Denny Law, CEO of Golden West Telecommunications and president of SDN Communications board, is retiring from both positions, effective May 9 … Communications infrastructure investor and provider Uniti Group names John Harrobin, ex-Frontier Communications, as Kinetic president, effective following the close of Uniti’s merger with Windstream Holdings, expected in the second half of 2025 … Logix Fiber Networks promotes Jim Hintze to chief revenue officer, a new position.
SpaceX's Starlink might try to provide unfettered internet access in Iran under the General License D-2 issued Friday by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, company CEO Elon Musk indicated. The updated U.S. sanctions guidance opens the door to technology companies offering Iranians more options for secure, private, outside platforms and services in response to the Iranian regime's violent crackdown of protests there, per the State Department. "Activating Starlink ...," Musk tweeted in response. In a media briefing, a Treasury official said Starlink's commercial-grade service and Starlink hardware wouldn't be covered in the general license, and would need agency approval, but it "welcomes and we will prioritize applications for specific licenses to authorize activities supporting internet freedom in Iran."
A recent increase in U.S. sanctions against ransomware actors helped to slow the effectiveness of cyberattackers and limit their profits, witnesses told the Senate Homeland Security Committee Tuesday. But the U.S. can do more to counter ransomware activity, they said, including working closer with allies to track ransomware payments and collecting better information from industry.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control added several more Chinese tech firms to its investment blacklist, including drone maker DJI, for allegedly helping Beijing track and detain Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. The move, announced Thursday, also banned investments in Cloudwalk Technology, Dawning Information Industry, Leon Technology, Megvii Technology, Netposa Technologies, Xiamen Meiya Pico Information and Yitu. All were already on the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security entity list for export restrictions. The companies, which are now formally designated as having ties to the Chinese military, operate in China’s surveillance technology sector, OFAC said. The agency said DJI, the world’s largest commercial drone producer, supplies drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, which was added to the entity list in 2019. Technology supplied by the companies helped Xinjiang authorities confine more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in detention centers, OFAC said. The companies “actively support the biometric surveillance and tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in China” through the “installation of thousands of neighborhood police kiosks and ubiquitous placement of surveillance cameras, collection of biometric data for identification purposes, and more intrusive monitoring of internet use,” OFAC said. A DJI spokesperson declined to comment. Megvii, CloudWalk, Xiamen Meiya Pico, Yitu, and NetPosa didn’t respond to requests for comment. Dawning and Leon couldn’t be reached. "The attempt of the U.S. to use Xinjiang to contain China will never succeed," said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Friday. "China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese institutions and companies."
The Biden administration "stands ready" to enable Cubans to have “safe and secure access to the free flow of information on the Internet,” it announced Wednesday. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the state's Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez (R) and other Republicans urged President Joe Biden to enable U.S. businesses to provide internet service to Cubans (see 2107160065). Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a joint fact sheet Wednesday detailing the actions. OFAC and BIS “stand ready to engage” with stakeholders to provide “guidance and respond to applications for specific licenses” under relevant regulations which help support Cuban internet access, said the fact sheet. It encourages interested parties to take advantage of general license exemptions for software and services for Cuban internet users and BIS license exemptions for the export and re-export of commodities, software and technology. The Senate’s 50-49 approval Wednesday of Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, the blueprint for a coming $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation measure (see 2108100062), followed voice passage Tuesday of an amendment from Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; and Rick Scott, R-Fla., aimed at pressing Biden administration facilitation of internet access to Cuba. The nonbinding Rubio-led amendment would create a Deficit Neutral Reserve Fund in the next reconciliation bill that would be used to develop and deploy tech to facilitate internet access to Cuba. Senators frequently propose DNRFs amid a budget reconciliation process to make a statement about myriad issues. “My colleagues sent a clear, bipartisan message that the United States is committed to getting uncensored and unrestricted internet access to the people of Cuba,” Rubio said.
An Atlanta-based Bitcoin service provider was fined more than $500,000 for allowing people in sanctioned countries to use its services. BitPay committed more than 2,000 sanctions violations when it allowed people in Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Sudan, Syria and the Crimea region of Ukraine to use digital currency on the platform to transact with U.S. parties, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Thursday. OFAC said BitPay allowed $129,000 worth of digital currency transactions that should have been blocked. OFAC said the case highlights the compliance risks faced by digital currency services. Those companies “are responsible for ensuring that they do not engage in unauthorized transactions,” OFAC said, saying they should develop a tailored compliance program that screens “all available information,” including IP addresses and location data. "During the transaction period, and since, BitPay has steadily enhanced its already rigorous compliance program," the company said. "Our commitment to compliance has been continuous and unwavering."
The Bureau of Industry and Security is buried within an organization “hostile to the aggressive use of export controls,” and should be moved from the Commerce Department to the State Department, which puts national security first, said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Thursday during a Reagan Presidential Foundation program. Cotton wants the Office of Foreign Assets Control (see 2102190012) expanded and sanctions applied to those who steal intellectual property from U.S. firms and to those companies that profit from that theft. “Huawei has been effectively cut off from most high-end U.S. chips; the United States should ensure ZTE is cut off, as well. When the next Huawei or ZTE arises, the government should deal with it in the same manner,” he wrote. He said the U.S. should aim to bankrupt Huawei and ZTE through further sanctions and cut them off from the U.S. financial system. Cotton, who co-sponsored the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (see 2102180023), said work is underway to fund the act. Commerce, Huawei, ZTE and the Chinese Embassy didn't comment Friday.
Microsoft's GitHub said it got a U.S. sanctions license to provide services to software developers in Iran. GitHub, which provides hosting for software development, convinced the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls that its use “advances human progress” and international communication, and improves free speech, the company said Tuesday. GitHub called the two-year process with OFAC “lengthy and intensive” and said it's “in the process” of rolling back “all restrictions on developers in Iran, and reinstating full access.” The company said it's working to secure similar licenses for developers in Crimea and Syria. OFAC didn’t comment Thursday.
The New York Stock Exchange dropped plans to delist China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom (see 2101040052). The NYSE on Monday cited “further consultation with relevant regulatory authorities in connection with Office of Foreign Assets Control.” The stature of the U.S. as "an international financial hub hinges on global companies and investors trusting the inclusiveness and certainty of its rules and mechanisms," said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Tuesday.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined Comtech Telecommunications $894,111 for exporting warrantied satellite equipment and providing services and training to the Sudan Civil Aviation Authority, OFAC said. The settlement mandates bolstering its sanctions compliance program, including more frequent risk assessments, stricter internal controls and improved compliance training. From June 2014 to October 2015, Comtech indirectly exported the equipment and “facilitated ongoing telephone support” and training despite knowing the ultimate customer was under sanction by the U.S., OFAC said: Company affiliates signed a sales agreement with a Canadian satellite communications equipment manufacturer that was procuring the equipment for a Sudanese end user. The resolution will strengthen "Comtech’s compliance program," said CEO Fred Kornberg. "Trade compliance has been, and will continue to be, a top priority.” The company didn't comment further Friday.