FIFA launched a free streaming service Tuesday, FIFA+, for matches, original content and “global storytelling.” By the end of 2022, FIFA+ will be streaming the equivalent of 40,000 live games per year from 100 member associations across all six confederations, including 11,000 women’s matches, it said. FIFA+ will be available on web and mobile devices at launch, plus connected devices “soon,” in five language editions: English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. Six more languages will be added in June, it said.
Country of origin cases
One comprehensive state privacy bill moved forward while two others died last week. Connecticut privacy bill SB-6 advanced Thursday to the joint Judiciary Committee. The General Law Committee weighed the bill last month (see 2203030059). Meanwhile, Maryland’s House Economic Matters Committee voted 20-0 Friday against SB-11 to set up a privacy study group. The Maryland bill was originally a comprehensive measure, but the Senate scaled it back (see 2203300064). Georgia privacy bill SB-394 died when legislators adjourned last week.
EU and Ukrainian operators will cooperate to keep Ukrainian refugees connected, the European Commission announced Friday. The agreement, brokered by the EC and the European Parliament, was signed by 27 operators (and counting) in the EU and Ukraine, including members of associations such as the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association, the GSM Association and MVNO Europe, the EC said. The initiative aims to create a more stable framework to help displaced Ukrainians in Europe stay in touch with friends and family back home. Operators will voluntarily and bilaterally lower wholesale roaming charges as well as wholesale fees for terminating international calls through commercial agreements. In return, Ukrainian telcos said they will gradually reduce international termination rates for calls to Ukraine originating from EU numbers, and calls to Ukraine from Ukrainian numbers roaming in the EU, toward levels that will allow EU operators to offer reduced wholesale roaming charges and affordable international calls to people calling Ukraine. They also agreed to pass along the full benefits of the lower EU wholesale roaming charges to their customers roaming in Europe.
A Nov. 19 complaint alleging Amazon dupes the public by purporting to sell consumers digital movies it owns when it only licenses them temporarily from content owners was transferred Wednesday to U.S. District Court in Seattle and assigned a new docket (2:22-cv-446, in Pacer). The complaint, which seeks class-action status, was originally filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan because lead plaintiff Mary Baron is a Bronx resident. Amazon and the plaintiffs mutually agreed to transfer the case to Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered, and where it was assigned to U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, the docket shows. When Amazon’s licensing agreement with the content owner terminates for whatever reason, Amazon is required to pull the movie from a consumer’s “purchased folder,” which it does “without prior warning, and without providing any type of refund or remuneration,” alleged the complaint. Amazon hasn't filed an answer in the case, and didn’t respond to questions Wednesday seeking comment.
Amazon signed contracts for up to 83 launches over five years with Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance to put up its Project Kuiper broadband constellation, it said Tuesday. The launches would be the majority of its planned 3,236-satellite constellation, it said. Amazon said it has contracts for 18 Ariane 6 rockets; 12 launches using Blue Origin's New Glenn, with options for up to 15 more; and 38 launches on ULA's Vulcan Centaur. The agreement is atop Project Kuiper’s existing deal to secure nine Atlas V vehicles from ULA, it said.
Some states are opting for general fund appropriations, not a dedicated fee, to support 988 suicide prevention hotline services. Mental health advocates say that states creating a funding stream is to be applauded, but 988 services need multiple funding sources that include such a fee. CTIA has repeatedly pushed that message at statehouses.
Industry experts expect the FCC to act, probably this summer, on an enhanced competition incentive program (ECIP) now that reply comments are in docket 19-38. Several predicted the agency may wait for a third Democrat to be confirmed to the commission. Commissioners approved a Further NPRM 4-0 in November (see 2111180071) following up on a provision in the Mobile Now Act, which became law in 2018.
California's privacy agency should try to counter inequity and manipulation, said academics at California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) informational sessions this week (see 2203290062). The CPPA board held the second day Wednesday of a virtual hearing to gather background information for an upcoming rulemaking to implement the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which is the sequel to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Across the country, the Maryland House Economic Affairs Committee weighed a bill Wednesday to set up a privacy study group to make recommendations for comprehensive legislation next year.
Russia didn’t offer any “swap” or “concession” in exchange for the U.S. release of Russian cyber hacker Aleksei Burkov in August, FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran told the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing Tuesday. The division can’t comment on the wisdom of the release because it’s the Secret Service’s case, he said.
Autonomous vehicles aren’t possible without a steady supply of microchips, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said Monday during a field hearing in Detroit on China package implications for the auto industry (see 2203230065).