21st Century Fox's buy of Sky will cause only a limited increase in Sky's power in the TV content market, so the deal is getting European Commission regulatory approval without conditions, the EC said in a news release Friday. It said the two largely operate in different European markets and compete only in acquiring TV content and in the wholesale supply of basic pay-TV channels. The EC said its review decided Fox/Sky audience share would be too limited for Fox to be able to restrict Sky's competitors' access to video content, and Sky's unlikely to quit buying content from Fox competitors because of the quality of Sky's product. Having received EC approval, Fox said in a statement Friday, it's "confident that the proposed transaction will be approved following a thorough review process" by the U.K.

Concerned about U.S. government surveillance activities and sharing of private data, the European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution 306-240 directing the European Commission "to conduct a proper assessment" of Privacy Shield. "This resolution aims to ensure that the Privacy Shield stands the test of time and that it does not suffer from critical weaknesses," said EP Civil Liberties Committee Chairman Claude Moraes in a Thursday news release. He said there have been significant improvements over the invalidated safe harbor agreement, but problems remain that need to be "urgently resolved to provide legal certainty" for EU citizens and businesses. EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourová met with Trump administration officials about U.S. tasks and commitments to Privacy Shield (see 1703310003). The first review of the trans-Atlantic data sharing framework will occur in September. Parliament said it's concerned about new NSA rules that allow it to share intercepted private communications collected without a warrant or congressional authorization with 16 other intelligence agencies. The EP also pointed to the NSA and FBI directing Yahoo to conduct surveillance activities in 2015 (see 1610050038), a year after presidential policy directive 28 limited collection and processing of data. Other concerns Parliament cited include the recent repeal of FCC ISP privacy rules (see 1704040059), vacancies at the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (see 1612270051), the need for increased independence of the ombudsperson in the State Department (see 1703290015) and more effective judicial redress for EU citizens beyond the framework's principles and U.S. government letters.

The World Customs Organization said a recent U.S. increase in e-commerce considered de minimis in trade rules spurred challenges in global trading. The continuous increase in online trading necessitates a broad, international customs approach to deal with regulation, consumer protection, revenue collection and national security, WCO reported. Technological solutions are developing to address e-commerce challenges, with automated systems. The WCO launched an e-commerce site for related information, including ongoing work of the WCO’s multistakeholder Working Group on E-Commerce, the WCO said Friday.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative highlighted concerns about other countries' adoption of data localization laws and other barriers to digital trade, in its annual National Trade Estimate report Friday. Other identified digital trade barriers included restrictions on “digital products, Internet-enabled services, and other restrictive technology requirements,” USTR said. The office included a digital trade barriers section on every country included in the NTE. BSA|The Software Alliance praised USTR for including digital trade barriers. “Eliminating barriers that prevent BSA members and other US companies from providing their products and services around the world is critical,” said BSA President Victoria Espinel in a statement.

If the Trump administration pushes through a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it should be mindful of implications for telecom, said Stuart Brotman, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, in a blog post. The telecom provisions have probably done more good than harm, Brotman wrote Friday. “They include a ‘bill of rights’ for providers and users of telecommunications services that cover access to public telecommunications services; connection to private lines that reflect economic costs and availability of flat-rate pricing; and the right to choose, purchase, or lease terminal equipment.” One approach would be to take the telecom provisions off the table, but a better path might be to expand their scope to focus on trade barriers, Brotman said. “Barriers such as international roaming rates for mobile calls, restrictions on cross-border transfer of digital information (such as electronic payments and digital signatures), and the forced localization of data centers have a detrimental impact on American companies,” he wrote. “The Trump administration would be well-advised to advocate for a broader bill of rights that adheres to the notion of freedom of choice. It should uphold the ability of U.S. companies to offer their world-class information services in Canada and Mexico. Such a position may be easier to gain in a renegotiated agreement since the other items on the NAFTA version 2.0 agenda (e.g., tariffs) undoubtedly will receive greater scrutiny and are likely to be far more contentious.”

The U.K. informed the European Council of its intention to exit the EU, after British Prime Minister Theresa May signed Article 50 triggering the two-year legal process for Brexit negotiations. In a statement to British Parliament Wednesday, May pledged to pursue a "bold and ambitious" free trade agreement with the EU and outside countries, including the "fastest-growing export markets in the world." "Europe has a responsibility to stand up for free trade in the interests of all our citizens," she said. Brexit hasn't affected the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield deal (see 1606280024) but may affect telecom and tech otherwise (see 1606240021 and 1606220001).

Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security removed ZTE from a trade blacklist after the company pleaded guilty earlier this month to export-related violations (see 1703230038). BIS added one Chinese individual to the entity list, Shi Lirong, who was ZTE CEO when company documents that had detailed the firm's illicit export plan were signed. Those documents indicated ZTE organized a scheme to establish shell companies to Iran in violation of U.S. export control laws, BIS said in Wednesday's Federal Register.

British regulator Ofcom will fine BT 42 million pounds (about $52.3 million) for a "serious breach" of rules in not properly paying other telecom providers for its "delays in connecting high-speed business lines." An investigation into BT's network arm, Openreach, found that in 2013-2014, "BT misused the terms of its contracts to reduce compensation payments owed to other telecoms providers for failing to deliver ‘Ethernet’ services on time," said an Ofcom Sunday release, saying the company agreed to compensate the affected companies. The regulator said BT violated rules addressing its "significant market power," in which other companies rely on its network to provide services. Ofcom opened the investigation in November 2015, shortly after Vodafone made allegations against BT, which will also be fined 300,000 pounds (about $374,000) for falling to provide information to Ofcom. BT acknowledged the Ofcom findings into the "use of 'Deemed Consent' by" Openreach. "Deemed Consent is an agreed process between Openreach and its Communications Provider customers. It allows Openreach to halt the installation and reschedule the delivery date for providing dedicated business services (known as Ethernet) in a number of specific circumstances beyond its control," said a BT release Monday that estimated the compensation to other providers at about 300 million pounds (about $374 million). "We apologise wholeheartedly for the mistakes Openreach made in the past when processing orders for a number of high-speed business connections. “This shouldn’t have happened and we fully accept Ofcom’s findings," said Openreach CEO Clive Selley.

ZTE formally pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act through illegally shipping U.S.-origin items to Iran, obstruction of justice and making a material false statement, DOJ announced. The Chinese multinational company agreed to plead guilty to the alleged violations, pay $430.5 million in fines and criminal forfeitures, and to serve three years of corporate probation, during which an independent compliance monitor will review and report on ZTE’s export compliance program, the department had announced earlier this month (see 1703070042). Justice cited plea documents that showed ZTE either directly or indirectly through a third party shipped about $32 million worth of dual-use U.S.-origin wireless and wireline infrastructure hardware to customers in Iran between January 2010 and January 2016.

World Trade Organization members should consider a digital trade facilitation agenda during the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in December and make permanent the current prohibition on customs duties on e-commerce transactions, said the International Chamber of Commerce in a Wednesday report. A digital trade facilitation agenda could help developing and least-developed countries lacking resources and technical constraints compete, ICC said in a news release: Global initiatives can help reduce “the temptation of introducing new protectionism.”