A bill modifying Maryland’s digital ad tax law cleared the Senate unanimously Friday. Senators amended SB-787 earlier last week to delay the tax by one year so it would apply to tax years beginning after Dec. 31. The bill still would exempt news media and ban tech companies from passing costs from the tax to small businesses. The House’s cross-filed HB-1200 awaits vote by the Ways and Means Committee (see 2102260048).

The Copyright Office issued a Music Modernization Act-related (see 2102110040) supplemental interim rule that adjusts “certain reporting requirements of digital music providers and significant nonblanket licensees.” The unopposed amendment “adjusts certain provisions concerning the reporting of information about permanent download licenses that are passed through by record labels to digital music providers, under both the statutory license and voluntary licenses.” It takes effect April 5.

Samsung’s LSI and credit card businesses agreed with Mastercard to develop a “biometric” card with built-in fingerprint scanner to authorize transactions securely at in-store payment terminals, they said Thursday. The card’s biometric authentication capability will enable safer transactions with “reduced physical contact points” by eliminating the need to enter a PIN on a keypad, they said. “It also adds an extra layer of security to currently available credit cards by verifying the cardholder’s identity via a unique fingerprint.” The card will be rolled out in South Korea later this year in a “gradual process, starting from corporate credit cards that have more frequent international transactions,” it said. The companies didn’t respond to questions about U.S. plans.

LG’s recent decision to license its webOS TV platform (see 2102240004) means more TV brands adopting Universal Electronics Inc.’s QuickSet technology, said UEI Monday: “As LG is expanding its footprint through TV manufacturing partners, it is including UEI’s QuickSet as the standard for device discovery and control.”

A Bowie, Maryland, man pleaded guilty Friday to copyright infringement for online sales of nearly $316,000 worth of counterfeit DVDs and Blu-rays of popular movies, TV shows and fitness videos, said DOJ. Authorities charged Olayinka Wahab, 45, with selling more than 18,000 Chinese-sourced discs or boxed sets online for nine years beginning in 2009. He was caught in an undercover sting when MPA representatives tipped off federal agents after buying sample counterfeit discs from Wahab and finding their packaging and labeling “were substantially indistinguishable” from the legitimate product, said DOJ. His plea deal requires him to pay restitution, plus forfeit more than $20,000 seized from several bank accounts. He faces up to five years in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for May 18 before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland. Efforts to reach Wahab’s attorneys for comment were unsuccessful. MPA is "grateful that justice has been served in a case that once again highlights the need to protect the creative community from those who seek to profit illegally from their hard work," said a spokesperson Monday. Copyright infringement costs up to $71 billion annually in lost domestic revenue, he said, citing a U.S. Chamber of Commerce study.

Paramount+ arrives in the "streaming space" March 4 “with real advantages that our competitors do not have,” said ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish in a virtual investor day presentation Wednesday. “As the streaming segment continues to evolve and mature, we believe consumers will increasingly be looking for the combination of genres that have long made linear television popular.” Paramount+ will be the first streaming service “that can do it at scale” in each major genre, from live sports to news to episodic TV to movies, “all in one place,” said Bakish. Some of the “biggest, most anticipated” new Paramount feature films will go exclusively to Paramount+ 30 to 45 days after their theatrical release, he said. All other new Paramount movies will appear on Paramount+ after their theatrical run, “some as early as 90 days,” he said. “New movies from MGM will also appear on Paramount+ during the pay one window.” All ViacomCBS studios also “are ramping up production to provide a continuous flow of new original movies made exclusively for Paramount+,” he said. New content “will be underpinned” by a library of more than 2,500 films from Paramount, Miramax “and a number of other leading Hollywood studios,” he said.

Xperi-TiVo 2020 revenue grew 21% to $1.15 billion, which “far exceeded” expectations, said Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner on a Wednesday call. Q4 revenue was $427.8 million vs. $90.4 million in the 2019 quarter, before the TiVo deal, the company reported. The company has a “cautious outlook” for 2021, said Chief Financial Officer Robert Andersen on a call (see Q4 materials here), with risk in the consumer segment. While cord cutting continues, IPTV deployments are increasing, said Kirchner. Q4 had a licensing deal with Comcast through 2031, Kirchner said. Xperi renewed and extended licenses with Cox, Sony and TCL in Q1. The company delayed to 2022 plans to separate the product and IP businesses, said Kirchner, citing impact from COVID-19 and the need for both businesses to be able to “stand on their own two feet” with “attractive growth stories.” He referenced “complex systems work” that has to be right to operate independently. Xperi stock closed down 3.7% at $21.21.

The mid-December SolarWinds cyberattack (see 2012170050) was “a wakeup call to all enterprises to modernize cybersecurity and will serve as a net incremental tailwind not just for us but also for the industry,” said Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora on a fiscal Q2 call Monday. The cybersecurity vendor fielded more than 1,000 “assessment requests” after the SolarWinds breach and completed more than 500, he said. “This resulted in more awareness of and focus on cybersecurity, which in all candor is the need of the hour, given the complete reliance of technology in these times.” The Senate Intelligence Committee held a hearing on the breach Tuesday (see 2102230064).

Residents of Washington, D.C., spend the most in the U.S. on streaming, an average $52.59 monthly, reported Reviews.org Monday. New Mexicans spend the least, $39.58. The 54% of Americans with a cable subscription pay an average $107 monthly for service.

Personal data flows to the U.K. should be permitted because its privacy laws are essentially equivalent to the EU's, the European Commission said. It published draft "adequacy" decisions under the general data protection regulation and the law enforcement directive for review by the European Data Protection Board and EU governments. The EU "has shaped the UK's data protection regime for decades," but adequacy findings must be future-proof after Brexit, the EC said. The decisions would be valid for four years and renewable. Data flows between the European economic area and U.K. continue under an interim regime that expires June 30. The decision is good news because the U.K. "remains an important trade partner of the EU," said the Computer & Communications Industry Association.