Amazon may be moving toward offering non-vessel operating common-carrier (NVOCC) services, said Flexport, a logistics company, in a post on its blog. "Flexport has obtained information that Amazon China has received a license to operate as an ocean freight forwarder" in the U.S, said Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen. Petersen pointed to the Federal Maritime Commission's directory of Ocean Transportation Intermediaries, which has a listing for "Beijing Century JOYO Courier Service Co. Ltd," with the trade name Amazon China on the license, said Petersen. Amazon bought JOYO in 2004, he said. "By offering ocean freight services, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) will make it easier for its customers to move goods into the company’s logistics network." An Amazon spokeswoman confirmed to us the accuracy of the FMC filing, declining to comment further.

The FCC International Bureau removed Cuba from the commission's exclusion list for International Section 214 Authorizations, the FCC said in a news release Friday. Removing Cuba from the exclusion list "opens the door for U.S. telecom carriers to provide facilities-based telephone and Internet service to Cuba without separate approval" from the FCC, said the release. Carriers seeking to provide service to Cuba -- the last remaining country on the exclusion list before the commission's decision -- can now receive approval sooner and can provide service between the U.S. and Cuba without additional authorization, the FCC said. Removing Cuba from the list "benefits the public interest as it will likely alleviate administrative cost burdens on both the applicant and the commission, and will promote competition on the U.S.-Cuba route," the FCC said.

Zayo completed its $465 million Canadian ($320 million) acquisition of Allstream, Zayo said in a news release Friday. The purchase added "more than 18,000 route miles" to Zayo's fiber network, including 12,500 miles of long-haul fiber and 5,500 route miles of metro fiber network, Zayo said. It said Allstream and its assets will be reorganized into two business units -- Zayo Canada, and a unit maintaining the Allstream name that includes Allstream's voice, unified communications and small enterprise businesses.

The International Trade Commission opened a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation (No. 337-TA-981) into claims by Saxon Glass that imports of an Apple Watch model are infringing its trademark, the commission said in a Monday announcement. Saxon's Nov. 10 petition alleged the Apple Watch Sport’s ION-X strengthened glass infringes Saxon’s own IONEX mark. Saxon is requesting a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order banning import and sale of the Apple Watch Sport. Apple representatives didn’t comment Wednesday.

U.S. undersea cable capacity grew by about 36 percent per year between 2007 and 2014 and is expected "to grow around 29 percent for 2014-2016," the FCC said Tuesday announcing the release of its first report on U.S. international circuit capacity. The top foreign landing points for U.S. undersea cables are Colombia, Japan, U.K., Panama, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico and Australia, said the FCC, which added the Atlantic region had a larger fraction of non-activated capacity than the Americas or Pacific regions did. The International Bureau report found new reporting requirements improved the commission's data collection. "Importantly, 94.6 percent of the total available capacity on all U.S. international submarine cables is now captured, compared to 7.1 percent collected under the previous reporting requirements," the commission said.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership supports U.S. technology leadership globally and will be a driver for economic growth and job creation, TechNet said in a news release Monday. TechNet urged Congress to approve TPP, identifying "key provisions" that are important to the technology sector, including "rules and regulations to increase fair competition and consumer protection in the tech sector," guarantees of "nearly unrestricted" cross-border data flows, prohibitions against "forced localization" of data and the elimination of tariffs and duties on digital products. "Our nation's ability to continue to lead in this [technology] sector is dependent on access to the fastest growing markets in the world and the uninhibited flow of data across borders," said TechNet CEO Linda Moore.

Netflix's footprint has expanded to more than 130 additional countries, the online video distributor said at CES Wednesday in a news release. It also said it added Arabic, Korean, and Simplified and Traditional Chinese to the 17 languages it already supports. Netflix said its service remains unavailable in China, but it "continues to explore options for providing the service."

The European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee overwhelmingly approved the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), intended to create a uniform set of data protection rules and give the EU's 500 million citizens more control over how their information is used (see 1512160001). The committee Thursday voted 53-2 with one abstention in favor of the 204-page regulation agreed to by the parliament and council Tuesday, a parliament news release said. It said the GDPR must still be voted on by the full parliament in spring, probably March or April, and then the EU's 28 member states have two years to "transpose the provisions of the new directive into their national laws." Marju Lauristin, the lead member of the European Parliament on the directive, said in a statement that "these rules, applying to cooperation between EU member states and with third countries on transferring and processing of data, should facilitate the sharing of information, while at the same time ensuring that European citizens’ fundamental rights are not violated." While GDPR gives EU citizens more say in how their data can be used through a codified right to be forgotten and informed consent, among other provisions, advocates said the regulation also cuts down on red tape by harmonizing 28 different standards and applying uniform enforcement. But several business officials said GDPR may create more complexity and bureaucracy (see 1512150004).

Shaw Communications agreed to buy Mid-Bowline Group, including subsidiary Wind Mobile, worth about $1.6 billion Canadian ($1.1 billion USD) in enterprise value, Wind said in a news release Wednesday. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2016 pending regulatory approval, said the release.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released results Thursday of its 2015 Special 301 out-of-cycle review on intellectual property infringement. It focused on the sale of counterfeit goods online, listing 14 online markets alongside physical markets in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Paraguay and Thailand. USTR cited the difficulties customs authorities face attempting to stop shipments of counterfeit goods sold online, and the growing problem of free trade zones enabling counterfeit activities. Major Chinese online shopping website Taobao again escaped inclusion, after last being listed in 2012. USTR said Taobao parent Alibaba took some enforcement measures over the past year, including “a good-faith product takedown procedure, a three and four strikes penalty system, and an English-language version of the TaoProtect portal to register [intellectual property rights] and submit takedown requests.” But USTR said it's “increasingly concerned” by reports that Alibaba’s enforcement program is “too slow, difficult to use, and lacks transparency.” The report applauded China for its efforts over the past year to examine the problem of counterfeit sales online; a study by that country in November found less than 59 percent of articles sold online last year were genuine. USTR cautioned that large free trade zones have “become enablers for counterfeit activities and are being used as a staging ground to disguise the illicit nature of counterfeit goods, to add infringing trademarks, logos and packaging to products, as well as to conceal the origin of counterfeit goods.” The EU has said counterfeiters are to blame, noted USTR. The issue would be partially addressed by the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, it said. Distribution of counterfeit goods bought online is a major enforcement challenge for customs authorities, said USTR. The report “shines an essential light on the rampant nature of content theft, which diminishes the work of creators, harms consumers through the spread of malware,” MPAA CEO Chris Dodd said in a statement. “As the film and television industry relies on robust copyright frameworks to create and distribute content around the globe, the report is a reminder that it’s important to include strong protections for intellectual property in trade agreements such as the TPP.” USTR’s decision to take “action against the identified markets is a win for both consumers and rights holders, allowing the legitimate foreign market distribution of, and thus greater access to, legal content -- of literary works, music, movies and TV programming, video games, software, and other products and services,” said International Intellectual Property Alliance Counsel Steven Metalitz in a statement.