that Mosby is "a follower of the George Soros playbook, who's... bought and paid for these elected DAs." The complaint said that "State's Attorney Mosby has never received a penny from George Soros or any of his political groups." However, that segment was made by one of Sinclair's national shows that runs on many stations and was not produced by WBFF.

Enlarge / A SpaceX Starlink user terminal/satellite dish. (credit: SpaceX )

Lobby groups for small ISPs are urging the Federal Communications Commission to investigate whether SpaceX can deliver on its broadband promises and to consider blocking the satellite provider's rural-broadband funding. Meanwhile, SpaceX says the Starlink beta is now serving high-speed broadband to 10,000 users.

SpaceX was one of the biggest winners in the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), winning $885.51 million over 10 years to bring Starlink broadband to 642,925 homes and businesses in 35 states. Overall, the reverse auction awarded $9.2 billion ($920 million per year) in funding for 180 entities nationwide to expand networks to 5.2 million homes and businesses that currently don't have access to modern broadband speeds.

But funding winners still have to submit " long-form applications " by January 29 to provide "additional information about qualifications, funding, and the network that they intend to use to meet their obligations." The FCC will review those applications to determine whether any funding should be revoked.

Enlarge / A CenturyLink service van parked in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on May 2, 2019. (credit: Getty Images | Robert Alexander )

CenturyLink and Frontier Communications have again failed to meet broadband-deployment deadlines in dozens of states after taking money from the Federal Communications Commission.

When the FCC awarded Connect America Fund Phase II grants in 2015, CenturyLink accepted $505.7 million in annual support over six years in exchange for deploying broadband with 10Mbps download speeds and 1Mbps upload speeds to 1.17 million homes and businesses in 33 states. Frontier accepted $283.4 million in annual support over six years to deploy service to 659,587 homes and business in 28 states.

The deadline to hit 100 percent of the required deployments passed on December 31, 2020. Both CenturyLink and Frontier informed the FCC that they missed the deadline to finish deployment in numerous states.

Enlarge / Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, two of the FCC's three Republicans, talk before the start of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on August 16, 2018. (credit: Getty Images | Bill Clark )

The Republican-controlled US Senate today confirmed a Trump nominee to the Federal Communications Commission, ensuring that President-elect Joe Biden's FCC will be deadlocked at 2-2 upon his inauguration.

The Senate voted along party lines to confirm Nathan Simington, a Trump administration official who helped draft a petition asking the FCC to make it easier to sue social media companies like Facebook and Twitter. Democrats say he is unqualified for the position.

"During his confirmation hearing even the most basic questions about FCC issues seemed to trip up Nathan Simington. It's clear he is wholly unqualified to help lead this agency," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote on Twitter today .