Tighter Rules Issued for Online News Network Providers – China
China on Tuesday issued tighter rules for online news portals and network providers, the latest step in President Xi Jinping's push to secure the internet and maintain strict party control over content. Xi has made China's "cyber sovereignty" a top priority in his sweeping campaign to bolster security. He has also reasserted the ruling Communist Party's role in limiting and guiding online discussion. The new regulations, released by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on its website, extend restrictions on what news can be produced and distributed by online platforms, requiring all services to be managed by party-sanctioned editorial staff. The rules, which come into effect on June 1, apply to all political, economic, military, or diplomatic reports or opinion articles on blogs, websites, forums, search engines, instant messaging apps and all other platforms that select or edit news and information, the administration said. All such platforms must have editorial staff who are approved by the national or local government internet and information offices, while their workers must get training and reporting credentials from the central government, it said. Editorial work must be separate from business operations and only public funds can be used to pay for any work, it added. Under the rules, editorial guidance measures used for the mainstream media will be applied to online providers to ensure they too adhere to the party line, such as requiring "emergency response" measures to increase vetting of content after disasters.
FMC Rejects Japanese Lines' Merger over Jurisdiction Concerns – Japan and The United States
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Wednesday rejected the "Tripartite Agreement" by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) to jointly conduct business on the grounds the regulator did not have the authority to approve the proposal. The Commission found the parties were creating a "merged, new business entity," which the FMC cannot review. JOC.com reports the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) would be responsible for approving the deal. Prior to the ruling, the agreement would have entered into effect May 8, 2017, allowing the companies to establish the joint-venture company by July 1, 2017, and begin operations April 1, 2018. The FMC ruling does not affect an eventual DOJ decision on the matter. The FMC's vote to reject the Japanese lines' agreement, while not officially dooming, places the merger's fate on the hands of an agency clearly skeptical of the ocean transport industry's recent consolidation. In March, the DOJ subpoenaed various major ocean carriers, albeit without official allegations. Since then, a hearing and various reports have suggested the agency is investigating price collusion on service providers and includes probing into the major new alliances. Further evidence of the agency's stance on maritime carriers banding together can be found in a September letter by the agency's Antitrust Division to the FMC. In the letter, Acting Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse urges the FMC to limit the Ocean Alliance's jurisdiction, or enjoin it.
Malware Targets MacOS – Global
Mac users are increasingly being targeted by malware after years of being relatively safe, and that means they're facing attacks that other users have unfortunately come to expect for a while. Check Point researchers have discovered Dok, the first "major scale" trojan that targets MacOS through an email phishing campaign. The bogus messages (usually aimed at European users) are meant to trick you into downloading a ZIP file that, if you launch it, gives the malware control over your system and lets attackers intercept your internet traffic to spy on your activity or impersonate websites. It'll even delete itself when the intruders are done. Like many attachment-based phishing attacks, you have to go out of your way to infect your system. You're not going to get a Dok infection just by opening a message, thankfully. And if you do fall prey to the malware, iMore has instructions that will help you scrub your system clean. However, the rogue code also appears to rely on a faked certificate that bypasses Apple's Gatekeeper screening, giving it carte blanche if you're not careful. It might be easy to avoid, but it's potentially very damaging if it gets through and you don't look for warning signs.
