Sky is launching a “major new commitment” to original virtual reality content through the creation of Sky VR Studio, a “dedicated in-house VR production unit,” the European entertainment company said in a Thursday announcement. The first pieces of “fully immersive VR content” to be produced by the unit will be released Friday in the form of two films shot during Formula One racing in Barcelona, it said. The footage will “transport viewers to the pit lane, into the team garages, and out onto the track,” it said. The films will be released on Facebook’s 360 Video platform, and also on the Oculus platform, viewable on Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift headsets, it said. Sky will look to distribute content through a dedicated Sky VR app later in the year, it said. “Over the coming year, Sky VR Studio will drive the creation of cinematic, fully immersive VR content, producing more than 20 individual films, across a unique range of Sky content -- from major cultural events in news to some of the biggest sporting events on the planet.”

The Department of Energy should “abandon” or “at least, delay finalization,” of its proposed rule to require the filing of “certifications of admissibility” at time of entry for products subject to energy efficiency standards (see 1512310008), CTA said in comments filed Monday and posted Wednesday in docket EERE–2015–BT–CE–0019. CTA objects to the proposed rule “in both substance and timing,” it said. “While all manufacturers and importers must comply with federal law and companies would also want their competitors to do so,” CTA thinks the proposed rule “is unnecessary and unsupported,” it said. The eight-page filing follows joint comments CTA filed Feb. 29 with other groups, also asking DOE to withdraw the proposed rule or suspend the rulemaking process to do “further analysis and significant outreach” (see 1603140067). There's “no evidence” DOE’s proposed rule is “necessary,” CTA said in its latest comments. DOE “has not provided any data that supports the allegation that importers across the board are disproportionately bringing non-compliant products into the country at a significant level,” CTA said. The proposed rule “only provides some anecdotal information about imported motors’ noncompliance,” it said. “CTA supports and applauds DOE’s efforts to stop noncompliance, if it is indeed occurring. Considering the high burden that the rule would impose on a vast number of importers, however, CTA asks that DOE provide statistical evidence substantiating its noncompliance concern with the imported products at issue prior to finalizing this rule.” CTA also said there's no evidence the proposed rule “will address the alleged underlying issue,” and the provisions would cover “an overly broad scope of product.” CTA also fears the proposed rule would violate World Trade Organization agreements barring international trade barriers, it said.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership will help U.S. technology companies access expanded markets, CompTIA said in a news release Monday. Executive Vice President-Public Advocacy Elizabeth Hyman said TPP will promote “strong and balanced” protections for copyright and related rights, and will protect against locality requirements that direct companies to establish local data storage facilities, which could deplete the efficiency and economic benefits of the Internet. “We understand that this agreement negotiated among twelve countries could not accomplish all the needs of U.S. businesses. Accordingly, we encourage USTR to continue to work to further allow cross-border data flows and defend against data localization requirements for the financial services industry," said Hyman. "We urge Congress to move forward to ratify the TPP.”

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Andrus Ansip, the European Commission vice president-digital single market (see 1509240053), will discuss the transatlantic digital economy, including the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement (see 1602290003), Friday. The "armchair discussion" will be at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Danny Weitzner, who heads the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative, will moderate. The event is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. A Commerce Department spokeswoman said the event may be live streamed.

The federal government's interagency End-User Review Committee added Chinese telecom equipment company ZTE and three affiliated firms to the entity list after the ERC determined the trio had cooperated in a "scheme" to re-export controlled items to Iran contrary to U.S. law, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in a notice to appear in Tuesday's Federal Register. ZTE's plan allegedly involved establishing, controlling and using multiple shell companies to illicitly re-export controlled items to Iran in violation of U.S. export control laws, BIS said. ZTE didn't comment Monday.

The global market for inbuilt set-top boxes will grow at a 2 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), passing 179 million units by 2020, said a Technavio report Friday. Driving the moderate growth are government mandates in countries such as China and India where digitization of TV networks will fuel demand for set-tops that offer more channels, improved picture quality and DVR technology, it said. Hybrid versions combining satellite, cable and IPTV set-tops and offering over-the-top and pay-on-demand service are expected to grow at a 13 percent CAGR to 53.5 million units by 2020, said Technavio. To tap the growing set-top market, vendors are introducing services such as on-demand, push-VOD and specialized Internet services to increase average revenue per unit, said analyst Soumya Mutsuddi. Services include free-to-air and pay TV on the digital video broadcasting side and value-added services on the IP side, Mutsuddi said. The market is led by Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa countries. In the Americas, the market for satellite set-tops is “declining rapidly” as consumers switch to smart TVs and hybrid set-tops, said the researcher, while the market for Ultra HD set-tops will grow "substantially" during the period.

Norway's consumer protection agency filed a complaint Thursday against U.S.-based Tinder, saying the mobile dating app company's terms and conditions may have breached Norwegian law, affecting the country's roughly 500,000 Tinder users. The Norwegian Consumer Council, or Forbrukerrådet, asked the government-appointed Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman to investigate several issues. For instance, the complaint said Tinder's terms of use say disputes shall be settled by binding arbitration in Texas, where the company is based, "limiting the users' scope in taking legal action against the company." The council also said the wording of Tinder's terms of use implies people are bound by it whether they access the app or website and even if they don't create an account. After accepting the terms, the permission granted by the user to Tinder "is far-reaching and would appear to be infinite" and includes all types of storage and information processing such as sharing information with its partners, the complaint said. It said that the terms imply that user consent can't be revoked and accounts can't be deleted. Another problem is that Tinder says users must be at least 13 years old to access and use the app, but it doesn't require consent from parents or guardians for minors to use the service, the council said. "The fact that Tinder targets users this young means that not all users of the service are equally qualified to evaluate the terms and conditions," the complaint said. "The Terms of Use are also only available in English, and the wording is difficult to grasp." The council said Tinder can also amend the service without notifying users, which may be "an unfair contractual term." Tinder's terms of use may also violate European law, the council said. A Tinder spokeswoman emailed that the company tries to comply with alllocal and national regulations. "If and when authorities bring up larger privacy concerns, we always take them into consideration and, if applicable to our users, take steps to implement any necessary changes," she wrote. "We are committed to protecting our users’ privacy and strive to uphold a fair and trusted privacy policy."

MCI agreed to FCC conditions for waiving a U.S. benchmark termination rate for Cuba as specified in a 2011 TeleCuba waiver order and 2012 international settlements policy reform order, MCI parent Verizon told the commission in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 10-95. Cuba didn't accept the U.S. benchmark rate of 19 cents per minute for terminating calls, preventing direct U.S.-Cuba calling for years (indirect calls were routed through other countries). Under the 2011 and 2012 FCC orders (here and here), U.S. carriers can exceed the benchmark rate and pay up to 84 cents a minute to terminate calls in Cuba if they adhere to various conditions, including that they reach nonexclusive interconnection agreements with Cuban carrier Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A.. The agreements must state the parties intend to reduce the termination rates toward or below the benchmark rate over time and take at least one significant step in that direction. IDT Telecom and Sprint reached three-year agreements in 2015 (here and here) that generally set termination rates of 60 cents per minute for U.S.-to-Cuba traffic and 15 cents per minute for Cuba-to-U.S. traffic.

Digital literacy and ensuring that “locally relevant content and services are available” are keys to connecting 363 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean already covered by mobile broadband networks but not yet connected to the Internet, the GSM Association said in a report released Tuesday. Affordability and network coverage are the other major barriers to “digital inclusion” in the region, the report said. Some 634 million live in the region and only about 10 percent are outside the footprint of a 3G or 4G network, GSMA said. “Mobile broadband is the primary method of delivering affordable internet access across the Latin America and Caribbean region, delivering a range of economic and social benefits and supporting the UN Social Development Goals,” said Sebastian Cabello, the GSMA’s head-Latin America, in a news release. “But there is also the danger of a widening ‘digital divide’ in the region due to millions being either unable or unwilling to use mobile broadband services. We therefore urge governments to work with the mobile industry to address the barriers to adoption and ensure that the mobile internet is more accessible, useful and understandable for everyone.”

Ericsson is partnering with Amazon Web Services to help telecom providers speed up their use of cloud-based services, the Sweden-based tech provider said in a Monday news release. Ericsson said its work with AWS will help telecoms better improve productivity and efficiency, reduce complexity and risk and better capitalize on opportunities like the IoT and big data analytics. "Ericsson will contribute expertise from its 25,000 R&D engineers and 66,000-person service workforce -- more than 17,000 of whom are consultants and systems integrators, delivering 1,500 projects per year around the world," the company said. Ericsson said AWS, which is providing resources such as professional services and training, is also helping to develop new capabilities like end-to-end security and data traffic management, workload management, and services related to local regulation and compliance requirements.