Apple is “very, very focused" on discussing the privacy and security elements of the App Store with regulators and legislators, said CEO Tim Cook, responding to a question Thursday from Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty on how Apple will balance consumer preference for App Store transactions with legislators’ push for more choice. The analyst cited a Morgan Stanley survey of 4,000 consumers showing most customers don’t want to pay for apps directly to developers because they value the security and privacy of transactions within the App Store. Apple is working “to explain the decisions that we've made that are key to keeping the privacy and security there, which is to not have sideloading" or to open the iPhone to unreviewed apps, which would sidestep privacy restrictions Apple put on the App Store, Cook said. Morgan Stanley didn't provide a copy of its survey Friday. Meanwhile, for the holiday season, Apple faces chip shortages and high demand across product lines, Cook told a quarterly call for the three months ended Sept. 25. See Q4 materials here.

MVPDs carrying more Jewish-themed programming can "foster community & help combat the scourge of antisemitism against Jewish people," Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., tweeted Thursday. She noted a series of letters sent this week to Comcast, Charter, Cox Communications, Altice, Dish Network, AT&T and Verizon asking about plans to increase Jewish-themed programming and seeking responses by Nov. 9. Co-signers of the letters were fellow Democratic Reps. Grace Meng of New York, Ted Deutch of Florida and California's Ted Lieu and Brad Sherman.

Music label plaintiffs are wrong when they argue the Supreme Court's Grokster decision standards don't apply in their litigation against Charter Communications (see 2108120002), Charter told U.S. District Court in Boulder Monday in its reply supporting its motion to dismiss the lawsuit (in Pacer, docket 21-cv-02020). Grokster said selling a service capable of unlawful use isn't contributory infringement unless there's evidence the defendant also promoted its use to infringe copyright. Charter said district courts in the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals jurisdiction routinely apply Grokster to contributory infringement claims, requiring allegations or proof of the defendant’s intent to cause infringement. Outside counsel for plaintiffs didn't comment Tuesday.

The U.S. won't impose Section 301 tariffs on goods from Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the U.K. over digital services taxes, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. Those markets settled with the Treasury Department about the transition from DSTs to a new approach for taxing multinational firms, USTR said. Tariffs on goods from India and Turkey, which weren't party to the settlement, remain suspended through early December, USTR said. Ending the tariffs on the five countries drew tech industry hopes for a rollback everywhere. “While today’s transitional agreement is a meaningful step, it is imperative that all governments urgently and fully withdraw their digital services tax measures,” said Information Technology Industry Council CEO Jason Oxman Thursday. The Computer & Communications Industry Association said it backs a "broader multilateral global tax agreement."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit approved moving Broadband iTV's patent litigation against Dish Network from a federal court in Texas to the U.S. District Court in Colorado. In a docket 21-182 order Thursday, Judges Kathleen O'Malley, Jimmie Reyna and Raymond Chen said the Federal Circuit rejected a previous Dish petition for writ of mandamus in August, denying the case's transfer because the appellate court was confident the lower court would reconsider its previous denial of such a transfer. The Federal Circuit said the lower court was wrong in subsequently denying the transfer again because Colorado "is the home of evidence, witnesses, and the conduct giving rise to the action." Dish didn't comment.

There’s no “magic elixir” to fix the global chip shortage, which is an “urgent” crisis and a “huge problem” for American consumers and businesses, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a Washington Post virtual event Wednesday. Microchips “underpin everything we do in a day,” she said. The U.S. makes “zero percent of the most sophisticated chips on our shores,” and 70% of the “leading-edge” chips that Americans consume come from Taiwan, she said. “I find that to be an almost terrifying prospect,” amid the looming threat the island faces from China, she said. “We are exceedingly vulnerable, and getting even more so as our economy becomes more digital.”

Lack of transparency on patent ownership is a threat to U.S. competitiveness and national security, said Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chair Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., during a hearing Tuesday. Foreign companies can buy U.S. patents without the public knowing, said Leahy, who introduced legislation with ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C. The bill requires patent owners to record updated ownership information with the Patent and Trademark Office when a patent changes hands. Failure to record ownership information would mean entities aren’t allowed to recoup damages for IP ownership. China is an increasing threat on royalties involving 5G technology, laptops, connected cars and semiconductors, said Intel Senior Vice President Allon Stabinsky. He noted only one American company is on the list of top 10 patent holders. China has four, Europe has two and Japan one, he said: This has “profound implications” for American competitiveness, he said. The legislation proposes a reasonable and balanced remedy, said Engine IP Counsel Abby Rives: The patent owner can still seek reasonable royalties and lost profits but would give up the ability to push damages higher during the period the owner failed to disclose the required information.

Nielsen is using this week’s Advertising Week New York hybrid in-person and digital conference to unveil a new “brand identity” campaign to trumpet its “digital-first” strategies in audience measurement and content services, said the company Monday. Nielsen’s business has “transformed dramatically” over the past few years, especially after selling its Advanced Video Advertising business to Roku earlier in 2021 (see 2103020047), said Jamie Moldafsky, chief marketing and communications officer. “It became clear that perceptions of the company have not evolved at the same pace."

A Microsoft shareholder proposal up for a vote at the Nov. 30 virtual annual meeting asks the board to “generally prohibit sales” of facial recognition technology to “government entities,” said a proxy statement Thursday. The board recommended voting no. Shareholders worry Microsoft’s facial recognition technology “poses risk to civil and human rights and shareholder value,” said the proposal. It cited a June report from investors representing more than $4.5 trillion in assets urging companies “to proactively assess, disclose, mitigate and remediate human rights risks related to the technology.” Microsoft committed in 2020 that it won’t sell facial ID technology to U.S. police departments before strong regulation, said the proposal: This “does not address potential sales to local, state or federal agencies, or to governments outside the U.S.” The company should align with its corporate peers on facial recognition sales, said the proposal: IBM announced in 2020 it won't offer general purpose facial ID. At least 23 U.S. municipalities since 2018 have adopted legal bans on facial ID, including King County, Washington, where Microsoft is headquartered, said the proposal. The board cited “extensive public commitments” to “restrict our sale of facial recognition technology based on human rights considerations.” The proposal “does not recognize those commitments and would impose a blunt prohibition that would deny public agencies the ability to deploy facial recognition technology in societally beneficial use cases,” said the proxy.

The FCC's decision to exempt prerecorded commercial non-telemarketing calls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was "reasonable" and "in the public interest," the agency said, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to deny Vincent Lucas' petition in a brief posted Tuesday in case No. 21-1099. The FCC argued the Traced Act "adopted new limits on the number of exempted calls allowed" and Lucas was the only commenter in favor of a specific and narrowly tailored exemption. The FCC argued Lucas' request to exclude debt collection and broadcaster calls from the exemption was "time-barred." Lucas, a consumer who argued against the exemption in 2020, disagreed, in a reply brief posted Monday, and said the issues raised are "in terms of compliance with the TRACED Act" and therefore not time-barred. The FCC "acted arbitrarily and capriciously in failing to consider specific types of calls within the exemption and issues particular to specific types of calls," Lucas said.