Smart home company Brilliant is stepping up efforts in the multi-dwelling unit (MDU) space, CEO Aaron Emigh told us Tuesday, from the National Apartment Association’s 2021 Apartmentalize conference in Chicago. The company had the first public unveiling of the Brilliant Command Center, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for managing smart technology at scale in MDUs.

The three-judge panel presiding over the Section 301 litigation at the U.S. Court of International Trade appeared during a 27-minute status conference Wednesday to be edging closer to resolving the two-month impasse over suspending liquidations of customs entries with Lists 3 and 4A tariff exposure.

Arizona and Georgia will be the first states to offer residents the ability to add their driver’s license or state Identification to Apple Wallet on an iPhone or Watch, said the tech company Wednesday. Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma and Utah will offer it next. The Transportation Security Administration will enable select airport security checkpoints in participating airports as locations where customers can use their driver’s license or state ID in Wallet, Apple said.

TV makers improvised on September announcements for the CEDIA channel, having withdrawn from CEDIA Expo being held this week in Indianapolis due to COVID-19 concerns. Samsung and JVC introduced products Wednesday in news releases, while Sony held live online events Wednesday for integrators and the media, following LG, which had a prerecorded product wrap (see 2108310057) as part of a 10-company CEDIA Expo virtual preview tour.

Congress should establish a 72-hour window for critical infrastructure entities to report confirmed cyber breaches, industry witnesses told the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee (see 2108310060). A hearing considered draft legislation from Chairwoman Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and House Homeland Security Committee ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y.

Industry witnesses will suggest refining cyber incident reporting legislation that the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee will consider at Wednesday’s noon virtual hearing (see 2108270066). The U.S. government should consider a federal incident reporting program that includes mandatory disclosure requirements, said FireEye Mandiant Global Government Chief Technology Officer Ronald Bushar in a statement. The focus of mandatory reporting should be compliance support, not punishment for noncompliance, said Bushar, who is to testify. “Fines and other financial or legal punishments do not properly reflect the truth that, barring gross negligence or willful misconduct, organizations that suffer a cyber attack are victims of a crime.”

DOJ, in a Section 301 litigation policy reversal, said Monday it agreed to stipulate that refunds will be available on liquidated customs entries from China with Lists 3 and 4A tariff exposure if importers prevail in the massive volume of cases inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade to vacate the tariffs and declare them unlawful. Akin Gump lawyers for sample case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products said (in Pacer) Tuesday in docket 1:21-cv-52 that they're "pleased" with the government's stipulation as something the plaintiffs advocated for months, but aren't happy with DOJ's "bewildering" proposal that importers would still be required to file spreadsheet submissions in a Customs and Border Protection repository.

CEDIA Expo-themed announcements rolled out Tuesday as manufacturers look to gain mindshare during an Expo dented by cancellations due to rising COVID-19 cases nationwide. The event is in Indianapolis Wednesday through Friday, minus most marquee brands including LG, Lutron, Samsung, Savant, Sonance, Sonos and Sony. The registered exhibitor list shrunk to under 100 by Tuesday from over 250 in July on concerns over the delta variant.

The FTC should have privacy enforcement authority over common carriers, Commissioner Noah Phillips said Monday. Whether online platforms should be considered common carriers for purposes of speech and First Amendment issues is a “very active debate” before Congress and the courts, he told the Hudson Institute.

Global smartphone shipments have trended positively in recent quarters though “the supply chain situation hasn't drastically improved,” reported IDC Monday. It forecast 7.4% shipment growth to 1.37 billion handsets in 2021, followed by 3.4% growth in 2022. Those were slight downgrades from IDC’s May 26 forecasts when it projected 7.7% growth in 2021 to 1.38 billion units and 3.8% growth in 2022.