Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., jointly urged CEO Tim Cook Thursday to explain reports Apple removed VPN applications from the version of its App Store available in China, saying the action “may be enabling the Chinese government’s censorship and surveillance of the Internet” in what they dubbed the “Great Firewall.” The Chinese government announced earlier this year software developers offering VPN apps would need a government license. The “threat that the Great Firewall poses to the freedom of the people of China is similar to the threat that the Berlin Wall imposed on the people of East Berlin for twenty-eight years,” Cruz and Leahy said in a letter to Cook. “As long as the Great Firewall operates and is enabled by American technology companies, Internet freedom in China will remain at risk.” The senators asked Cook to detail how many VPN apps it removed from the Chinese version of the App Store, whether the company fought against Chinese laws on VPN and cybersecurity, and whether employees played any role in Chinese government-sponsored World Internet Conference events. Apple was “required to remove some VPN apps in China that do not meet the new regulations,” the company said in a statement. “These apps remain available in all other markets.”

Brazilian antitrust authority Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica approved AT&T's buy of Time Warner without any asset sale or divestiture required, AT&T said Wednesday. The company said it still expects the deal to close by year's end, with only DOJ review pending.

ITU lacks capacity or expertise to address privacy, as some governments proposed, said Access Now, Article 19 and Public Knowledge in a joint statement Monday. Instead, nations should use bilateral or multilateral agreements, national laws and other frameworks, the groups said. Brazil, Mexico, a regional group of Arab states and one formed by Russia and former Soviet republics suggested at the World Telecommunications Development Conference this month that ITU should expand its mandate into privacy-related issues, the groups said. They argued that ITU is vulnerable to "harmful types of politicization, as states and regional coalitions seek to leverage this forum to grab greater control over Internet policy and standards development." The groups said ITU's main goal is to facilitate interoperability of telecom infrastructure and therefore is limited in its expertise.

Local community networks are a key to bringing internet access to the half of humanity that's still unconnected, the Internet Society said Wednesday, highlighting a paper backing approaches governments and others can take. Policymakers can help communities connect "with innovative licensing and access to spectrum," said Raul Echeberria, vice president-global engagement, in a release that noted "100+ ministers" were attending an ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference in Buenos Aires through Oct. 20. It said network providers can help through fair backhaul rates, equipment and training, and sharing of infrastructure and spectrum. Community network costs can be low, often requiring something as simple as a router, it said.

U.S. and European retailers agreed on a common approach to implement new EU regulations to better protect personal data, two industry groups announced Tuesday. The agreement between member companies of the National Retail Federation and EuroCommerce to implement the general data protection regulation (GDPR), which takes effect in May (see 1512160001 and 1702100030), came during meetings in Brussels. The agreement will help retailers with brick-and-mortar, website and mobile establishments face new compliance standards, more administrative requirements and bigger enforcement penalties for violations. Companies discussed data portability, consumer consent, profiling, data breach issues and the consumers' right to have their data removed under GDPR.

U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy Rob Strayer told the ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference Sunday in Buenos Aires that U.S. proposals to the conference and pan-Americas proposals that the government supports “reflect our strong support” for a continued ITU telecom development sector role in broadband development and emergency communications. The U.S. supports the creation of “voluntary guidelines and best practices” to support efforts to increase digital inclusion, development of advanced networks and to create a “stable and predictable regulatory environment,” Strayer said. The U.S. is confident the WTDC conference will produce “sustainable and measurable results” because public-private partnerships and “multistakeholder cooperation” have aided in significant progress in global broadband and other network deployments in recent years, he said. Strayer joined the State Department last month as CIC and deputy assistant secretary of state-cybersecurity and international communications and information policy (see 1708220059 and 1709210062). The WTDC lasts until Oct. 20.

Fair use and safe harbor provisions should be included in a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement, the Re:Create Coalition said in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer Thursday. If NAFTA is going to include copyright provisions, it must include enforcement measures and provisions like fair use in order to support the American economy and jobs, the letter said. Safe harbor provisions such as those included in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act helped internet growth, and fair use adds $2.8 trillion to the economy annually, the group said. It took issue with music industry groups that fear safe harbors would permit trading partners to be havens for piracy for those who illegally infringe on American content (see 1709200038).

Amazon’s Alexa and Echo devices are available by invitation in India and will roll out in Japan later this year, the company announced Wednesday. Customers who want to help the development of Alexa and Echo devices can request an invitation to buy the devices at www.amazon.in in exchange for a limited-time 30 percent discount and a year of Prime membership, it said. Devices are to ship at the end of the month.

The Irish High Court referred a case against Facebook's use of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) to the European Court of Justice, as expected (see 1702060029). The Irish court said in a Tuesday executive summary of the judgment that the Irish data protection commissioner (DPC) "raised well-founded concerns." Many companies use SCCs to transfer data abroad. Austrian privacy attorney Max Schrems, who challenged adequacy of the safe harbor agreement that led to EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, initially brought a similar complaint against SCCs to the Irish DPC in 2013. In the summary (provided by Schrems), the Irish High Court said the Privacy Shield's U.S. State Department ombudsperson didn't eliminate DPC concerns that SCCs provided inadequate protection. The ECJ must decide, said the Irish court, whether DPC authority to suspend or ban a data transfer to a company in a third country "is sufficient to secure the validity of the SCC Decisions." The judgment said only the ECJ can provide such "uniformity in the application" and "resolve the potential for inconsistent applications." A Facebook spokeswoman said the "ruling will have no immediate impact on the people or businesses who use our services. However it is essential that the [ECJ] now considers the extensive evidence demonstrating the robust protections in place under Standard Contractual Clauses and US law, before it makes any decision that may endanger the transfer of data across the Atlantic and around the globe.” SCCs are essential for thousands of companies, she said. Schrems welcomed the ruling: "Facebook seems to have lost in every argument.” BSA|The Software Alliance and the Electronic Privacy Information Center also commented.

The U.S. Trade Representative office received more than four dozen comments on its investigation into the Chinese government's tech transfer, IP and innovation policies and practices, which many filers said put U.S. companies and others at a disadvantage (see 1708150039). Comments were filed last week. The interagency Section 301 committee plans a 9:30 a.m. hearing Oct. 10 at 400 E St. SW, with post-hearing rebuttal comments due Oct. 20. BSA|The Software Alliance said the Chinese government's IP-related and market access policies and practices prevent foreign businesses from operating there "efficiently, or at all" and fail to protect IP and trade secrets. It said barriers are "particularly acute" in telecom and IT industries such as cloud computing, cross-border data flows, requirements for disclosing a company source code, and enterprise standards. The Telecommunications Industry Association said China's drive to boost its domestic industry is "accompanied by a more concerning attempt to undermine and shrink the role of U.S. and other foreign technology firms." TIA worries more security rules to vet foreign tech may disadvantage U.S. exporters selling to China's markets and could set a precedent for other countries. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said Chinese policies: "induce forced" tech and IP transfer across many advanced-technology industries; engage in state-directed foreign direct investment and mergers and acquisition that targets foreign enterprises as part of an effort to move China 'up the value chain' in those sectors; and coordinate cyber-based IP and technology theft. CompTIA said China's aggressive implementation and use of technical standards to support industries like the ICT sector creates major interoperability issues, lack adequate safeguards to protect IP, and are developed without sufficient transparency and participation rights for foreign companies. It wants the USTR to encourage the Chinese government to adapt tech-neutral policies and allow the market to choose technology and standards. China has taken positive steps to amend civil law to make clear trade secrets are subject to civil IP protection, but the American Bar Association Section of IP Law said it's "a significant problem." The ABA said "enforcement measures are inadequate, penalties are weak, bad faith registrations are a problem, and systemic counterfeiting and widespread piracy still needs to be addressed," including stronger copyright protections and damage awards for patent infringement.