Today, 50 states and territories announced they are opening an antitrust investigation into Google and its parent company, Alphabet. Alphabet also confirmed last week that it is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. Eight states and DC also announced last week that they are beginning an antitrust investigation into Facebook as well.

Public Knowledge is pleased to announce two additions and one change to our team. First, Public Knowledge welcomes Jenna Leventoff, Senior Policy Counsel, and Bertram Lee, Policy Counsel, as new additions to our government affairs and policy teams. They will add depth and experience to our policy analysis and advocacy across the full breadth of issues Public Knowledge is leading on, including free expression and content moderation, privacy, broadband deployment, and spectrum policy.

Public Knowledge will present oral arguments requesting repeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s November 2017 Order, “Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment,” before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday, August 27.

Yesterday, the fanfiction platform Archive of Our Own won the Hugo Award for Best Related Work. The Hugo Awards are given for excellence in science fiction and fantasy, and are widely considered the most prestigious honor in the genre.

Yesterday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai circulated a draft order to approve the Sprint/T-Mobile merger. The move follows the Department of Justice’s approval of the deal, pending the divestiture of prepaid brands and customers, as well as several side agreements designed to accelerate Dish Network’s entry into the wireless market.