NTIA launched the communications supply chain risk information partnership (C-SCRIP), as required by 2019's Secure and Trusted Communications Network Act and effective Wednesday, says that day's Federal Register. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Department of Homeland Security, FBI and the FCC are working with NTIA. “This program is aimed primarily at trusted small and rural communications providers and equipment suppliers, with the goal of improving their access to risk information about key elements in their supply chain,” NTIA said: “C-SCRIP will allow for regularly scheduled informational briefings, with a goal of providing more targeted information for C-SCRIP participants as the program matures.”

Google and Sonos “meaningfully narrow[ed] the claim construction disputes” in the International Trade Commission’s intellectual property probe into Sonos allegations that Google devices infringe five Sonos multiroom audio patents (see 2002060070), Google said (login required) Thursday in docket 337-TA-1191. “Several critical differences remain with respect to terms.” Google filed to persuade Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock to resolve the disputes in its favor. Sonos didn’t comment Monday. Two of the Sonos patents “purport to present a solution to two alleged problems in the audio synchronization field,” said Google. The patents “overstate their technical contributions” because they rely on “well-known techniques,” said Google: “Synchronization concepts” used in a local area network “long predate the patents’ claimed inventions.” Sonos “now seeks to narrowly interpret the claims” about LAN to avoid “the abundance of prior art,” said the brief. Google proposes defining a LAN by its “plain and ordinary meaning,” and ITC staff agrees, it said. Sonos proposes regarding a LAN as a data network that links devices within a limited area, said Google. The sides agree another of the patents describes different techniques that might be used to perform “equalization of audio data,” said the brief. “Dispute lies in whether each of these techniques necessarily result in equalization every time.”

U.S. trading partners “must abide by global trade rules so that American businesses can compete on a level playing field,” Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of 160 trade associations, wrote Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committee leaders Wednesday. “We disagree with the continued and indiscriminate use of tariffs to achieve those goals.” Four rounds of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports are causing “unnecessary harm" while "creating little leverage to achieve further concessions,” it said. The Trump administration vows to keep the tariffs until a phase 2 trade agreement with China, but that “seems less likely with each passing day,” said the coalition. The tariffs “have sown uncertainty in the world’s economy and mistrust with trading partners and have hindered, not helped, the U.S. response to the COVID-19 outbreak,” it said. Congress should also “demand” that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative “improve” the tariff exclusions process and raise the portion of exemptions “so that it provides meaningful relief.” Of nearly 53,000 exclusion requests U.S. importers filed for relief from the tariffs, 75.4% were denied (see 2006220047). USTR didn’t comment Thursday.

Vizio denies allegations in Sharp’s complaint (see 2005220045) at the International Trade Commission that it “engaged in unfair competition” via Tariff Act Section 337 violations, said the vendor's response (login required) posted Wednesday in docket 337-TA-1201. Commissioners voted May 20 to open an investigation into the allegations Vizio conspired with its panel maker Xianyang CaiHong Optoelectronics and TV set assembler TPV to infringe LCD display patents. The patent claims are “invalid or unenforceable and cannot support any contention for alleged infringement,” said Vizio. Sharp didn’t comment.

The Interagency Labor Committee under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade seeks comments by Aug. 15 on the procedures it should use to review complaints about alleged violations of the treaty’s labor provisions, said Tuesday’s Federal Register. USMCA takes effect Wednesday and gives organized labor in the U.S. a process for filing grievances with the Trump administration alleging breaches of Mexico’s new labor laws revamp (see 2006240043). The revisions give Mexican workers collective bargaining rights for the first time and protect them against retaliation for joining unions or refusing to join. The interagency committee, co-chaired by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, will have 30 days to review a complaint and has the authority to rescind a product's duty-free status or bar its importation if it finds serious violations. The committee will accept comments at Regulations.gov in docket USTR-2020-0028.

General data protection regulation compliance and domain name system abuse remain top priorities for ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee, it said after last week's virtual meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (see 2006220002). It asked ICANN to prod the Generic Names Supporting Organization about progress on a plan to address unresolved issues in setting up a standardized system for requesting access to nonpublic Whois registration data. Governments want access to Whois data maintained "to the fullest extent possible," which means ICANN should make a clear distinction between legal and natural persons, and allow public access to registration data of the former, which isn't subject to the GDPR, they said. GAC backs ensuring data accuracy, another requirement under the ICANN temporary specification for complying with the GDPR. On DNS abuse, GAC members urged ICANN to prioritize capacity-building and training but said new efforts to tackle the problem "should not replace, but rather complement, existing initiatives" to boost accuracy of registration data and to adopt policies on privacy and proxy services. Governments are focused on policy relating to the next round of new generic top-level domain names, the statement said.

The FCC International Bureau seeks comment by July 6 on plans to share annual 2018-19 circuit capacity data for U.S.-international submarine cable systems with the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies, said a public notice for docket 20-194 in Friday's Daily Digest.

The U.S. shouldn't address U.S. and Chinese trade tensions through decoupling, experts told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Instead, they recommended investing more heavily in technology research while pursuing more involvement at international standards bodies. “We need to accept that this is going to go on for the long term,” said David Finkelstein, director of the China and Indo-Pacific security affairs division at CNA, a nonprofit research group. “It's just not enough to [only] confront. We have to be positioned to compete.” The panel is preparing a report on U.S.-China competition to present to Congress in November. Kristine Lee, U.S.-China relations expert at the Center for a New American Security, said “there are a number of important elections coming up” for international bodies. The Commerce Department recently issued a rule to allow U.S. companies to more easily participate in standards setting bodies in which Huawei is a member (see 2006170031). Others advocated Wednesday for more technology investment, especially as China continues to pursue advancements in 5G and artificial intelligence. “Let's put some money into experimental, high-quality AI network-driven infrastructure,” said Barry Naughton, chair of Chinese international affairs at the University of California-San Diego. The White House didn't comment Thursday,

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is focused on sectors including semiconductors, monitoring Chinese firms that could try to evade recent stricter U.S. license restrictions on sales of chips and other technology to China and Huawei, trade lawyers said on a Crowell & Moring panel. Another expert called for a balanced U.S. approach to China, speaking on a podcast also released Tuesday. Adelicia Cliffe of Crowell & Moring said CFIUS is increasing scrutiny in an attempt to catch Chinese investors that “may take advantage of vulnerable companies that have been affected by the pandemic.” Cliffe expects “a lot of scrutiny, particularly in the technology sector, for smaller emerging companies that may be desperate for capital during this time.” CFIUS also is taking a closer look at transactions involving personal information and customer data sets, said Caroline Brown, also of the law firm. “But semiconductors, as we know, are front and center,” she said. “It'd be surprising if any deal involving a semiconductor target would not receive scrutiny on the basis of its critical technology.” Increasingly stringent CFIUS reviews and tight export controls against China are expected to continue regardless of the outcome of the upcoming presidential election, said Maria Alejandra del-Cerro, also of Crowell & Moring. “We've seen bipartisan support for export controls on new commercial technology to China. We've seen Democratic leaders just as active and questioning the Commerce Department's decision to issue certain export licenses … for Huawei,” she said. “That pressure on China would continue.” CFIUS didn't comment Wednesday. In Samm Sacks' work on Chinese issues, she keeps in mind that there's a paradox, she told the newly released Technology Policy Institute podcast. "How do we maintain the openness of the U.S. system" while "knowing that that openness has been exploited," asked New America Cybersecurity Policy and China Digital Economy Fellow Sacks. "Are we putting those guardrails in the right places? And I would argue that we probably aren’t right now, but we need them." She mentioned U.S. actions involving Huawei, chips and CFIUS investigating TikTok. TPI President Scott Wallsten called the latter company "a particularly fascinating case." The Chinese platform, which didn't comment now, "falls into all of these debates," noted Wallsten, the podcast's co-emcee. "On the other hand, it is providing direct competition to Facebook and Instagram and all of these companies that so many of the same people who are critical of China, those same people also worry about competition among big tech companies."

The FTC approved a proposed rule this week 4-1 to boost authority to impose penalties for “Made in USA” labeling violations and apply those rules to online advertising and marketing materials. The proposal would prohibit any Made in USA claims on products unless their "final assembly or processing" occurs in the U.S. It would stipulate all "significant processing that goes into the product" must happen domestically and that all its components must be produced in the U.S. The regulations would supersede state Made in USA laws, unless those rules are more stringent than the proposed federal standard. The FTC has never issued Made in USA regulations, instead directly enforcing provisions of the FTC Act that prohibit false labeling claims. Commissioner Noah Phillips' dissent said the move exceeds the agency's authority. Commissioner Rohit Chopra said he "would have preferred a broader prohibition on Made in USA fraud," but "the proposed rule strikes a reasonable compromise." Commissioner Christine Wilson said the "NPRM seeking comment does not prejudge the outcome of the process, which must observe the boundaries of our statutory authority."