The Commerce Department doubled the number of foreign markets within its digital trade attache program, adding France, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea, said the department in a Monday news release. “These digital trade officers serve as dedicated resources for U.S. businesses as they seek to increase exports through global E-commerce channels and navigate digital policy and regulatory issues in foreign markets," said Secretary Penny Pritzker. Officers also will help with navigating digital policy and regulatory issues in the markets, the department said. The program had covered the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Brazil, China, the EU, India and Japan.

Google agreed with Cuba telecom provider ETECSA (Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba) to deploy the U.S. company's Global Cache service to speed YouTube videos and other high-bandwidth Google content viewed in the country, Google said in a Monday blog post. Cubans with internet access should have reduced latency for cached content, Google said. Engage Cuba, a coalition of companies and local leaders seeking to dismantle the Cuban embargo, sees the announcement as good for local startups. “The deal with Google will allow for increased activity and faster connections that will continue to benefit the Cuban people; in particular, the growing sector of Cuban entrepreneurs, or cuentapropistas, that relies heavily on access to internet to expand their private businesses,” said Engage Cuba President James Williams in a news release.

National Security Adviser Susan Rice pressed during a meeting Thursday with Chinese Minister for Public Security Guo Shengkun for China to fully adhere to the anti-cybertheft agreement that President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached in 2015 (see 1509250059), the National Security Council said. Rice also told Guo that U.S. officials are concerned “about the potential impacts” of a newly enacted Chinese cybersecurity law that includes data localization rules, NSC said. Opponents claim the law has the potential to bar foreign-based tech firms from industries that China deems “critical” and could increase China’s online censorship. During an official joint dialogue a day earlier, Guo and Attorney General Loretta Lynch acknowledged continued progress on China-U.S. cybersecurity cooperation.

One country’s rules on web search delisting shouldn't affect the listings of the entire world, said Google Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer in a blog post Friday. Google honors European individuals’ requests to delist URLs about themselves under EU “right-to-be-forgotten” rules, but hides the link only when the searcher is from the same country as the delister, Fleischer said. Google opposes an order by the French Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés to delist French users from everyone’s search results globally, he said. “We agree with the CNIL that privacy is a fundamental right -- but so too is the right to free expression,” Fleischer wrote. “Any balance that is struck between those two rights must be accompanied by territorial limits, consistent with the basic principles of international law. Aside from anything else, it’s plain common sense that one country should not have the right to impose its rules on the citizens of another, especially not when it comes to lawful content.”

Twenty-First Century Fox -- in talks with Sky about a takeover -- has a Jan. 6 deadline for announcing whether it will make an offer, the company said in a news release Friday. It said it reached agreement in principle to buy the 60.9 percent of the U.K. pay-TV company that it doesn't own, but certain offer terms still are under discussion. Sky said it formed an independent committee of board members to consider the terms of a 21st Century Fox proposal. Twenty-First Century Fox said the deadline can be extended. Several years ago, 21st Century Fox, then called News Corp., tried unsuccessfully to buy Sky, then known as BSkyB. The deal was tabled in 2011 amid concerns about phone hacking by News Corp. newspapers (see 107140093).

NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling urged Internet Governance Forum participants Wednesday to “build” on the experience of advancing the multistakeholder governance model exhibited in the recently completed Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition “and find opportunities to apply the model to those issues where it has the best chance to succeed.” The IGF is meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, through Friday. There's “work to do to demonstrate to stakeholders everywhere, but especially in developing countries, how they can utilize this tool to solve technical policy challenges better than top-down regulatory approaches offered by governmental organizations like the ITU,” Strickling said in prepared remarks. The multistakeholder process “does not guarantee that everyone will be satisfied with the outcome,” Strickling said. “But it is critical to preserving this model of Internet governance that all parties respect and work through the process and accept the outcome once a decision is reached. It is clear that we have more work to do on this front.” Even ICANN during the planning for the IANA oversight spinoff was “not immune to detractors who attempt to undermine the process after an outcome has been achieved,” Strickling said. “After the community completed the IANA transition plan, there were those who tried unsuccessfully to delay or block the transition at the eleventh hour. Of course, there will always be those who are not happy with the outcome. But if you believe in the process, you must respect the process by bringing your concerns or ideas forward before stakeholders come to a consensus decision -- not after.”

ICANN officials and community members will participate in the Internet Governance Forum meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, the organization said Tuesday. The IGF meeting, to run Dec. 6-9, is one of several future internet governance meetings seen as potential flash points on internet governance issues (see 1610030042). The Guadalajara meeting will include discussions about “the significant enhancements needed in information and communications technologies (e.g., new devices, systems, online information) for countries to meet the targets for the Sustainable Development Goals that the U.N. agreed to last year,” said ICANN Vice President-Stakeholder Engagement for Latin America and the Caribbean Rodrigo de la Parra and Vice President-Intergovernmental Organizations Engagement Nigel Hickson in a blog post. “These discussions will guide actions by national governments, regional and global agencies, and stakeholder groups. The IGF will also discuss pertinent Internet public policy issues such as cybersecurity and data privacy.” ICANN views the IGF meeting as a “venue introducing participants to [the organization’s] role in the Internet landscape,” the officials said. “We'll be able to reach members of the global community who don't attend our meetings. We're particularly looking to attract new stakeholders from civil society, academia and business.” ICANN members will host panels on the new generic top-level domain application process and on how the organization will operate after the now-completed Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, ICANN officials said.

The European Commission's proposal to implement cross-border levies on VOD services could lead to fragmentation of the digital single market, the Computer & Communications Industry Association said in a report. The VOD cross-border levies provision is part of the EC's larger proposal to revamp European audiovisual rules. CCIA raised concerns earlier this year about the prospect that the EC would propose VOD levies (see 1605240018). The Commission has framed the VOD rules as necessary to create a “level playing field,” but instead tilts the field against VOD services and would have other unintended consequences, CCIA said. “This proposal abandons key principles which have underpinned the success of the Digital Single Market,” said Perspective Associates Managing Director Tim Suter, one of the report's co-authors, in a news release. “A deeply flawed process has led to a deeply flawed conclusion.” The EC “is applying cross-border levies only to VOD services, while leaving broadcasters with the advantages of free spectrum, prominence, must-carry and so on,” said Communications Chambers co-founder Rob Kenny. “This isn’t level -- it’s the North Face of the Eiger.”

The stance that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes on internet governance issues “at least internationally is going to be tied very closely” with Trump’s overall foreign policy agenda, said Internet Society Vice President-Global Policy Development Sally Wentworth during a Freedom House event Monday. Freedom House released its annual assessment of internet freedom, which examined the period between June 2015 and May. The report highlighted what the group viewed as governments’ increasing restrictions on the use of social media platforms during periods of civil unrest. Trump’s foreign policy agenda will converge with his stance on internet governance particularly when he approaches negotiations within the U.N., “where we’re seeing a significant rise is member state negotiations over things like cybersecurity and cyberterrorism,” Wentworth said. Trump’s tech agenda generally has been unclear, but on cybersecurity and other tech issues where his goals are at least somewhat clear, his agenda is “perhaps a bit concerning,” Wentworth said.

Google Thursday rebuffed European Commission concerns that the company's Android operating system is hurting competition by skirting antitrust rules and imposing restrictions on device makers and mobile network operators (see 1604200001). In response to the EC's April statement of objections, General Counsel Kent Walker said in a blog post that the free and open source Android expanded competition. He wrote that Android competes with Apple iOS, and Google and hardware makers established a "minimum level of compatibility" for Android devices to minimize fragmentation. "We give phone makers wide latitude to build devices that go above that baseline, which is why you see such a varied universe of Android devices," he wrote. He added that Google's apps account for less than one-third of preloaded apps, which consumers "can swipe away." Hardware makers and carriers can install rival apps. Walker said Google provides free distribution of some products like Google Search and Google Play rather than charge upfront licensing fees. Thomas Vinje, counsel to FairSearch, a group representing Google's competitors, said in a statement that the company is "abusing its dominance to prevent competition and innovation." He said the EC "must pursue its case to a conclusion, and require Google to change its behavior, so consumers can benefit from the resulting innovation emerging from a competitive marketplace for search, browsers, and everything else on a smart phone." Computer & Communications Industry Association Europe Director Jakob Kucharczyk said in a statement that Android has been "fundamentally important" to the development of Europe's mobile economy "spurring competition, innovation and consumer choice." He restated many of Walker's points and added that they are "elements of a highly competitive and balanced environment.”