PayPal agreed to buy Curv, the Israeli cloud-based digital infrastructure company, saying the transaction will “accelerate and expand its initiatives” in "cryptocurrencies and digital assets.” PayPal said Monday it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2021. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
The world technologically “experienced more change” in 2020 than in the previous 10 years, “and there are signs that 2021 will be similar,” said Splunk CEO Doug Merritt on a fiscal Q4 call Wednesday. “We are seeing companies with a strong digital strategy outpacing their peers.” Cybersecurity attacks are growing “at unprecedented levels and scale,” said Merritt. The “magnitude” of the SolarWinds hack (see 2103040066) “hammered home the unsettling but ever-present reality of the digital era that all organizations are likely to get hacked at some point,” he said. Splunk took immediate action at the “onset” of SolarWinds to “enable customers to investigate whether they had been impacted by the attack and to confirm that Splunk itself hadn't been impacted,” he said. Splunk’s cloud revenue for the year ended Jan. 31 was $554 million, up 77%.
The Senate Finance Committee approved by unanimous voice vote Wednesday the nomination of Katherine Tai as U.S. trade representative. Tai appeared to have broad bipartisan backing at her Feb. 25 confirmation hearing (see 2102250043).
Comments are due April 2, replies April 19, in docket 16-155 on FCC-proposed standardized questions for applications on foreign ownership, says Wednesday's Federal Register. The foreign-ownership review process was jump-started by a 2020 White House executive order (see 2009290063).
The European Commission isn't trying to bypass ICANN governance of the domain name system (DNS) through its proposed digital services act (DSA) and cybersecurity package, EC officials said at an ICANN virtual stakeholder briefing Friday. The EC supports the multistakeholder approach and contributes to ICANN discussions through the Governmental Advisory Committee, said Gemma Carolillo, DG Connect deputy head-next-generation internet unit. The legislation's intent is to create legal certainty for domain name registries and registrars on things like Whois accuracy and access to personal registrant information, she said. If the proposals are adopted, the EC plans to issue guidelines that draw on ICANN's policy development work on access to personal data, she said. The EC is counting on ICANN to adopt rules for access to Whois data and start the discussion on ensuring such data is accurate, said Olivier Bringer, next-generation internet unit head. The briefing was on the potential impact of the DSA and cybersecurity measures on ICANN. The legislation would update the 2000 e-commerce directive governing the exemption from liability for illegal content of internet intermediaries (see 2101290006). That directive applies to specific services such as ISPs that act as conduits. The DSA proposes to leave the liability exemption intact but to add new rules requiring due diligence and set harmonized enforcement rules, said Irene Roche Laguna, EC deputy head-e-commerce and platforms unit. The EC considers registrars and registries to be within the DSA's scope and wants to clarify legally that they fall within the liability exception as mere conduits but also that they will have some light due diligence obligations for illegal content, Laguna said.
AT&T said it joined other companies in lobbying the Commerce Department against placing China Telecom on the entity list. AT&T said it provides services involving China Telecom that are essential for U.S. workers and customers. “In providing those services, we comply with all U.S. laws and the laws of the countries where we operate,” AT&T said. “Without a relationship with a licensed Chinese communications company, no non-Chinese provider can serve U.S. companies operating in China. In the absence of that, such support would be provided by a Chinese state-owned enterprise instead of AT&T or any other American company.” The company responded to what it said was a “misleading” report earlier Wednesday by Fox News. The Commerce Department didn’t comment Thursday. A Fox News spokesperson said that "AT&T's statement does not deny the reporting about the company's role in opposing sanctions against a Chinese telecom company. It acknowledges that role."
Annual submarine cable circuit capacity reports are due March 31 for cable landing licensees and common carriers, said a public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest.
The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector didn't object to Fusion's transfer of control request as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, NTIA said Tuesday in FCC docket 20-44.
Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Adolfo Cuevas, interim chairman of Mexico’s Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, met virtually and agreed to work together on “an array of bilateral, regional, and multilateral issues,” said a notice in Monday’s Daily Digest.
An Atlanta-based Bitcoin service provider was fined more than $500,000 for allowing people in sanctioned countries to use its services. BitPay committed more than 2,000 sanctions violations when it allowed people in Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Sudan, Syria and the Crimea region of Ukraine to use digital currency on the platform to transact with U.S. parties, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Thursday. OFAC said BitPay allowed $129,000 worth of digital currency transactions that should have been blocked. OFAC said the case highlights the compliance risks faced by digital currency services. Those companies “are responsible for ensuring that they do not engage in unauthorized transactions,” OFAC said, saying they should develop a tailored compliance program that screens “all available information,” including IP addresses and location data. "During the transaction period, and since, BitPay has steadily enhanced its already rigorous compliance program," the company said. "Our commitment to compliance has been continuous and unwavering."