The FCC sought comment by Nov. 10 on recommendations by its World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee, prepared for the WRC meeting in 2019. “Based upon an initial review of the draft recommendations forwarded to the Commission, the International Bureau, in coordination with other Commission Bureaus and Offices, tentatively concludes that we can generally support most of the … recommendations,” said a public notice. It noted differing views on some recommendations.

Twitter will bans ads from Russian RT and Sputnik news agencies effective immediately, based on internal research and a January report from intelligence agencies confirming the Russian firms attempted to interfere with the U.S. 2016 election, the company blogged Thursday. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, demanded Twitter provide information on how she was targeted. “While I have never publicly discussed it before today, I have been aware for some time that I was targeted by Russian operatives whose interests were aligned with Donald Trump," Waters said. Twitter said the advertising ban wasn't a decision it came to "lightly" but is part of the company's ongoing commitment to protect users. The company said it will donate the $1.9 million it earned from RT ads purchased beginning in 2011 to do additional research on use of its service in civic engagement. House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff of California said the decision "should prevent" Russian agencies from spreading disinformation and undermining democracies.

Amazon’s application for the generic top-level domain name .amazon will be a major discussion topic at next week’s ICANN meeting, blogged American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow Shane Tews. Although Peru and Brazil opposed the application (see 1710040051), a review panel said the ICANN board didn't adequately explain its reasons for blocking the applications, giving Amazon a green light, Tews said. Debate will continue, since the two governments oppose Amazon’s application based on concerns it impinges on countries in their region. “The internet community sees the .amazon application as a case study in what they can and cannot do without government permission,” Tews said Monday.

The Internet Security Alliance will join with Germany's largest cyber networking platform, the Cyber-Security Council of Germany, to create cyber industry-government initiatives focusing on practical solutions, ISA said Friday.

Fiber network equipment is classifiable as optical instruments of chapter 90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S., the Court of International Trade ruled. ADC Telecommunications argued Customs and Border Protection should have classified its “value added modules” as duty-free data transmission equipment. CIT held Wednesday that optical equipment includes fiber cables that transmit non-visible light, confirming CBP’s liquidation as “other optical appliances and instruments” at a 4.5 percent duty. A lawyer for ADC didn't comment.

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., jointly urged CEO Tim Cook Thursday to explain reports Apple removed VPN applications from the version of its App Store available in China, saying the action “may be enabling the Chinese government’s censorship and surveillance of the Internet” in what they dubbed the “Great Firewall.” The Chinese government announced earlier this year software developers offering VPN apps would need a government license. The “threat that the Great Firewall poses to the freedom of the people of China is similar to the threat that the Berlin Wall imposed on the people of East Berlin for twenty-eight years,” Cruz and Leahy said in a letter to Cook. “As long as the Great Firewall operates and is enabled by American technology companies, Internet freedom in China will remain at risk.” The senators asked Cook to detail how many VPN apps it removed from the Chinese version of the App Store, whether the company fought against Chinese laws on VPN and cybersecurity, and whether employees played any role in Chinese government-sponsored World Internet Conference events. Apple was “required to remove some VPN apps in China that do not meet the new regulations,” the company said in a statement. “These apps remain available in all other markets.”

Brazilian antitrust authority Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica approved AT&T's buy of Time Warner without any asset sale or divestiture required, AT&T said Wednesday. The company said it still expects the deal to close by year's end, with only DOJ review pending.

ITU lacks capacity or expertise to address privacy, as some governments proposed, said Access Now, Article 19 and Public Knowledge in a joint statement Monday. Instead, nations should use bilateral or multilateral agreements, national laws and other frameworks, the groups said. Brazil, Mexico, a regional group of Arab states and one formed by Russia and former Soviet republics suggested at the World Telecommunications Development Conference this month that ITU should expand its mandate into privacy-related issues, the groups said. They argued that ITU is vulnerable to "harmful types of politicization, as states and regional coalitions seek to leverage this forum to grab greater control over Internet policy and standards development." The groups said ITU's main goal is to facilitate interoperability of telecom infrastructure and therefore is limited in its expertise.

Local community networks are a key to bringing internet access to the half of humanity that's still unconnected, the Internet Society said Wednesday, highlighting a paper backing approaches governments and others can take. Policymakers can help communities connect "with innovative licensing and access to spectrum," said Raul Echeberria, vice president-global engagement, in a release that noted "100+ ministers" were attending an ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference in Buenos Aires through Oct. 20. It said network providers can help through fair backhaul rates, equipment and training, and sharing of infrastructure and spectrum. Community network costs can be low, often requiring something as simple as a router, it said.

U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy Rob Strayer told the ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference Sunday in Buenos Aires that U.S. proposals to the conference and pan-Americas proposals that the government supports “reflect our strong support” for a continued ITU telecom development sector role in broadband development and emergency communications. The U.S. supports the creation of “voluntary guidelines and best practices” to support efforts to increase digital inclusion, development of advanced networks and to create a “stable and predictable regulatory environment,” Strayer said. The U.S. is confident the WTDC conference will produce “sustainable and measurable results” because public-private partnerships and “multistakeholder cooperation” have aided in significant progress in global broadband and other network deployments in recent years, he said. Strayer joined the State Department last month as CIC and deputy assistant secretary of state-cybersecurity and international communications and information policy (see 1708220059 and 1709210062). The WTDC lasts until Oct. 20.