A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel denied (in Pacer, 19-16066) a request for rehearing in a government mass surveillance case (see 2011020063). The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued NSA in 2008 over an alleged illegal dragnet program that EFF says AT&T and Verizon participated in. A federal district court ruled in the government’s favor, saying revealing classified information at issue would threaten national security by giving adversaries a road map for surveillance practices. The one-page order issued Tuesday by Judges Margaret McKeown, Ronald Gould and Carlos Bea said the full court was advised of the petition for rehearing and no judge requested a vote. The panel affirmed the district court’s decision in August, with EFF saying the court provided “little explanation.” The plaintiffs “failed to set forth sufficient evidence of standing,” the court said in August. Executive Director Cindy Cohn said EFF is disappointed the court isn't "willing to revisit the decision, especially in light of the two cases pending before the Supreme Court that could be critical to how both the State Secrets Privilege and [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] are interpreted. The Courts cannot and should not remove themselves from cases where the privacy of millions of Americans are at stake."

The Bureau of Industry and Security approved $100 billion-plus worth of export licenses for shipments to Huawei and top Chinese chipmaker SMIC Nov. 9 through April 20, per documents released Thursday by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. BIS said it approved 113 licenses for Huawei -- about 70% of applications received -- for more than $61 billion worth of goods. The agency greenlit 188 licenses for SMIC -- about 90% -- for more than $41 billion. BIS denied two applications for Huawei and returned 48 without action during that period. It denied one for SMIC and returned 17. The companies are on the BIS parent agency's Commerce Department entity list.

Intel expects its plans to build new chip plants will “benefit from investments from governments" that understand that a "healthy semiconductor industry is vital to their economic well-being and national security,” said CEO Pat Gelsinger on a Q3 call Thursday. With bipartisan support, “we’re hopeful the Chips Act will be passed by the end of this year, allowing us to accelerate decisions for our next U.S. site,” he said. This will “enable a more level playing field with our competitors who enjoy significant support from their governments,” said Gelsinger. “We've also seen considerable interest in the EU with the European Chips Act, and the process to select our next site in Europe is proceeding rapidly. Intel remains the only global company committed to building a leading-edge foundry in the U.S. and Europe for customers around the world.” Demand for semiconductors remains strong, and Intel factories performed “exceptionally well” in Q3, despite “a highly dynamic environment,” said Gelsinger. “Overall industry supply remained very constrained.” The “digitization of everything” is driving “the sustained need for more semiconductors, and the market is expected to double to $1 trillion by 2030,” said Gelsinger. The company forecasts 51% to 53% in gross profit margins over the next two to three years “before moving upward,” said Chief Financial Officer George Davis, vs. 57% expected this year. The stock closed 11.7% lower Friday at $49.46.

The DOJ Civil Division's Consumer Protection Branch and the FBI met with India's Central Bureau of Investigation last week to discuss "international robocalls and communications," the department said Thursday. Officials discussed efforts to curb "emerging crime trends, including fighting rising telemarketing fraud."

Government subsidies have nurtured tech growth, a Semiconductor Industry Association webinar heard Thursday. Speakers agreed lack of high-skilled U.S. talent tamps down growth, even if Congress ultimately funds the Chips Act (HR-1390). MediaTek USA “is in a race to hire” to boost U.S. semiconductor growth, but the “talent pool we have to draw from is not as big and as large as we’d like,” said James Chen, associate vice president-product marketing. Chips are “pervasive in everything you do,” said Mike Hogan, GlobalFoundries senior vice president-general manager, automotive, industrial and multi-market. They are “really the new oil in the economy,” he said. The U.S. industry is “investing a lot” in R&D, and funding the Chips Act “is not a handout," he said: “This is reinforcing an industry that was born in the U.S., that can become prominent and world-leading in the U.S. again.” Hogan arrived at Texas Instruments around when Morris Chang left to start Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in 1985, he said. TSMC is now the world’s largest chip foundry, but Chang wouldn’t have “gotten it off the ground” had the Taiwanese government “not sponsored that initiative,” Hogan said. Public policy “plays a really critical role” in nurturing growth in the U.S. semiconductor industry, said Susie Armstrong, Qualcomm senior vice president-engineering. “It’s not the case that you have a bunch of rich U.S. or Taiwanese companies” looking for congressional handouts, she said: Qualcomm typifies most U.S. chip companies that rechannel a quarter-plus revenue and profit into R&D.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will issue new export controls on certain cybersecurity items and create a new license exception for those exports, said an interim final rule Wednesday. It will establish more restrictions on items that can be used for “malicious cyber activities” by imposing a license requirement for shipments to certain countries, said BIS, part of the Commerce Department. The changes, effective Jan. 19, will align U.S. cybersecurity restrictions with controls previously agreed to at the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement. BIS seeks comment on the changes by Dec. 6, says Thursday's Federal Register.

Rethink proposed rules for secure telecom gear in U.S. networks (see 2106180039), Huawei said in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 21-232. “While Huawei shares the Commission’s stated interest in ensuring secure and reliable communications networks, the record demonstrates that the proposed rules would be an unlawful and irrational way to address purposed risks associated with RF equipment,” the company said: “Proposed rules are fundamentally flawed in seeking to preclude and revoke RF equipment authorizations of selected companies without considering whether the equipment poses any interference or security risk.” The rules are also “overly burdensome and costly, would be ineffective at best, and violate obligations of World Trade Organization members and fundamental principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,” Huawei said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security plans a virtual forum 9 a.m. EDT Oct. 29 to gather recommendations on bolstering the resiliency of “critical supply chains” for the U.S. information and communications technology industry “that are at risk of disruption, strain, compromise, or elimination,” says Tuesday’s Federal Register. Requests to give oral statements at the forum are due Friday. Submissions to listen in are due Oct. 27. Information collected at the forum will help the Commerce and Homeland Security departments prepare their report to the White House by the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden’s Feb. 24 executive order on curing ICT supply chain disruptions. BIS also seeks comment by Nov. 4 on building more resiliency into ICT supply chains (see 2109170042).

Global smartphone shipments dropped 6% in Q3 as vendors struggled to meet demand amid a “chipset famine,” Canalys reported Friday. The smartphone industry is straining to maximize device production, while chipmakers bump prices to “disincentivize over-ordering," in an attempt to close the gap between demand and supply, said analyst Ben Stanton, saying shortages won’t ease until “well into 2022.” High global freight costs hiked device pricing at retail, Stanton said. Verizon dropped its $1,000 iPhone offer Thursday, scaling it back to a maximum $500 off, and AT&T’s website Friday showed the $1,000 deal expiring Oct. 14. New Street Research's Jonathan Chaplin wrote that the end of the $1,000 offers put the brakes on a “wireless industry selloff” around subsidies offered with the iPhone 13 launch. The moves may improve T-Mobile’s ability to take share in Q4, said the analyst: The carrier was offering up to $1,000 “on us” Friday via 30 monthly bill credits for customers choosing the Magenta Max plan and trading in an eligible device.

EU governments generally back the European Commission's proposed AI act, said EU Council telecom officials Thursday after a virtual debate on the legislation. Everyone agreed there must be a systematic, unified approach to AI in the single market based on fundamental rights, said Bostjan Koritnik, public administration minister for Slovenia, which holds the current EU presidency. Officials want a horizontal regulatory framework that covers use of AI in all sectors. The vast majority of ministers support the EC's risk-based approach but said many issues need further discussion, such as the scope of the measure, law enforcement aspects and definitions of key terms, the Council said. The debate raised two key questions, said EC Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton: The need for a unified approach that generates trust and the necessity of balancing innovation against citizens' confidence in using AI. EU rules will also have to apply to AI producers outside the EU, he said. Rules must be proportionate, limited to what's necessary, adaptable to emerging risks and respectful of values, and must stimulate investment, he said. Governments must ensure access to the data on which AI depends, Breton added. Discussions will continue in the Council's telecom working party, with a compromise proposal expected in November.