The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's annual report on "notorious" world markets for counterfeit and pirated goods included for the first time a section exposing the growing role of e-commerce platforms in the import of such goods into the U.S. “The greatest risk of importation of counterfeit and pirated goods, harming both U.S. content creators and U.S. consumers, is posed not by foreign flea markets and dark web sites but by inadequate policies and inadequate action by e-commerce companies that market and sell foreign products to American consumers,” said USTR Thursday. “Combating piracy and counterfeits will require sustained effort by both the federal government and by companies that profit from the sale of such goods.” USTR removed Amazon's Canada and India affiliates from the notorious markets list this year, retained the British, German and French sites, and added Amazon's Italian and Spanish sites. The report praised Amazon for partnering with the federal government's National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center on a joint operation to prevent the import of counterfeit goods into the U.S. When Amazon was first identified as a notorious market, it said the listing was politically motivated. Amazon didn't respond to questions Friday. Online sellers of pirated and counterfeit goods are shifting increasingly to social media to carry out their crimes, said USTR.

It’s a “little-known fact” that Shark Tank adapted the “bubble” strategy the NBA used to finish its 2019-20 playoffs in Orlando to safely shoot episodes for the current season of the ABC series during the pandemic, Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank cast member Mark Cuban told CTA President Gary Shapiro in a prerecorded CES 2021 Q&A. Shark Tank cast and crew “took over” the Venetian in Las Vegas with two protective "pods" in August and September lasting about 10 days each, said Cuban. “It was very strict filming,” he said. Cast members were socially distanced on the set and barred from giving winning contestants their congratulatory hugs, he said. “We went through that entire period" without any positive COVID-19 test results, he said. It helped set a “precedent for shooting shows in Hollywood,” he said. “People want their shows, whether it’s streamed or traditional television. They want to be entertained, particularly now.” Despite the “lull” in production due to the pandemic, “we were able to set a standard” for the safe return of cast and crew to production sets, “even where cases were growing,” he said. “It also helped hundreds of staff and production people keep their jobs.”

Sonos announced new artist channels and genre stations for Sonos Radio and Sonos Radio HD Wednesday. It’s adding stations from D’Angelo, FKA twigs, Bjork and The Chemical Brothers, including select songs and commentary, and new radio shows from Dolly Parton, Brittany Howard, Thom Yorke and Third Man Records. The Sonos Sound System station will launch new shows, including a podcast about music that’s shaping culture, it said. The first artist station to launch, D’Angelo’s Feverish Fantazmagoria, began streaming Wednesday, with others scheduled to come online over the next few weeks. Sonos Radio is included with Sonos subscriptions globally, preloaded in the Sonos app. Sonos Radio HD offers original content that streams ad-free in CD-quality audio, with skip and repeat capability, for $7.99 per month in the U.S. and U.K.

ViacomCBS and Sinclair signed a multiyear affiliation agreement covering 13 Sinclair stations, including WKRC-TV Cincinnati; WPEC West Palm Beach, Florida; WWMT Kalamazoo, Michigan; and WHP-TV Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ViacomCBS said Wednesday. It said Sinclair’s CBS affiliates will stay locally available to subscribers of the CBS All Access streaming service.

Google temporarily suspended all political advertisements, including those referencing impeachment, inauguration or the Capitol protests, the company said Wednesday, citing the deadly riot at the Capitol (see 2101130074). “We regularly pause ads over unpredictable, ‘sensitive’ events when ads can be used to exploit the event or amplify misleading information,” a spokesperson emailed. “Beyond this, we have long-standing policies blocking content that incites violence or promotes hate and we will be extremely vigilant about enforcing on any ads that cross this line.” This includes ads for Google Ads, DV360, YouTube and AdX Authorized Buyer, the platform wrote advertisers.

Gray Television's good-faith retransmission consent negotiations complaint about supposed sham talks by Frontier Communications (see 2012230005) ignores the three offers Frontier submitted and that the MVPD opted not to agree to the financial terms Gray wanted, said the telco-MVPD in an FCC docket 20-441 answer Tuesday. It said Gray is wrong in its conclusion that its stations were removed from the Frontier online channel guides weeks before the agreement was due to expire. The broadcaster didn't comment.

Anti-counterfeiting is a key part of HDMI Licensing Administrator's efforts to ensure licensed and compliant products, CEO Rob Tobias said in an interview Friday. Consumers can scan a QR code and holographic image on packaging to determine if a product at retail is legitimate, he said. The organization works with international law enforcement and customs officials to do factory raids, product seizures and takedowns of counterfeit product listings on e-commerce and social media sites, Tobias said. The HDMI Forum released HDMI 2.1 last year, and products are widely available that support the latest HDMI spec features, including 4K, 8K and dynamic HDR.

Deluxe acquired Sundog Media Toolkit, said the digital content production company Thursday. U.K.-based Sundog markets an automated, cloud-based platform that creates specialized multi-format, multi-language files for theatrical distribution and streaming platforms.

Gracenote introduced live sports widgets to help smart TV and car manufacturers enable dynamic sports experiences, it said Wednesday. A smart TV maker can present previews of upcoming games featuring a viewer’s favorite teams followed by updates during game play, it said. Notifications can be created to direct viewers to a game broadcast or stream on a preferred service, said the Nielsen company. A connected car can display scores optimized for viewing easily on vehicle infotainment screens, it said. At launch, sports widgets will cover major North American sports leagues and international football leagues.

LG Electronics is buying a majority interest in TV data and measurement specialist Alphonso, said LG Wednesday. It plans to use Alphonso software and services within its “broad range” of home entertainment products, especially smart TVs. LG is making the investment through its U.S.-based Zenith technology, and Alphonso will continue to operate as an independent business under its current brand and leadership.