The Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division recommended Comcast change a 5G commercial and related online disclosures. NAD said Thursday the caveat in the ad about limited availability of 5G service should have been more prominent and readable, and Comcast's Xfinity 5G homepage should disclose geographic limits on service availability. It said on other challenges by AT&T on other online disclosures about Comcast's Xfinity mobile service were sufficient. Comcast agreed to comply and indicated it previously voluntarily modified ads to more prominently disclose 5G availability limitations: Now that the service is available nationwide, disclosing that limited availability isn't needed.

Both sides “will likely appeal on many fronts” Tuesday's initial determination (login required) at the International Trade Commission that Samsung committed no Tariff Act Section 337 violations by importing smartphones alleged to have infringed four patents asserted by flexible electronics manufacturer Dynamics (see 2103160051), said Dynamics attorney Robert Morris of Eckert Seamans. “We agree that Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot "got so much right; but there are some technicalities that may have gotten lost in the shuffle and we are confident the Commission will address those in our favor,” said Morris Tuesday. Elliot’s decision becomes the determination of full ITC in 60 days unless at least one party files a petition for review. Though Elliot said Samsung “directly infringes” a dozen Dynamics claims among the four patents asserted, he also ruled many other patent claims were invalid, and said Dynamics failed to satisfy Section 337's U.S. domestic industry requirement in all but one of the patents. Samsung didn’t comment Wednesday.

Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot of the International Trade Commission found Samsung committed no Tariff Act Section 337 violations by importing smartphones alleged to have infringed four patents asserted by flexible electronics manufacturer Dynamics, said an initial determination notice (login required) he signed Tuesday in docket 337-TA-1170. Dynamics alleged in June 2019 that Samsung smartphones infringed its patents for cards with emulators that transmit information to magnetic strip readers. Neither Dynamics nor Samsung commented.

FCC Public Safety Bureau publication of a list Friday banning gear from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology on national security grounds (see 2103120058) had “no factual basis and makes no sense,” said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Monday. “To maintain its monopoly and hegemony in science and technology, the U.S. government abused the concept of national security and state power, and went all out to suppress Chinese hi-tech companies,” he said. “This negates the market economy principles the U.S. side has claimed to champion and reveals its hypocrisy in touting so-called fair competition.” He said the U.S. should “stop groundless suppression of Chinese companies and create an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies operating and making investment in the U.S.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau published a list Friday of communications equipment and services “deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security” of the U.S., as directed by the Secure Networks Act. This equipment can’t be used in networks that receive USF funding. The list bans gear by Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology. “The inclusion of these entities on the Covered List extends both to subsidiaries and affiliates of these entities, as well as to ‘telecommunications or video surveillance services provided by such entities or using such equipment,’” the bureau said. The Chinese Embassy and ZTE didn’t comment; Huawei declined comment. The others couldn’t be reached.

There are ways other “than the hide-bound traditional way to release movies that could be done in a way that was beneficial for our studio partners and for AMC,” said CEO Adam Aron. On AT&T-owned Warner's release of titles to its company's streaming service, HBO Max, Aron said his theater company “put out a very clear statement that we were not willing to let Warner Bros. advantage its streaming service at AMC shareholders' expense." He noted AMC made a “landmark agreement” with Universal in April. The pact assures that “any changes in [Warner's] their strategy are being done in ways where AMC shareholders benefit as opposed to being penalized,” the CEO told a Q4 call Wednesday. The theater chain is “willing to engage with every major studio on the same topic,” he said, hoping studios can “adjust the business relationships" with AMC "such that they can support their streaming services and their theatrical releases -- and do so not at our expense.” Warner didn't comment Thursday. Some 40 major movie titles delayed from 2020 releases will hit AMC screens beginning in May, said Aron. “We are LaGuardia Airport, closed by a thunderstorm, with tons of planes circling overhead, all waiting to land and all needing to land,” he said, paraphrasing a metaphor he said studio executives shared.

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.

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.