The "first standardized IP-based network-to-network interconnection with consensus across North American Service providers" was completed, the Association for Telecommunications Industry Solutions and SIP Forum said Tuesday. "This accomplishment enables a major objective identified in the United States National Broadband Plan, to ensure that all service connections between providers occur at the Internet Protocol (IP) level," the groups said. "It also helps the industry advance a major business objective of achieving the interconnection needed to reliably deliver a range of exciting new IP-based services."

Google needs to take a consistent position on the International Trade Commission’s role in IP rights enforcement, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May in a blog post Tuesday. Google had said in 2014 comments on the Align Technology-ClearCorrect patent case that ITC authority to prevent infringing imports doesn’t extend beyond physical goods. The ITC voted 5-1 that digital goods like the digital scans of dental appliances at issue in ClearCorrect’s case constitute “articles” that are within the commission’s purview under Section 337 of the 1930 Tariff Act. Align’s appeal of the ITC ruling is set for oral arguments Aug. 4 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Google and allies claimed during the 2011-2012 debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that online infringement “should be treated as an international trade issue,” May said. “For well over 80 years, the independent International Trade Commission (ITC) has been the venue by which U.S. rightsholders have obtained relief from unfair imports, such as those that violate intellectual property rights. Under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 -- which governs how the ITC investigates rightsholders' request for relief -- the agency already employs a transparent process that gives parties to the investigation, and third party interests, a chance to be heard,” Google and other SOPA opponents said in a fact sheet supporting the alternative Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act. “In light of these statements touting the efficacy of international trade remedies, and the fact that SOPA and the OPEN Act obviously were all about protecting digital data, not physical goods, it's hard to believe that Google is now arguing that the imported ‘articles’ over which the ITC possesses authority do not include digital content,” May said. Google didn’t immediately comment.

A major security breach may be beneficial to Hacking Team, said an ex-employee of the company, an Italian software provider used by governments to fight crime. Cybercriminals hacked into the company's system and posted its proprietary software on the Internet July 6, Hacking Team said in a statement last week. Monday, the former Hacking Team employee, Claudio Agosti, a self-described privacy activist, posted on Medium saying that the information exposed during the breach is more beneficial to the public than harmful to the company. Agosti, who now works at TacticalTech and co-founded the digital whistleblowing platform GlobaLeaks, said he wanted the public to focus on the most important fact gleaned from the breach: which digital weapons are being used and how they are being used. “Citizens, now aware, can pressure for proper regulation,” Agosti said. “Every state should ensure its citizens safety and not exploit technological weaknesses.” The "leak is not a weapon in the hands of criminals, because the only value of the weapon is secrecy,” Agosti said. “Hacking Team has invested high-paid expertise in finding ways to obscure their malware from antivirus software” and those investments are now “burned,” he said. Other software providers that use similar infection strategies are also “burned,” but Agosti said this is very good because many espionage attacks use the same strategy. Having this information publicly available increases awareness, Agosti said. “The only reasonable compromise is heavy regulation on when and where such powerful weapons can be used.” Hacking Team provided a “lawful surveillance system” to law enforcement for more than a decade that was critical to preventing and investigating crime and terrorism, CEO David Vincenzetti said in a statement Tuesday. “Because of the increasing encryption of data transmitted over mobile devices and the Internet, this work has never been more critical than it is today.” Due to the comprehensive and powerful surveillance capabilities of its software, the Hacking Team system was available only to government agencies, Vincenzetti said, and when circumstances changed, “we have ended relationships with clients such as Sudan, Ethiopia and Russia.” Vincenzetti said the hack was reported to Italian authorities who are investigating the breach along with authorities of other nations. Hacking Team is completely revising its system, Vincenzetti said.

American Tower completed a deal with Bharti Airtel to acquire about 4,700 communications sites in Nigeria, it said in a news release Wednesday.

Four individuals were arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, on charges they smuggled tens of thousands of counterfeit Apple and Sony products from China for sale in the U.S., the Justice Department said in a statement. Charged in a 31-page indictment with importing and trafficking illegal goods were Andreina Becerra, 30, a Venezuelan national; Roberto Volpe, 33, an Italian national; Jianhua Li, 40, a Chinese national; and Rosario La Marca, 52, an Italian national, DOJ said. They’re also accused of international money laundering to cover their tracks, DOJ said. The indictment estimates the defendants smuggled in more than 40,000 fake Apple and Sony goods between July 2009 and February 2014 that would have fetched more than $15 million in sales had they been the genuine articles. No information was available Thursday on whether the four defendants entered pleas, and attorneys for the four didn’t comment.

Broadcom signed memoranda of understanding with Chinese companies, including two for the development of Ultra HD equipment, it said in a news release. Its joint development agreement with Inspur Group, a systems integrator, is aimed at fashioning a new DOCSIS 3.0 Ultra HD set-top "that can power an entire digital home system,” Broadcom said Thursday. The goal of a separate pact with Beijing-based pay-TV operator StarTimes is to jointly define and develop set-top offerings for Africa, Broadcom said: “Both sides will invest engineering resources to develop a series of low-cost set-top boxes and high-end Ultra HD home gateways.”

General Cable said it agreed to sell its Asia Pacific operations -- made up of businesses in Australia, China, New Zealand and Thailand -- to MM Logistics for about $205 million in cash, according to a news release Friday. The sale is expected to close in Q3 and includes an estimated $30 million in preliminary net cash.

Mobilicity accepted a $440 million (Canadian) (US$354 million) takeover bid from Rogers Communications, Rogers said Wednesday in a news release. Mobilicity has been under creditor protection since April 2013. To win regulatory approval, Rogers said it plans to sell some of Mobilicty’s spectrum to Wind Mobile. Rogers also said it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Shaw's AWS-1 spectrum. Mobilicity, originally formed as Dave Wireless, emerged as a competitive carrier after buying spectrum in Canada’s AWS auction. “We're basically adding multiple lanes on our wireless highway in three key markets overnight," said Guy Laurence, CEO of Rogers. "This means faster speeds and better quality for our customers as they use more and more mobile video." Rogers said the deals will give it more spectrum in Alberta, British Columbia and southern Ontario. The Mobilicity deal is subject to various government approvals.

The use of a promotional model for demos doesn't constitute a "permissible use" under drawback rules permitting refunds of customs duties for unused goods, Customs and Border Protection ruled. CBP said in the just-released May 28 ruling, HQ H258306, that demos of Anritsu network testing devices before sale go beyond incidental usage and don't qualify as unused merchandise. Anritsu is a Japanese manufacturer of network test and measurement equipment for the telecom industry. The company's U.S. sales personnel generates interest in Anritsu products through the use of promotional models imported into America. The company lets potential customers test the models, either through letting the prospect take a device home or within a lab setting, said CBP.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative removed Paraguay from its 2015 Special 301 Watch List after the U.S. signed an intellectual property rights (IPR) agreement with the country Thursday, USTR said in a statement. The agency plans an out-of-cycle review of Paraguay in the near future, the statement said. USTR released its most recent edition of the Special 301 Report in late April (see 1505010009). Paraguay has "stepped up its efforts to strengthen IPR protection and enforcement" over the past 18 months, said USTR.