Sanctions imposed on Afghanistan will hurt its internet, an Urban Media Institute webinar was told Tuesday. Afghanistan lags neighbors Iran and Pakistan, where the internet emerged in the 1990s, said Mujibullah Shams, a member of the National Information Technology Professional Association of Afghanistan (NITPAA). Afghanistan was engaged in civil war then and, before 2002, the Taliban banned Western technologies such as broadcasting and the internet. When the new government took over in 2003, the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) .af was delegated to a government ministry. Around 327,0000 IP addresses are allocated to the country, which has about 12 million users. Afghanistan faces "enormous challenges," said NITPAA President Mohibullah Utmankhil, a professor at Kabul Polytechnic University. About 25 provinces have long been connected to fiber networks, but foreign aid supported these: There are some 63 registered ISPs, but since aid organizations pulled out, they're suffering financially. If this continues, Afghanistan could lose internet connections with its neighbors; and even maintaining its current IT infrastructure is in doubt, he said. Others such as Microsoft and Amazon are limiting their cloud services to the country, he said. It's reported that less than 10% of .af domain names are hosted in-country, and if anywhere they're hosted imposes sanctions, that may affect those domains, he said. The ccTLD itself is outside Taliban control, but the government has apparently locked all gov.af domains, he noted. The Afghan internet community is committed to bringing the technology to the country, said Digital Medusa Director Farzaneh Badii. But the ccTLD .af could become dormant if registrars can't register af. domain names, or if the Taliban or some other regime takes control of the ccTLD, she said. Even registries that manage generic TLDs such as .com have become "sensitive" about providing services to residents of sanctioned nations, she said. Another worry is that IP addresses could be pulled back from Afghanistan, severing its connection to the world, she noted. ICANN doesn't play a day-to-day role in ccTLD management because that's a local responsibility, emailed a spokesperson. The decision to remove responsibility for a domain to a different entity must be arrived at locally, including by the government in charge, and would be submitted to ICANN for recognition, she wrote. The .af domain is managed by the Ministry of Communications IT, she added. "Any ICANN assessment relating to a requested change is limited to ensuring ongoing stability of the domain is preserved and the request is in accordance with local decision-making."

China Telecom Americas petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Monday to set aside the FCC’s October order revoking the company’s domestic and international authorities (see 2110260060) under Communications Act Section 214. The company earlier asked the FCC for a stay, pending judicial review (see 2111080056). The order is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege, or immunity; in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right; and without observance of procedure required by law,” said a filing in docket 21-1233. The court issued an order with preliminary filing requirements, including a statement of issues to be raised, due Dec. 15, dispositive motions Dec. 30.

The nexus between AI and EU privacy law could be more controversial than facial recognition as the European Commission-proposed Artificial Intelligence Act (see 2104210003) moves through the European Parliament, lawmaker Axel Voss said at a Tuesday briefing. Voss, of the European People's Party and Germany, wrote the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age's response to the legislative proposal. He acknowledged facial recognition is contentious, saying he believes banning facial recognition outright is a "stupid idea" and it's better to regulate and set strong safeguards. Asked if facial recognition is likely to be the stickiest issue during negotiations, Voss told us the link between AI and the EU general data protection act will probably be more controversial. No one wants to touch the GDPR, but Europe is looking for a certain quality of algorithms -- gender-balanced and nonbiased -- that will rely on massive use of personal data: "We can't win the digital competition without data," which must be secured and safeguarded. Voss wants a uniform interpretation of the GDPR and amending provisions that are outdated for AI, such as the requirement for minimizing use of personal data. The report also urges building a comprehensive AI infrastructure maximized for 5G and 6G. Europe has fallen behind the U.S. and China in the "winner takes most" economy and can't afford to fail on AI, Voss said. The report is "an urgent call for action" to ensure that the EU becomes a global leader.

China Telecom Americas asked the FCC to stay an October order revoking its domestic and international authorities (see 2110260060) under Communications Act Section 214, pending judicial review. Failure to designate the order for a hearing “prior to issuance of the Order tramples on CTA’s constitutionally protected property rights, violating the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Commission’s own precedent governing Section 214 authorization revocation proceedings,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-109.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking comment by Dec. 6 on Chinese government policies that influence international standards for emerging technologies, NIST said in Thursday's Federal Register in docket 211026-0219. The agency will use the comments to determine whether it can “mitigate any undue influence” by China and “bolster United States public and private sector participation in international standards-setting bodies” for a range of new technologies, including AI and blockchain. China's embassy didn't reply to our request for a response.

Members of five tech and business groups “raised concerns” about the “sensitive data” the Commerce Department seeks in its Sept. 24 request for information about risks in the semiconductor supply chain (see 2109230038), the associations wrote Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Wednesday. Members also worry “how the U.S. government intends to use the data it collects,” said the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Security Industry Association, TechNet and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The RFI seeks especially sensitive information from chip companies and their partners upstream and downstream in the supply chain, including confidential sales and sourcing data, plus rundowns on order backlogs and an accounting of specific product shipments in the past month. The associations urge Commerce to treat the information submitted “with the sensitivity and anonymity necessary to avoid jeopardizing the dealings of any given business,” they told Raimondo. Much of the information requested also is “dynamic, with bottlenecks changing on a frequent basis, so we caution that the RFI may not yield information that presents an accurate picture of the semiconductor supply chain,” they said. They encourage Commerce “to consider the nature of this unique challenge and how the information requested through this RFI may unintentionally distort the realities of the semiconductor supply chain,” they said. “This underscores why the ongoing exchange of information and coordination between government and the private sector is vital.” Commerce didn’t comment. With RFI submissions due Monday in docket BIS-2021-0036, ITI, which took the lead in publicizing the letter, didn’t respond to questions about why the groups took more than a month to air their concerns publicly with Raimondo.

The U.S. and its trade allies increasingly worry about the “digital authoritarianism” by China and other “undemocratic” countries, including “intrusive surveillance and censorship,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in Q&A at a Georgetown Law Center virtual conference Wednesday. Their practices can “influence the ability of Americans to enjoy their civil liberties right here at home,” she said. “We will have to ask ourselves hard questions,” including whether digital commerce can “facilitate imports that are made with forced labor,” or if it can “exacerbate problems in illegal trade,” she said. The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry didn’t comment. Answering tough questions about digital commerce “is part of making sure that our domestic and foreign policies are aligned,” said Tai. "A lot of our thinking around traditional trade policies is still extremely relevant when applying the digital trade context.” Tai's prepared remarks are here. Also Wednesday, the Bureau of Industry and Security said it's adding companies including NSO to a list restricting exports due to surveillance concerns (see 2111030042).

The industry shipped more semiconductor units in Q3 than during any previous quarter on record, ramping up production to mitigate the global chips crunch, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Monday. Global sales of $144.8 billion were up 27.6% year over year and 7.4% higher sequentially, said SIA. Year-over-year Q3 sales increased 33.5% in the Americas, and were up 32.3% in Europe, 27.2% in Asia Pacific, 24.5% in Japan and 24% in China, it said.

Sony couldn't meet demand for some consumer tech in fiscal Q2 ended Sept. 30 “because the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia led to limitations on our factory operations and on the supply of components,” Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki told a Tokyo briefing. “Limitations on the supply of components, especially semiconductors, have recently become apparent.” Sony Pictures has “gradually” resumed releasing major films in U.S. theaters, said Totoki. Venom: Let There Be Carnage generated box office revenue of about $90 million globally on the opening weekend of its Oct. 1 release, “which is the best opening performance of any film during the pandemic,” he said. “We are planning to release other compelling IP from Sony to theaters,” he said, including Ghostbusters: Afterlife, debuting Nov. 19, and Spider-Man: No Way Home on Dec. 17. Sony will stick with monetizing "family-oriented films,” at least for the fiscal year, “by directly licensing them to video streaming services, as we do not believe they will draw sufficient theatrical audiences during the pandemic,” said Totoki. He cited Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, debuting Jan. 14 on Amazon Prime Video. Sony Pictures is the only major studio not tethered to a streaming service. Also Thursday, Imax reported a cinema resurgence (see 2110280057).

Consider changing appointment and removal procedures for U.S. Agency for Global Media’s grantee board members to better protect editorial independence, GAO recommended Wednesday. USAGM grantees include Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and the Open Technology Fund. “Network and USAGM officials said that previous members of USAGM leadership took several actions that did not align with USAGM's firewall principles,” the audit said. Congressional Democrats and others criticized USAGM leadership during the Trump administration for purging staff and hurting content independence (see 2006240054). Giving the International Broadcasting Advisory Board a role in determining grantee directors “may help ensure the professional independence and integrity of USAGM's grantees,” GAO said. Consider legislation to define parameters of USAGM’s editorial “firewall” and “what is and is not permissible,” GAO recommended.