IQiyi “substantially completed” an internal review and uncovered no "evidence that would substantiate the allegations” from short-seller firm Wolfpack Research that the company committed fraud well before its 2018 initial public offering by inflating revenue and subscriber data (see 2008140003), said iQiyi Monday. Known as the Netflix of China, it will continue cooperating with the SEC investigation, it said. It’s “unable to predict the duration, outcome or impact of the SEC investigation,” it said. “No surprise” that iQiyi again denied guilt, emailed Wolfpack founder Dan David. “We're looking forward to the SEC's investigation, which will prove wrongdoing." The agency didn’t respond to questions.
“Facts are facts,” and "the international community will not be fooled by the lies” of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Friday. Pompeo accused the Chinese government Thursday of subjecting women to “forced abortion, forced sterilization, and involuntary implantation of birth control devices” as part of its campaign “against Uyghurs and members of other minority groups.” He further accused the Chinese Communist Party of continuing to use “censorship and arbitrary detentions to crack down on the freedoms of expression and association of China’s women’s rights advocates.” Pompeo’s allegations are “completely unfounded,” said the ministry spokesperson. “The Chinese government protects the rights and interests of all ethnic minorities in equal measure, with preferential population policies toward minority groups, including Uyghurs.” Women in the U.S., “in direct contrast,” still face “systemic, prevalent and institutional discrimination and threat,” and are “21 times more likely to die” from gun violence than women in other “high-income countries,” he said. The State Department didn’t respond to questions.
State Department final guidance expands on the initial definition of human rights due diligence and offers red flags and due diligence considerations for exporting surveillance technology. The department didn't significantly narrow its definition for surveillance items despite industry requests. It deleted a suggestion that companies incorporate a “kill switch” to remotely deactivate a device if a company is concerned it's being misused. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation comments last year warned a kill switch could be used for “censorship or other negative purposes.” Snooping tech can be misused if exported to “foreign government end-users or private end-users that have close relationships with governments that do not demonstrate respect for human rights,” State said Wednesday. The U.S. restricts shipments to China over the country’s mass surveillance and detention of ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang.
The Section 301 lawsuits are an important check on the government's imposition of tariffs despite the recent claims of a domestic industry group, a customs lawyer told us. Kenneth Rapoza, an industry analyst with the Coalition for a Prosperous America, had disparaged lawyers representing companies challenging Lists 3 and 4 of the Section 301 tariffs (see 2009300028). "Importers and Exporters, Domestic Producers and the population at large have a right to expect proper federal enforcement of Trade Laws," said Simon Gluck lawyer Chris Kane in an email and on LinkedIn Thursday. "Attorneys play an indispensable role in seeing that happens. In the last BIG case, attorneys protected the rights of U.S. exporters, including the members of Mr. Rapoza’s employer, to retrospective refunds of and prospective dispensation from the Export Harbor Maintenance Tax all the way to U.S. Supreme Court and thereafter. That’s how it works in our legal system," he said.
The Coalition for Prosperous America, supporting Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on China, complained Tuesday about the "cadre of legal firms" suing the Trump administration over tariffs on goods from Lists 3 and 4A (see 2009220027). "The equivalent of tariff ambulance chasers" recruited the companies to file the lawsuits, blogged Kenneth Rapoza. The analyst mentioned Sandler Travis, which said in a recent client notice there's still time to file similar challenges, and noted the role of Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman as co-chair of the Customs and Border Protection's Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. The blog post highlighted Akin Gump, which filed the first lawsuit, for being the largest lobbying operation in Washington and representing ZTE. The law firms didn't comment Wednesday.
Comments are due Oct. 6 at the International Trade Commission on the Tariff Act Section 337 import ban Q3 Networking seeks on routers, controllers and other networking products from Arris, Aruba Networks, CommScope, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Netgear and Ruckus Wireless, said Monday’s Federal Register. Q3's Sept. 22 complaint (login required) in docket 337-3493 alleges the products infringe four patents on data encryption, transmission and network management protocols. Excluding the products won’t harm U.S. consumers through “increased price or reduced availability of alternative products,” said Q3. An import ban would “serve the public interest” by enforcing U.S. intellectual property rights and “protecting the public from unfair competition,” it said. None of the proposed respondents commented Tuesday.
Granting DivX its requested exclusion order on LG, Samsung and TCL smart TVs “could negatively impact competitive conditions," commented Samsung in Friday’s posting (login required) in docket 337-3489 at the International Trade Commission. DivX Sept. 10 sought a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation on its allegations the TVs’ video processors infringe patents on adaptive bitrate streaming (see 2009160052). The significant TV market share that LG, Samsung and TCL collectively control, plus their “broad product offerings,” make it “very unlikely that any third parties would have the capacity to replace such a substantial percentage of the U.S. market, or that they could do so in a commercially reasonable time,” said Samsung. Statisa reported Wednesday the three brands make 58% of smart TVs sold in the U.S. Consumers may prefer a Samsung smart TV because it’s more compatible with other Samsung devices that support apps, enabling “easy streaming of content,” the manufacturer said. More and more streamed video is viewed on TV screens rather than mobile devices, “particularly during the pandemic,” it said. Smart TVs are “far more versatile” than DivX depicted when it described them as “simply devices for consumer entertainment,” said Samsung. “During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. when school districts were scrambling to devise remote learning on the fly, public television stations began providing at-home learning programs that aired in all 50 states. According to some, this initiative was the largest remote learning program in the U.S.”
GSMA postponed MWC Barcelona to June 28-July 1 from early March, and still plans to hold MWC LA as a physical show in October 2021. Delaying the physical MWC Barcelona by about four months will enable GSMA to “contend with external circumstances” of COVID-19, it said. The show will have “virtual elements to complement the overwhelming demand to convene physically,” it said. MWC 2020 in February was the world’s first major trade show to fall to the pandemic (see 2002120056 or 2002120065). Johns Hopkins University ranked Spain eighth in the world Thursday in confirmed coronavirus cases.
Samsung applied to register two new trademarks Wednesday, Samsung QLED+ and Samsung QLED Z, for branding with its TV offerings in the U.S., Patent and Trademark Office records show. It filed similar applications Sept. 9 with EU trademark authorities, said PTO. Samsung didn’t comment Monday.
Given the high failure rate of SpaceX's Starlink satellites, the FCC can either demand the company explain how issues are being resolved or do nothing and signal that satellite operators don't have to ensure their constellations meet commitments in their applications, Viasat representatives told aides to Chairman Ajit Pai, per an International Bureau posting Thursday. The company said the FCC should demand answers and validate them before allowing SpaceX to launch any more satellites and before approving SpaceX's request to operate at a lower orbit (see 2004200003). Separately, Amazon's Kuiper said the lower orbit must be denied for safety reasons, unless SpaceX can guarantee orbital tolerances that limit overlap with Kuiper. SpaceX didn't comment Friday.