President Donald Trump's intention to roll back changes to U.S. policy to Cuba would be a setback for the American technology industry, blogged TechFreedom Friday. “One way or another, Cuba’s economic future is digital,” said Austin Carson, the group's executive director. “We’re separated by a mere 90 miles, but returning to a Cold War policy that failed for almost six decades is the best way to ensure that Russia and China -- not the United States -- will have the most influence on Cuba’s burgeoning tech and telecom sectors." During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would reverse the Obama administration's opening of diplomatic relations with Cuba, and, recently, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the president is reviewing the policy. TechFreedom said many tech and telecom companies from other countries can operate freely within Cuba, while American ones are "shut out by our own government." The organization said it's a member of Engage Cuba, a national coalition of companies, groups and others focused on lifting the decades-old embargo against Cuba.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., whose district is home to major tech companies, invited British Prime Minister Theresa May to meet with Silicon Valley leaders, after she criticized the industry for creating a "safe space" for extremist ideology. In a Wednesday news release outlining a letter, Khanna hoped the prime minister will come "to discuss the role technology companies play in helping combat the ideas that threaten international peace and prosperity." He cited Facebook's announcement to hire 3,000 new employees to review reports of inappropriate and violent content (see 1705040031) and Twitter's efforts to suspend accounts involving terrorism. The day after Saturday's terrorist attack in London, May said internet companies provide a safe space for terrorist ideology to proliferate. "We need to work with allied, democratic governments to reach international agreements that regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremism and terrorist planning," she said.
President Donald Trump's planned renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement should include policy positions supported by the tech sector, the Internet Association said Tuesday. Trump said last month he plans to update the 1994 deal (see 1705180050). A NAFTA revamp should include a specific e-commerce chapter that would “maintain an open internet,” language protecting the fair use doctrine and Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512 safe harbors, IA said. The update should ensure trade rules protect e-commerce because the agreement's existing rules “do not accommodate package-level e-commerce export, the industry group said. “Promoting internet-friendly disciplines in NAFTA on data flows, balanced copyright, intermediary liability, and customs represents a massive opportunity for the internet sector and the U.S. economy as a whole,” said President Michael Beckerman.
Broadcasters worldwide are increasingly concerned with what subscription VOD is doing to cultural identity, given increased exposure to U.S. and global content, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Sunday. He said that issue was underlying concerns voiced at the Future TV Conference last month in Copenhagen about competing with global over-the-top providers like Netflix, with growing recognition children are unlikely to return to traditional TV.
CTA, unlike much of the tech industry, has “not taken a position” on the Paris climate accord, nor on President Donald Trump’s decision Thursday withdrawing the U.S. from the agreement, spokesman Jeff Joseph emailed us Monday. The Information Technology Industry Council released a statement criticizing Trump's decision Thursday as “a setback for America’s leadership in the world.” Earlier in the week, Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, Intel and Microsoft were the tech firms among the two dozen companies taking out full-page ads in major newspapers urging Trump not to withdraw the U.S. from the climate accord on ground that the Paris agreement "benefits U.S. businesses and the U.S. economy in many ways."
The Computer & Communications Industry Association, European Digital Media Association, Mozilla and more than 60 others urged the European Council and European Parliament Monday to put work on copyright law revamp legislation “back on the right track” while “there is still time.” Both EU bodies have drawn criticism from CCIA and other U.S.-based entities over the direction of work in EC’s digital single market strategy. Consideration of a possible pan-EU ancillary copyright, seen as a tax on use of news snippets, has been a lightning rod (see 1703080067). The ancillary copyright proposal and language that would require service providers to monitor content uploaded by subscribers to ensure it's not copyright-protected are “backward-looking,” the entities wrote EU officials: The proposal should be rejected in favor of “a more ambitious agenda for positive reform.”
The Wi-Fi Alliance hailed a decision by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to modify the technical and policy framework for radio local area network (RLAN) devices operating in the 5150-5250 MHz band. The decision “will allow higher power and outdoor RLAN devices to operate in the band and help alleviate congestion in other bands,” the alliance said in a statement. “Given the ever-growing importance of Wi-Fi networks to deliver demanding services and applications, this decision will help meet existing spectrum demands and bring enhanced benefits to Canadian businesses and consumers.”
Facebook's standards for reviewing online material worldwide, especially bullying, hate speech and terrorism, are "challenging and essential," and broad and complex, wrote Monika Bickert, head of the company's Global Policy Management, in a Tuesday blog post. Responding quickly to millions of reports is hard but so is understanding context, she said. "Someone posts a graphic video of a terrorist attack. Will it inspire people to emulate the violence, or speak out against it? Someone posts a joke about suicide. Are they just being themselves, or is it a cry for help?" She said the company talks with experts about such issues and sometimes policies can seem "counterintuitive." Experts advise leaving live videos of people threatening suicide so assistance can be rendered but then taking them down to prevent copycats, she said. In training reviewers, Facebook uses "intentionally extreme" hypothetical cases to deal with the most problematic situations, Bickert said. "We face criticism from people who want more censorship and people who want less. We see that as a useful signal that we are not leaning too far in any one direction."
A plastic-covered paperboard album set to hold CDs and DVDs is classifiable as a duty-free album for collectibles, not as a storage container or box file, Customs and Border Protection said in a recent tariff classification ruling: The album set, imported by Target, is a composite good made up of three album binders and a slipcase, each made of paperboard coated in polyvinyl chloride.
Developing countries could boost their economies by billions of dollars if they signed on to the 1996 Information Technology Agreement, reported the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Monday. The ITA eliminates tariffs on hundreds of information and communication technology products for its current 82 signatory countries, but some developing countries haven’t signed because they don’t want to give up income generated by targeted tariffs, ITIF said. Economic growth and associated increase in tax revenue that would accompany ITA “would bolster Argentina’s economic growth by an estimated 1.52 percent, or $12.7 billion in additional output, in the 10th year; Cambodia’s by 0.98 percent or $320 million; Chile’s by 0.23 percent or $920 million; Kenya’s by 1.29 percent or $1.4 billion; Pakistan’s by 1.30 percent or $4.6 billion; and South Africa’s by 0.17 percent or $770 million.” ITIF said Chile and South Africa would see a smaller economic impact from signing on because “these countries already have relatively low tariff rates on ITA-covered ICT products.”