Australia's new digital trade agreement with Singapore is the “most ambitious digital trade rules” Australia has ever negotiated, that government said. The deal includes provisions on e-commerce and is expected to make it “easier for [Australian] exporters to do business,” Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said: It will help Australian companies “reach more customers and further tap into the Singaporean market.” The pact will cut costs for Singapore companies exporting to Australia, Singapore said.

U.S. export controls on Chinese technology will increasingly affect post-secondary schools, the Hinrich Foundation reported. It said higher education, which struggles with insufficient government export control guidance, should prepare for increased controls on software and networks. “New measures will fundamentally change how universities enter into collaborative research partnerships, hire faculty and admit foreign students,” the foundation said Wednesday. Recommendations included “risk-management measures” to address the U.S.-China technology race. U.S. post-secondary institutions want clarity and education from their government on following existing intellectual property, export control, licensing and related technology rules and laws, said Association of American Colleges and Universities President Lynn Pasquerella in an interview Thursday. She said schools don't want more regulations, since they follow best practices and the export control regime affecting IP has been around for many years. Her stakeholders need to collaborate with counterparts from elsewhere, including China, so U.S. curbs on such activities are harmful, the association head said: "The impact of the current policies on higher education will have a negative effect in terms of research, in terms of equity and diversity. And I would hope this would be different with a different administration." Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidance under the Trump administration, though partly rolled back, would still prevent some collaboration online with international students, Pasquerella noted. She estimated some 1.1 million post-secondary students in the U.S. are from other countries, or 5.5% of the entire student population, generating $47 billion in tuition revenue. China's embassy in Washington and the White House didn't comment Thursday.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began an interagency review of a Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security pre-rule to pinpoint potential controls for foundational technologies. OIRA received the rule Monday. The rule faced months of delays (see 2007230044).

The Trump administration, without evidence, “stretched the concept of national security and abused its state power to bring down certain non-U.S. enterprises,” said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Tuesday. It was in reaction to President Donald Trump’s threats Monday to put TikTok out of business in the U.S. if it’s not sold to an American company by Sept. 15. The threats are “a blatant act of bullying,” which China “firmly opposes,” said the spokesperson. If Trump follows through, “then any country can take similar measures against any U.S. company on the grounds of national security,” he said: “The U.S. must not open Pandora's box, or it will suffer the consequences.” Trump told reporters Tuesday he had a “great conversation” with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (see 2008030027), in which he told Nadella that China can’t control such a large company for “security reasons.” He suggested Microsoft buy the entire company, not just 30%, because the brand is “hot.” U.S. Treasury deserves a “substantial" cut of the money exchanged in any deal because the federal government is allowing the negotiations to continue, said Trump. Banning TikTok would be unfair to users, the Open Markets Institute said in a statement Tuesday, but it supports the sale to a U.S.-owned company.

Trump administration threats to act against Chinese software companies run “counter” to World Trade Organization “principles of openness, fairness, transparency and non-discrimination,” said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Monday. “China firmly opposes that.” He urged the U.S. to “stop politicizing economic and trade issues" and practicing "discriminatory" policies "in the name of national security.” The “countless” Chinese software companies doing business in the U.S. are “feeding data directly” to China’s “national security apparatus,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News Sunday: President Donald Trump “will take action in the coming days with respect to a broad array of national security risks that are presented by software connected to the Chinese Communist Party.” TikTok is being eyed by the administration (see 2008030027).

The Rural Wireless Association supported its “hybrid” four-phase approach for 5G Fund, in which the first $1.5 billion would be paid out quickly to carriers with 500,000 or fewer subscribers receiving legacy support (see 2006260057), in a meeting with FCC Office of Economics and Analytics staff. The approach “could allow faster deployment of 5G in areas where no 5G exists or is likely to exist (absent support),” RWA said in a filing posted Friday in docket 20-32.

New EU restrictions against China for its actions in Hong Kong include export controls on “sensitive” equipment and technologies for end-use in Hong Kong. The EU said it will more strictly scrutinize and limit exports of “specific” equipment and technologies for use in Hong Kong. Restrictions will specifically apply to items suspected to be used for “internal repression, the interception of internal communications or cybersurveillance.” China called the restrictions a violation of international norms. “Since the EU claims to have interests and concerns in Hong Kong … it should work in this direction with practical actions, rather than unilaterally introducing some so-called countermeasures to affect Hong Kong's prosperity and stability,” a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday, according to an unofficial translation of a transcript of a news conference. The country's embassy in Washington didn't comment Thursday.

TikTok will disclose algorithms and content moderation policies in real-time, CEO Kevin Mayer blogged Wednesday. This is meant to “drive deeper conversations around algorithms, transparency, and content moderation, and to develop stricter rules of the road,” he wrote. He encouraged other tech companies to do the same: “All companies should disclose their algorithms, moderation policies, and data flows to regulators. We will not wait for regulation to come.”

Industry and some lawmakers applauded the U.S. loosening export restrictions on drones. The State Department's Friday announcement means it will no longer subject exports of certain unmanned aerial systems to a “strong presumption of denial,” instead imposing a case-by-case review policy on a “subset” of unmanned aircrafts that fly at speeds below 800 kph. The change “acknowledges the evolution” in unmanned aircraft technology, the Aerospace Industry Association said Monday. Northrop Grumman said the new export policy could benefit its “Fire Scout” helicopters, which are unmanned and autonomous. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, urged the administration to continue loosening export restrictions. Risch said “the permanent fix for this issue must be to treat unmanned aircraft the same as other aircraft for the purposes of export.” Committee ranking member Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., called the move “reckless,” saying it may lead to the U.S. exporting unmanned aircraft to human rights abusers. It's “another reckless move by an administration fixated with eliminating the international cooperation that has made the United States and other countries safer for decades,” he said. U.S. export policy for unmanned aircraft was in “dire need of modernization,” the White House said.

Africa needs a unified policy approach to its domain name market, speakers said Monday at an ICANN virtual forum on the African domain name system. Among other problems are widely divergent charges for domain names, ranging $3-$500 across the continent, said Moctar Yedaly, African Union Commission information society division head. The COVID-19 pandemic offers lessons for the African continent, said South Africa Central Registry CEO Lucky Masilela. In addition to harmonizing domain prices, the sector must address issues of trust and security, he said. Africa is a youthful continent, and younger people must be empowered to have their own internet identities, he said. Business barrier issues are hampering DNS markets, said Ghana Dot Com Chairman and former ICANN board member Nii Quaynor. The DNS is a public good that exists only because people are willing to use its identifiers, he said: The DNS community must manage it responsibly to ensure the internet is stable, inclusive and accessible globally. Governments should foster a friendly policy environment to allow trust, and refrain from getting into managing top-level domains, he said. As Africa migrates business to the local internet, governments must address governance through more bottom-up, multistakeholder processes, Quaynor said. They must lower business barriers through such things as a continental free trade area, and should commit to using their own country-code domains, he said. It's in every administration's best interest to safeguard the DNS, said South Africa Domain Name Authority Chairperson Palesa Legoze, whose organization manages the .za ccTLD. Countries' whose country-code top-level domains (ccTLD)s have few registrants should look at the pricing and quality of service offered, she said. Governments can fund ccTLD managers until they're viable and have the volume of domain name registrations needed, she said. Nigeria has over 200 million people and not many domain names, but it's working to correct that through offering flexible policies and pricing, encouraging the hosting of local content and creating good content, said Nigeria Internet Registration Association Executive Secretary Edith Udeagu. Foreign domain names are viewed as better than local, so her organization tries to encourage enterprises to use .ng names and websites rather than just social media platforms, and tries to spur websites that host local content, she said. Quaynor warned against nationalism. A business that serves a particular area will want a domain that shows that, but Africa-wide companies should choose, for example, .africa or .com. Legoze urged Africans to coalesce on DNS policies, to "come together and speak with one voice."