Fossil watches that depend on a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone for timekeeping are best classified as smartwatches based on the radio transceiver, said Customs and Border Protection in a newly posted April 30 ruling. Fossil lawyers asked CBP in October 2016 for a “binding ruling” on the classification of Fossil Q hybrid smartwatches under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, said the agency. CBP responded that the Fossil Q lacks mechanical or quartz watch movements and instead uses its Bluetooth connection to set the time. Before a Bluetooth connection is made, "the watch hands are completely inactive,” it said. “Not only are they unmoving, but they cannot be actuated or manually adjusted by the user." Once the watch is paired via Bluetooth to a mobile device, the time is automatically synchronized, CBP said. "From that point forward, the Fossil Q autonomously keeps the time of that zone throughout any interruptions to the connection with the mobile application," it said. "However, even following initial synchronization, the time cannot be adjusted manually by the user. Instead, any adjustments to the watch hands -- based, for example, on a change in time zone -- are orchestrated automatically by the mobile application." Friday, the company didn’t comment.

May retail sales at electronics and appliance stores increased 2.8 percent year over year, said the National Retail Federation Thursday. Online and other non-store sales rose 9.1 percent. “The economy is looking strong and households have a solid financial foundation,” it said. Tariffs on Chinese imports or a trade war with China (see 1806130087) “would certainly be negatives that would increase prices and reduce both consumer purchasing power and consumer confidence,” it said.

CTA expects CES Asia to draw 500 exhibitors, 44,000 attendees and 1,200 journalists, including 87 reporters from 33 countries, regions or territories outside China, during its three-day run ending Friday, said Executive Vice President Karen Chupka in a Wednesday media briefing. Exhibit space is 2.5 times larger than season one in 2015 and 24 percent larger than last year, she said. Exhibitors are looking to expand brands and forge new partnerships, she said, and among the latest tech trends represented are 5G, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality and vehicle technologies, among 20 product categories overall. New this year is a dedicated AI space with 35 exhibitors, including Alibaba AI Labs, Arm Accelerator and Baidu. VR and AR exhibit space is up 25 percent over 2017, with 24 exhibitors, and among the 30 companies demonstrating 5G technology are mobile, automotive, telecom and healthcare technology companies, said Chupka. The startup area features more than 100 entities from 15 countries, she said, and vehicle tech, including autonomous driving, has a major presence, including driverless vehicles.

Senate leaders agreed Monday to include language in a manager's amendment to the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5515) that would retroactively reimpose a Department of Commerce-imposed seven-year ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE that the department announced last week it planned to suspend in exchange for alternate concessions. Commerce said last week it reached a deal for ZTE to instead pay $1.4 billion, institute major leadership changes and let U.S. inspectors monitor compliance (see 1806070040). President Donald Trump's push to lift the ZTE ban got Capitol Hill criticism (see 1805140062). Attachment of the language from Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and others came just before Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross briefed GOP senators about the department's actions. Ross didn't attempt to dissuade senators from moving forward with the amendment and there's no indication Trump will veto HR-5515 if it moves out of Congress with the ZTE language intact, given the bill's overarching priorities, Cotton told reporters. “I and obviously every other senator believes the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for [ZTE's] behavior," Cotton said. “They’re a repeat bad actor that should be put out of business. For eight years, ZTE was able to run wild and be able to become the fourth-largest telecom company in the world.” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he intends to support the amendment, which “really is based out of concerns that China is using communications companies as a means to conduct espionage." Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said before the briefing he believes “there was enough support” for the amendment to move forward. But Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., later told reporters “we need more information from the intelligence community” before voting on the ZTE language. Floor consideration of HR-5515 was to continue Tuesday, after the Senate voted 91-4 Monday on a motion to proceed on debate on the legislation.

House Republicans went to bat for constituent tech companies trying to fend off Trade Act Section 301 tariffs of 25 percent on imports from China over intellectual property disputes. Seven GOP members from Texas want U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to heed “requests” of Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise to remove Chinese imports of hard disk drives and solid state drives, said a May 18 letter posted Friday in docket USTR-2018-0005. Ted Poe, Pete Sessions, Mac Thornberry, John Carter, Roger Williams, Lamar Smith and Bill Flores said the devices are “critical components, and major cost drivers” for the “cutting edge” servers and storage products Dell and HPE make in the U.S. Cree in the past decade invested $2.3 billion in R&D and capital expenditures in Durham, said Rep. George Holding, R-N.C., so tariffs on its LED imports from China would help non-U.S. rivals. The White House announced May 29 the USTR’s office will release its final tariffs list by Friday (see 1805290046).

NTIA is considering reversing its 2016 decision to transition coordination and management of the domain name system to the private sector, said a notice of inquiry this week (see 1806060036): “Should the IANA Stewardship Transition be unwound? If yes, why and how? If not, why not?” Comments for the inquiry are due July 2. NTIA Administrator David Redl and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in January expressed willingness to reverse the 2016 decision.

ICANN efforts to align its Whois database with the EU general data protection regulation continue, and the organization also revised relevant internal policies, President Göran Marby blogged Tuesday. On Whois, he noted "positive feedback" from European Commission officials on ICANN's "temporary specification" for compliance (see 1805140001). He thanked the new European Data Protection Board (EDPB, formerly the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party) for its "recognition of the work ICANN has undertaken with its stakeholders and contracted parties on GDPR as it applies to the WHOIS services," and said the internet body wants to develop a unified access model for continued access to all Whois data. "This includes identifying opportunities for ICANN, beyond its role as one of the 'controllers' with respect to WHOIS or its contractual enforcement role, to be acknowledged under the law as the coordinating authority of the WHOIS system." The EDPB, which met for the first time May 25, endorsed an earlier WP29 statement that said the GDPR doesn't allow national supervisory authorities or the EDPB "to create an 'enforcement moratorium' for individual data controllers." Data protection authorities may, however, take into account measures that have already been taken or are underway when determining the appropriate regulatory response, it said. ICANN was already told it must put in place a Whois model that enables legitimate uses by relevant stakeholders, such as law enforcement, of domain name owners' personal information, "without leading to an unlimited publication of those data," the EDPB said. Internally, ICANN has now revamped its online privacy policy, terms of service, cookies policy and new generic top-level domain program personal data privacy statement, and created a new notice of applicant privacy relating to data processed for employment applications, Marby wrote.

The U.K. signed off on either Comcast or Fox buying Sky, though the latter deal would come with a Sky News spinoff. U.K. Secretary of State-Digital, Culture, Media Matt Hancock said Tuesday Comcast/Sky "does not raise public interest concerns" and the government wouldn't intervene. He agreed with the Competition and Markets Authority that Fox/Sky likely wouldn't go against public interest on grounds of hewing to broadcasting standards but said CMA took "a clear and logical approach" when it said such a deal raises concerns about Sky News' editorial independence and about increased Murdoch Family Trust sway over public opinion and U.K. politics. He said the CMA proposal of Sky News being sold to Disney or another suitable buyer, with an agreement ensuring its funding for at least 10 years, "is likely to be the most proportionate and effective remedy for the public interest concerns." He said his staff will start talks with the parties to finalize details for an acceptable Sky News divestiture remedy. "I am optimistic that we can achieve this goal, not least given the willingness 21st Century Fox has shown in developing these credible proposals," he said, saying if the parties can't come to terms, blocking a Fox/Sky deal might be the only fallback. Comcast in April made a formal bid for Sky, while Fox had a pending bid (see 1804250026), and Sky subsequently said it favored the Comcast offer (see 1804260008). Sky Tuesday said its board members are "mindful of their fiduciary duties and remain focused on maximising value for Sky shareholders." Disney "welcome[d] today’s announcement from the Secretary of State and [is] ready to engage in any discussions requested by the Secretary of State.” Fox expects to reach a final decision with the U.K. Department for Culture, Media and Sport that clears the transaction.

A German domain name registrar isn't required to collect administrative and technical data for new registrations, a German court ruled Wednesday, rejecting an injunctive relief request from ICANN seeking to “preserve Whois” (see 1805280001). EPAG Domainservices opted to no longer collect registrants' administrative and technical contact information when selling new domain names because it would violate the EU general data protection regulation. ICANN noted the regional court “did not indicate in its ruling that collecting such data would be a violation of the GDPR.” ICANN General Counsel and Secretary John Jeffrey said the organization will look to continue “ongoing discussions with the European Commission, and WP29, to gain further clarification of the GDPR as it relates to the integrity of WHOIS services." A spokesperson for Tucows, which owns EPAG, pointed us to an earlier statement saying it will continue to allow “those with legitimate purposes, including law enforcement, intellectual property, and commercial litigation interests” to access domain registrant information.

New “trade taxes” will “increase consumer prices, decrease jobs and weaken the US economy,” tweeted CTA President Gary Shapiro Tuesday, hours after the White House announced it will go through with 25 percent tariffs on Chinese imports after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative releases its final tariffs list by June 15 (see 1805290046). CTA otherwise was silent on the Trump administration's decision to proceed with tariffs, while other tech groups denounced it. CTA "remains opposed" to the use of tariffs to address the "imbalance" in the U.S.-China trade relationship "because of the high likelihood of short- and long-term negative consequences to our own economy and to our member companies," it testified May 16 at a USTR hearing (see 1805160020).