FuboTV subscribers can stream South American Qatar World Cup 2022 qualifying matches beginning Thursday. The virtual MVPD has integrated FanView so users can monitor stats and scores. FuboTV CEO David Gandler said Monday it’s the first time a company has “integrated live streaming television, free games and live stats within the same platform, on the big screen.”

Verizon will waive charges through Sept. 6 for calls to Afghanistan from consumer and business wireless customers, plus residential landline customers. Customers with international coverage plans can call the country without using any minutes from their time-allotment blocks, the provider said Tuesday. “During this time of need, customers need to stay connected with loved ones in Afghanistan,” said Ronan Dunne, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group.

Comments are due Sept. 7, replies Sept. 22 in FCC docket 21-321 on Univision's request for a foreign ownership declaratory ruling, said a Media Bureau public notice Friday. Univision seeks OK to be more than 25% foreign-owned to let its investors SoftBank and Liberty Global own voting interests above 5% (see 2107210046).

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security launched a task force Thursday to collaborate with government agencies and the private sector on cyber defense. CISA’s Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative will “integrate unique cyber capabilities” across agencies and companies. It will design U.S. cyber defense plans, implement coordinated defense efforts and support “joint exercises to improve cyber defense operations.”

The U.S. needs to do more to protect against Chinese theft of American data, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said at a hearing Wednesday. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pushed for support for his Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act (see 2104210053), which aims to end a legal loophole that allows data brokers to sell Americans’ personal information to law enforcement and intelligence agencies without Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court oversight. It would end the bulk sale of data to foreign entities, Wyden said. FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson recently endorsed the legislation. Evanina Group CEO Bill Evanina, an ex-director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, told the committee it’s unnecessary for China to buy the data because it can be taken for free due to the lack of cybersecurity defenses. He cited Equifax and other data breaches. Warner expressed frustration that U.S. companies are “giving up” on American values to gain access to Chinese markets, allowing the Chinese government to collect sensitive information about Americans. Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., agreed China is using American “corporate lust” against the U.S.

Amazon threw its weight into Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade, alleging in a complaint Monday that the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs are unlawful under the 1974 Trade Act. It said they violate Administrative Procedure Act rules against sloppy rulemakings and are unconstitutional because only Congress, not the executive branch, can levy taxes. Amazon reported 2020 revenue of $386.1 billion and is believed now to be the second largest Section 301 plaintiff behind Walmart, which sued March 8. Walmart reported $559.2 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31. Both companies are the relatively few among the roughly 6,500 importer plaintiffs to challenge the tariffs on constitutional grounds. Crowell & Moring is representing Amazon. Walmart’s attorneys are from Hogan Lovells. Both law firms sit on the 15-member plaintiffs’ steering committee formed in March to help manage the litigation.

The International Space Station will host a demo of SpaceLink's high-capacity communications network between space and the ground, the company said Monday. It said this will validate use of a 10 Gbps optical terminal for voice, video and data exchange among ISS crew, onboard systems, experiments and terrestrial users. SpaceLink CEO David Bettinger said the demo's funding by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, which manages the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, "marks an important milestone in SpaceLink’s roadmap to providing massive bandwidth for organizations that need real-time connectivity between space and the ground.”

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is “very busy” working to implement semiconductor supply chain recommendations from the White House in June stemming from President Joe Biden’s Feb. 24 executive order on the chips shortage and other supply-chain issues, said Sahar Hafeez, a senior BIS adviser. The agency is studying closer federal collaboration with industry on semiconductor demand and supply and is reviewing how export controls and investment restrictions might exacerbate supply-chain problems, Hafeez told an Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday. Perhaps the most immediate priority for Commerce is pushing Congress to pass and fund the Chips Act, she said. The bill, which would provide funding and incentives for U.S. semiconductor R&D and manufacturing, has been funded by the Senate but hasn't been approved in the House (see 2107220005). “We're laser focused on the House, and we encourage you all to help us get that across the finish line,” Hafeez told the ISTAC. She said Commerce is “cautiously optimistic” the House will approve funding. Though the global chip shortage has persisted for months, it still remains unclear to BIS which chips are most severely affected, Hafeez said. She said “mature node chips” are being “severely impacted,” but the shortage is affecting newer nodes as well, she said: “We've been trying to get more clarity. I don't know if it exists, That's an issue that we're grappling with -- the lack of transparency.”

President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum Wednesday directing the Department of Homeland Security and National Institute of Standards and Technology to “develop cybersecurity performance goals for critical infrastructure.” DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will work with NIST and other agencies. Those standards will help companies providing services for utilities to strengthen cybersecurity, the White House said. The NSM established the President’s Industrial Control System Cybersecurity (ICS) Initiative, a voluntary program between government and industry “to facilitate the deployment of technology and systems that provide threat visibility, indicators, detections, and warnings.” CISA issued an advisory Wednesday with the Australian Cyber Security Centre, U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre and the FBI. It listed “top Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) routinely exploited by cyber actors in 2020 and those vulnerabilities being widely exploited thus far in 2021.” Four of the “most targeted vulnerabilities in 2020 involved remote work, VPNs, or cloud-based technologies,” CISA said. Federal agencies need to “strengthen efforts to address high-risk areas” in cybersecurity and information technology, GAO said Wednesday. The auditor noted agencies implemented about 73% of about 5,100 recommendations on cyber and IT since 2010: About 950 cybersecurity and approximately 300 IT recommendations remain.

MediaTek’s mobile phone business was 57% of Q2 revenue and grew 143% year over year mainly through increasing adoption of its 5G high-end SoCs “among our customer base,” said CEO Rick Tsai on a quarterly call Tuesday. The first high-end smartphone model built on MediaTek’s 5G “open resource architecture” is shipping, said Tsai: “More models for multiple customers will come in the next few months.” MediaTek is standing by projections that 5G smartphone shipments will exceed 500 million units globally this year, more than double the 2020 volume, he said: “We expect the 5G migration to accelerate and penetrate into more regions next year.” Also Tuesday, Corning CEO Wendell Weeks said 5G subscriptions are nearly 300 million, “on track to double that by the end of 2021” (see separate report in this issue).