The State Department is fighting to maintain the free flow of data and maximize monetary value of the internet, as new international privacy laws threaten the ease of cross-border data transfer, said Deputy Assistant Secretary-Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy Robert Strayer Thursday. At a Media Institute event, Strayer cited Vietnam’s new digital economy strategy as an area of concern. From the audience CTA CEO Gary Shapiro cited efforts in China to “blockade” American tech sector progress and Europe’s “cumbersome” general data protection regulation, which he said further hampers U.S. competitiveness.
Court of International Trade activity
Senate Judiciary Committee members and Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu expressed willingness Wednesday to explore legislative proposals on patent eligibility issues for artificial intelligence. Two Supreme Court decisions -- Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International and Mayo v. Prometheus -- created “significant confusion” for applying traditional patent protections to AI algorithms, Iancu said during an oversight hearing. PTO can issue certain guidance and better clarity surrounding AI patent application, but “it’s not easy” since the office has those two cases for context. “If there is an interest in this committee or elsewhere, we would be very happy to work with you toward a solution,” Iancu said.
The majority of assets held by a Florida software company accused of bilking customers through a tech support scam remain frozen, and a trial court has been directed to examine some of the managers’ personal accounts, a federal court said Thursday. The FTC and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi sued Vylah Tec in 2017, alleging Angelo Cupo, Robert Cupo and Dennis Cupo, who manage various businesses tied to Vylah, deceptively marketed and sold technical support services and software to consumers in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The scam involved extorting money from consumers by tricking them into thinking their computers were infected with viruses or malware, Bondi alleged. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida originally granted FTC’s motion to freeze the Cupos’ assets. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed a majority of the asset freeze Thursday. The court remanded the case to the district court “for further factual findings and conclusions of law” on potential freezes to personal accounts. Offices for Vylah and Bondi didn’t comment, and the FTC doesn’t comment on pending litigation. Bondi is collaborating with the FTC on a crackdown on international tech support scams.
With NAB Executive Vice President John David moving from head, Radio Department, to senior adviser to the association (see 1801220016), the group's Steve Newberry adds oversight of that department; Newberry was hired a few months ago as executive vice president-strategic planning/special projects (see 1710130036); Newberry's duties also include overseeing new NAB building project; and in related news this week, a spokesman confirms the group agreed to sell its building for $31.6 million and will stay at 1771 N St. NW and rent it from Stream Realty until it moves, targeted for fall 2019, into its new building at 1 M St. SE.
With streaming video piracy booming, content companies and allies are continuing a legal assault against pirate services, and some see the number of allies growing to potentially include other parts of the legitimate video streaming ecosystem. The MPAA said it's seeing some preliminary signs the content company litigation strategy is bearing fruit. However, that legal strategy also faces unique challenges compared with past video piracy fights, experts say.
Alibaba's Taobao.com mobile commerce site, the Pacific Mall in Markham, Ontario, and online sites like Convert2mp3.net and ThePirateBay.org are among prominent physical and virtual marketplaces that facilitate or ignore rampant piracy and counterfeiting, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said Friday in its annual notorious markets report. Citing growth of illicit streaming devices globally, USTR added several apps and portals that link such devices to illicit content -- TVPlus, TVBrowser and Kuaikan -- to the list. It said closer cooperation between governments and stakeholders is needed to tackle such video streaming piracy. Alibaba and mall management didn't comment.
The FCC's net neutrality deregulation ruling and orders closely track expectations, while clarifying the agency's view on the timetable for looming court challenges, according to our initial review of the 539-page item released Thursday evening (see 1801040059). The final "internet freedom" declaratory ruling, report and order, and order text appears mostly the same as a draft (see 1711220026). Several changes -- on transparency decisions and the item's effective date -- were announced when commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines Dec. 14 to scrap Communications Act Title II broadband classification and net neutrality rules (see 1712140039). Tech heavyweights said they will join the inevitable court challenge to the regulations.
Entercom settled with DOJ’s Antitrust Division on divestitures for buying CBS Radio and agreed to exchanges with Beasley Broadcast, Bonneville and iHeartMedia, said a consent decree and the acquirer's release Wednesday. “In connection with the settlement with the DOJ, the agreements with iHeartMedia, Beasley and a local marketing agreement with Bonneville International announced today will clear the way for the Entercom and CBS Radio merger to move forward, pending FCC approval,” Entercom said. The radio station owner “now expects its proposed combination with CBS Radio to close as early as November 17." The consent decree requires Entercom to divest 13 radio stations in Boston, San Francisco and Sacramento to avoid anticompetitive market control. Entercom would exchange a Boston station targeted by DOJ for one owned by Beasley, and trade four stations in Boston and three stations in Seattle to iHeartMedia for six stations in Richmond, Virginia, and four stations in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Through the local marketing agreement, Bonneville will program four stations in San Francisco and four stations in Sacramento. U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia needs to approve the settlement, DOJ said. The iHeart and Beasley deals are expected to close in Q1, while the Bonneville one will begin after the Entercom transaction is consummated. The Media Bureau didn’t comment.
Fiber network equipment is classifiable as optical instruments of chapter 90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S., the Court of International Trade ruled. ADC Telecommunications argued Customs and Border Protection should have classified its “value added modules” as duty-free data transmission equipment. CIT held Wednesday that optical equipment includes fiber cables that transmit non-visible light, confirming CBP’s liquidation as “other optical appliances and instruments” at a 4.5 percent duty. A lawyer for ADC didn't comment.
There's a "marked increase" in organizations indicating their use or intention to use Privacy Shield from last year, blogged International Association of Privacy Professionals Publications Director Sam Pfeifle, summarizing early returns of the global IAPP-EY Privacy Governance Survey of 548 organizations. Last week, the EU and U.S. did an inaugural review of the framework, with a report coming out in October (see 1709210011) that could influence how the agreement may be changed. More than 2,500 organizations are self-certified under Privacy Shield, according to an International Trade Administration-hosted website. Pfeifle said 47 percent of organizations that say they will transfer personal data from the EU will use the trans-Atlantic data sharing framework, up from 34 percent in 2016 (see 1609150023). Sixty-seven percent of companies with fewer than 5,000 employees say they want to use Privacy Shield. Eighty-eight percent will use standard contractual clauses, up from 80 percent last year. Pfeifle noted that mechanism is being challenged in a European court (see 1607060009). He said the report will be released at IAPP's San Diego conference Oct. 16-18.