With no regulatory problems regarding Fox's proposed buy of Sky, "it is now a matter for the Sky shareholders to decide whether to accept [Fox's] bid," U.K. Secretary of State-Digital, Culture, Media Jeremy Wright said Thursday, approving the deal a day after Comcast made a new offer for Sky. Wright said he agrees with the previous culture secretary of state, whom he replaced this week, that the deal doesn't raise public interest concerns (see 1806050003). Comcast Wednesday said it increased its cash offer to 14.75 British pounds ($19.48) per share, topping the 14 pounds offer Fox made earlier this week (see 1807110031). Comcast said Sky's independent committee was recommending its bid and Sky is "an outstanding company and a great fit." It said it already received regulatory approvals for a Sky deal from the EU, Austria, Germany, Italy and Jersey, and it expects to close on Sky by October. Fox didn't comment Thursday. Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and three other senators urged the DOJ Antitrust Division Wednesday to review Comcast's bid for much of Fox (see 1807120049).

ZTE signed an agreement with the Department of Commerce that will mean the department's seven-year ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to the Chinese company can end as soon as ZTE deposits $400 million in escrow to cover future violations of U.S. sanctions, the agency said Wednesday. The payment was in a deal last month to impose alternative conditions to replace the ban, which Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security originally announced in April (see 1804170018). Commerce will suspend the ban during a 10-year “probationary period” in exchange for the company's agreement to pay $1.4 billion and other concessions. BIS can reactivate the ban if ZTE again violates sanctions during its probation. “Once the monitor is selected and brought on board, the three-pronged compliance regime ... will be in place,” the department said in a statement. “The ZTE settlement represents the toughest penalty and strictest compliance regime the Department has ever imposed in such a case.” Commerce's advancement of the deal came as Congress begins reconciling the House and Senate-passed versions of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5515), which contain differing anti-ZTE provisions (see 1806190051). Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., criticized moving forward with the deal. It's “a direct betrayal of President [Donald] Trump’s promise to be tough on China and protect American workers,” Schumer said: Trump "gave away the store to China for nothing, so now it’s entirely up to Congress to right the administration’s wrong. I hope my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate will do the right thing and maintain the Senate’s strong language in [HR-5515] that reverses the administration’s awful ZTE deal.” Warner called it a “sweetheart deal” that “not only ignores these serious issues, it lets ZTE off the hook for evading sanctions against Iran and North Korea with a slap on the wrist.”

CTA, the Semiconductor Industry Association and others asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to appear at a July 24 hearing to oppose 25 percent Trade Action Section 301 tariffs on more Chinese-sourced products related to alleged IP practices (see 1806150030), docket USTR-2018-0018 shows. CTA members identified 22 Harmonized Tariffs Schedule codes on the new tariffs list covering $6.6 billion worth of products they imported from China in 2017, said Sage Chandler, vice president-international trade. Chinese companies “export almost no semiconductors to the U.S. market,” said David Isaacs, SIA vice president-government affairs. Most U.S.semiconductor imports from China "are semiconductors designed and manufactured in the United States, and then shipped to China for the final stage of semiconductor fabrication,” accounting for 10-15 percent “of the value of the final product,” he said. Written comments are due July 23, post-hearing rebuttal comments July 31.

In response to the EU's "burdensome" general data protection regulation and California's precedent-setting privacy law, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is developing federal legislation to avoid “a nightmare” patchwork of rules, wrote Chamber CEO Thomas Donohue Monday. “In today’s interconnected world, data know no boundaries and require a federal framework,” said Donohue. Federal policy should “encourage cross-border data flows over data localization, which does little to protect privacy while making data more vulnerable and discouraging foreign investment,” he argued. Policymakers also should favor “long-term growth over short-term gains that may be achieved by limiting data flows and other practices that undermine competition,” he said.

NTIA said the FCC should reject a 2011 application by China Mobile for a Communications Act Section 214 license to offer telecom services within the U.S. The FCC requested executive branch views, NTIA said. “After significant engagement with China Mobile, concerns about increased risks to U.S. law enforcement and national security interests were unable to be resolved,” said NTIA Administrator David Redl. “The Executive Branch … recommends that the FCC deny China Mobile’s Section 214 license request.” NTIA posted a filing with parts redacted. China Mobile seeks authorization to carry voice traffic between the U.S. and a customer overseas, but doesn’t plan to offer U.S. wireless or wireline service, the filing said. The FCC "will be reviewing the filing, consistent with our rules and policies," a spokesperson said. China Mobile didn't comment.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced the Cyber Diplomacy Act to the floor Tuesday. HR-3776, which passed the House in January, would promote U.S. international cyberspace policy, establishing a cyberspace ambassador to lead the State Department’s cyber diplomacy agenda.

Vote for a bill from Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., that would amend a 1962 law to constrain President Donald Trump’s ability to impose Trade Expansion Act Section 232 tariffs, more than 60 national business groups and more than 200 local chambers of commerce and similar organizations urged the Senate in a Tuesday letter. Though the president should retain the authority to impose tariffs on national security grounds, “the current circumstances highlight the need for Congress to ensure that the authority will be used, as intended by the Congress, in the overall national interest," it said. Among signers were the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Internet Association and National Retail Federation. S-3013 "is designed to accomplish this limited objective. The President will retain the power to impose tariffs to protect the national security subject only to confirmation by the Congress that the power is being properly used," the letter said. CTA didn’t comment on why it didn’t sign.

China and India may lag the West in technical space capabilities, particularly in areas like satellite power-to-mass ratios and payload characteristics, but are quickly catching up, and both nations are likely to intensify their focuses on space in the future as routes to economic growth and strategic influence, Northern Sky Research analyst Carolyn Belle blogged Sunday. The increased capabilities will mean increased competition for the satellite market value chain, including manufacturing, launch, satellite operations, analytics and end-user services, she said. Both countries have been dominated by state-owned and -operated players, but support for private-sector activities is growing, she said.

A German court will revisit its ruling in ICANN's case against domain registrar EPAG, ICANN blogged. The injunctive action, filed in May in the Regional Court in Bonn, asked for "assistance in interpreting" the EU general data protection regulation after EPAG said it will no longer collect registrants' administrative and technical contact information when it sells new domain names, for fear of violating the regulation (see 1805280001). The court ruled against ICANN (see 1805310014), which then appealed for an order requiring EPAG to reinstate collection of the data. The regional court had the option of re-evaluating or reaffirming its decision and chose the former to seek comment from EPAG, ICANN said Thursday. It's "pursuing this matter as part of its public interest role in coordinating a decentralized global WHOIS for the generic top-level domain [gTLD] system," ICANN said. Separately, the International Trademark Association said Tuesday it will continue to push for full access to Whois information. ICANN's "temporary specification" for gTLD registration, approved May 17 (see 1805140001), "seriously limits the amount of publicly available information and only provides an anonymous email address or web form from which an email could be forwarded rather than a live contact," INTA said. While the organization recognizes the importance of personal privacy, trademark owners need continued access to all Whois data to protect consumers online, said INTA Senior Director-Internet Policy Lori Schulman.

ICANN is seeking input on a draft framework for continued access to full Whois data (see 1805180055), President Göran Marby blogged. He noted European data protection authorities told ICANN it must develop, in accordance with the general data protection regulation, a system that allows legitimate uses by stakeholders such as law enforcement of the full personal data of domain name registrants but that doesn't grant unlimited access. The framework asks questions to shape discussion of how the model might work, such as how and which users with a legitimate purpose can access the non-public data, he said Monday. ICANN wants to start by talking with governments in the European economic area that are also members of the Governmental Advisory Committee, he said. Questions for discussion with officials include how law enforcement, individual Whois users and other private third parties might be authenticated to access the nonpublic registration data. ICANN also intends to discuss the framework with the European Data Protection Board, Marby said. He urged stakeholders to comment at gdpr@icann.org, and said the topic is on the agenda at the ICANN June 25-28 meeting in Panama.