Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., led filing Friday of the COVID-19 Emergency Telehealth Impact Reporting Act. S-4289 would require the Department of Health and Human Services to assess metrics, including utilization rates and hospital readmission rates, for patients who received healthcare via telehealth programs expanded during the pandemic. “I will fight for continued healthcare cost reduction and increased access to underserved Americans by making many of the coronavirus telehealth flexibilities permanent,” Young said in a statement. “However, for this effort to succeed Congress must first evaluate how current flexibilities are impacting our healthcare system, and more precisely assess their potential for long-term success.” Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Angus King, I-Maine, are co-sponsors. Reps. John Curtis, R-Utah, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., earlier filed a House version, HR-7695.

The daily share of time spent consuming audio content on digital devices in Q2 by U.S. listeners 13 and older surpassed that of listening on traditional, linear devices -- a first -- Edison Research reported last week. Before COVID-19 disruptions, 55% of the daily total share of time spent listening was done on traditional, linear devices, and 45% on digital devices; during Q2, digital jumped to 53%. Digital devices in the May study include smartphones, computers, internet-connected TVs and smart speakers. Traditional devices include AM/FM receivers, SiriusXM receivers, CD players, turntables and TV channels. Results showed an acceleration of a trend that was occurring pre-pandemic, said Director-Research Laura Ivey.

Logitech, a COVID-19 pandemic related sales beneficiary, teamed with Herman Miller on “high-performance” gaming furniture and accessories line (see 2007210047). Typical esports athletes and streamers sit at desks nearly three times as long as a typical officer worker. The companies found players’ postures could have a negative impact on performance “and potentially damage their health over time,” said Herman Miller Chief Marketing Officer Tim Straker. Also last week, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter called gaming a Logitech “compelling growth" story, “as people continue to work from home to prolong safety, particularly in the U.S. where [coronavirus] cases have continued to rise and spike regionally."

The International Trade Commission “is working on technology that will permit virtual hearings,” Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Dee Lord told Sharp and Vizio lawyers in a June 24 telephonic hearing, according to a transcript (login required) posted Thursday in docket 337-TA-1201. Lord is running the ITC’s Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Sharp allegations that Vizio, its panel maker Xianyang CaiHong Optoelectronics, and TV set assembler TPV infringe five Sharp LCD patents (see 2005210041). The ITC picked Webex Meeting as its videoconferencing platform for Section 337 hearings and conferences “involving confidential business information,” said a July 20 update to its COVID-19 procedures. It’s working as quickly as possible to implement the software, but use of the technology will be at the discretion of individual ALJs, it said. “I'm not sure that I will conduct a virtual hearing in every case,” Lord told the attorneys. “We have had to make some significant adjustments at the ITC in the way we do business,” she said. “We have to assume that we're not going to have a live hearing, and we may not have a hearing procedure that's anything like what we're used to.” ALJs and ITC staff “are all trying really hard to make these investigations work,” she said. “I think so far we have been succeeding pretty well.” As issues arise due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “we will deal with them,” said the ALJ. “It's impossible to foresee what may happen at this point.”

Cloud and network infrastructure and PC capabilities were "vital in allowing businesses and people to continue to work, learn, stay connected and provide critical goods and services,” said Intel CEO Bob Swan on a Q2 investor call Thursday: Those trends helped Intel generate $19.7 billion revenue, exceeding forecasts by $1.2 billion. The company is making “significant progress” boosting its factory CPU capacity and improving its supply chain, he said. “We’re on track to return to more normal levels of PC inventory as we work through the second half of the year.” The downside is “yield” delays in its 7-nanometer chip process technology that's pushing commercialization schedules about “12 months behind our internal target,” said Swan. “We’ve root-caused the issue and believe there are no fundamental roadblocks, but we have also invested in contingency plans to hedge against further schedule uncertainty.” The stock closed down 16% Friday at $50.59. The “global problems we face are bigger than any one company can solve alone,” said Swan. It established 2030 “corporate responsibility goals” that call for a “collective response to revolutionize health and safety” and make technology “fully inclusive,” he said. The $50 million it committed to a “pandemic response technology initiative” typifies Intel’s “unique ability to partner and collectively solve critical problems.” The initiative will speed access to technology for patient care, said Intel. Chief Financial Officer George Davis said to expect "the weak economic environment will impact our commercial PC business, particularly the desktop.” The chipmaker expects the PC market to decline by high-single digits year over year in Q3, the CFO said.

Counterfeiting isn’t a new problem, but “getting worse” and proliferating online, Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu told the National Association of Manufacturers Thursday. The pandemic “has shown just how dangerous inaction can be,” he said. E-commerce’s “appeal of contact-free, front door delivery is undeniable,” he said. “Increased prevalence” of counterfeit goods sold online brings “increased dangers” during a pandemic, he said. “It is nothing short of grotesque that in the middle of this pandemic -- the worst international health crisis in a century -- criminals are taking advantage of scared and unsuspecting consumers. Frankly, the last thing our first responders should worry about is whether their” personal protective equipment is real.

Cooper Lighting is bringing to market ultraviolet light-enabled fixtures said to disinfect surfaces, spaces and objects. In lab testing, its Signify-branded UV-C light sources inactivated 99% of SARS-CoV-2 virus on a surface with an exposure time of six seconds, the company emailed Friday.

MaxLinear’s connected home business generated 45% of Q2 revenue that grew 5% sequentially from Q1 to $65.2 million, said CEO Kishore Seendripu on a Thursday evening investor call. The company supplies broadband communications semiconductors. “We are benefiting from the demand for greater bandwidth at home in a transformative work-from-home environment that we believe is an emerging long-term trend,” said Seendripu. MaxLinear expects its $150 million all-cash buy of Intel’s home gateway business, announced April 6, will close this quarter, he said. The acquisition will more than double its total addressable market to $5 billion, he said. “The rapidly expanding work-from-home mandates due to COVID-19 are driving bandwidth upgrades, which will strongly benefit our core connected home business as well as our companion Intel connected home division acquisitions.”

Industry and regulators should collect more data on broadband network quality and affordability to help address digital redlining, said speakers on a Public Knowledge webinar Thursday. Inequitable broadband deployment and infrastructure in impoverished neighborhoods contribute to the digital divide, said Daiquiri Ryan, National Hispanic Media Coalition strategic legal adviser. She said "lots of vulnerable communities are still reliant on older copper lines," which often aren't well maintained. Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council CEO Maurita Coley said better research and data are needed so policymakers can surgically target broadband where the need is greatest. "There's no federal money for digital inclusion efforts," said Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance executive director. She said big cities like Chicago have been able to secure funding from donors, "but what about smaller communities?" Lukas Pietrzak, Next Century Cities policy associate, said some cities with already degraded networks have had as much as 40% of broadband traffic fall below stated performance standards during the pandemic, citing New Orleans.

Theater closings created a “real problem” for the movie industry’s formula for blockbusters and “how we consume video” overall, said Brett Sappington, Interpret vice president, on a Brightcove webinar Thursday. Citing studios’ long-term schedules, Sappington said “they plan years in advance for the exact weekend whenever they’re going to release something" to ensure the schedule doesn’t hit another big release: March-July since lockdowns “really screwed up calendars for not just now, but on into the future.” Streaming successes while theaters have been dark prompted “good discussions on premium video,” said Brightcove analyst Jim O’Neill. Streaming was up 40% in Q2, said O’Neill, noting Netflix added 26 million subscribers in two quarters. Disney had more than a 70% subscriber spike after Hamilton’s release July 3, and Universal’s Trolls World Tour took in $100 million from streaming revenue in Q1: Both had been planned for theatrical release, he noted. Studios are delaying some big-budget releases as theater reopenings stretch out. O’Neill cited AT&T CEO John Stankey’s comments (see 007230052), saying it's inevitable that some Warner Bros. movies that were slated for theatrical release this year would move to streaming platforms. Tenet, which cost $200 million and has been pulled for now, won't go to streaming first. On whether digital distribution could eventually replace movie theaters, Sappington noted that being in a theater with “bunches of other people … feels unsafe to me." Though Sappington is certain it will be safe again to return to theaters, he also said unknowns remain.