Apple on Monday said it will open its first data center in China to comply with new cyber security laws enacted in June.
Apple is partnering with local data management firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry to build a data center to host iCloud services. It will build the center in the southern province of Guizhou, as part of a planned $1 billion investment into the province.
“The addition of this data center will allow us to improve the speed and reliability of our products and services while also complying with newly passed regulations,” Apple said in a statement to Reuters. “These regulations require cloud services be operated by Chinese companies so we’re partnering with GCBD to offer iCloud.”
Like all of Apple’s data centers, the new Chinese operation will be powered by renewable energy. Chinese users’ information will be moved to the new facility in the coming months.
The new cyber-security law that went into effect on June 1 requires foreign firms to store data within China. Apple told Reuters: “No backdoors will be created into any of our systems” for third parties.
Competitors Amazon and Microsoft already have data centers in China.
Business leaders say money would cushion exporters against disruption after UK leaves customs union
Dublin-based trade body seeks to protect Irish exporters after Brexit.
Photograph: Marco Cristofori/Getty Images
International trade
Irish business seeks €1bn in EU aid to protect firms hit by Brexit
Business leaders say money would cushion exporters against disruption after UK leaves customs union
Irish business leaders have called for a €1bn state aid programme to guard against Brexit disruption, in the event that the UK quits the customs union.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation wants the EU to cushion Irish exporters caught up in the chaos this would cause, giving them the space to “innovate, diversify into new markets, train staff and invest for the future”.
Danny McCoy, chief executive of Ibec, said the money would protect trade between Ireland and the UK, which could become a more serious competitor on the foreign investment front as it would be free to offer state aid and other incentives once outside the EU.
Ibec’s call comes as experts working on the technical challenges of achieving a “frictionless border” between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland say that a “Nissan-type” state deal for cross-border agri-food businesses may be also be needed.
At a briefing in Brussels, McCoy warned that the UK government was leading Britain towards an “economically calamitous Brexit divorce”.
He said the UK’s approach continued “to put short-term political concerns ahead of jobs and the needs of business, without any regard for established trading relationships”.
“If the UK insists on such a policy of self-harm, a long transition period would be needed to allow companies time to adapt,” he added.
McCoy said Brexit’s impact on Ireland should be treated like a “force majeure” inflicted on Irish business.
Northern Irish agriculture leaders have previously warned that farmers could go out of business if trade barriers that made them less competitive were imposed.
“In the case of a fraught exit, funds amounting to up to €1bn over three years may be needed from domestic and EU sources to help Irish companies innovate, diversify into new markets, train staff and invest for the future,” said McCoy.
The Irish agri-food sector is concerned about the prospect of tariffs which, for beef and dairy, are among the highest imposed under World Trade Organisation rules.
Ibec says they could be crippling for businesses that rely heavily on cross-border production and trade.
About a third of milk from cows in Northern Ireland is transported across the border for production into butter, cheese and infant formula.
Eoin Magennis, senior economist at Ulster University, has calculated that the cost of tariffs on cross-border production would amount to €250-€350m a year, based on 2015 trade figures.
“We looked at the levels of cross-border trade right across the board and 70% of those tariffs would be payable on food,” Magennis said. “So the question is do both Irish and British governments just take a hit and pay that tariff to protect those businesses? Maybe there’s a Nissan-type deal to be done here on agri-food.”
He was referring to the unspecified investment pledges the Japanese car manufacturer got from Theresa May to stay in Sunderland following the EU referendum.
However, such a deal would be controversial and possibly illegal under WTO rules and could prompt protests by Scottish and Welsh producers also exporting to the EU, said Michael Lux, a customs lawyer with 40 years experience including a stint at the European commission.
“There would be some issues with compatibility with international law,” said Lux. “If you say I’d support your investments, under the subvention agreement of the WTO, that might be a problem and lead to accusations of unfair state subsidies.”
Six months after resigning from a law firm over his legislative duties, Senate President Joe Negron is joining Akerman LLP in West Palm Beach.
Negron, R-Stuart, left Gunster Law in January to avoid the “perception” of a conflict of interest with his proposal to curb Lake Okeechobee discharges. U.S. Sugar Corp., a Gunster client, at the time opposed the bill, which became law in May.
Negron worked at Akerman from 2005 to 2010. He will practice high-stakes litigation, business law and complex commercial litigation, according to the firm.
Akerman also lobbies the Legislature, which Negron will lead through the end of 2018. Among Akerman’s dozens of lobbying clients are Magic City Casino, the city of Lake Worth, Miami-Dade County and the Florida Bankers Association.
Akerman is one of the largest law firms in the country with more than 650 lawyers across 24 offices in Chicago, Miami and other cities.
Negron has 30 years of law experience and counsels officers, directors, publicly traded and privately held corporations, and individuals in an array of business disputes, including breach of contract, according to the firm’s news release.
He made $226,000 at Gunster in 2015, his financial disclosure form shows, and he started working there in 2010. After resigning, he dedicated himself to presiding over the Florida Senate and this year’s March-through-May legislative session as well as a special June session.
Negron has a Stetson University bachelor’s degree, a law degree from Emory University and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.
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Amazon, Facebook and Netflix among companies demonstrating on behalf of net neutrality, in what supporters say will be biggest online protest in history
Activists are joining forces with the biggest tech firms to fight on behalf of net neutrality.
Photograph: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images
Net neutrality
Trump’s ‘war on the open internet’: tech firms join day of action for net neutrality
Amazon, Facebook and Netflix among companies demonstrating on behalf of net neutrality, in what supporters say will be biggest online protest in history
Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and a host of other tech giants will join with online activists, librarians, minority rights and free speech groups today in a day of protest against the Trump administration’s plans to roll back rules in what critics charge is a “war on the open internet”.
The “day of action” – which supporters claim will be the largest online protest in history – comes as the new head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the US telecoms and media watchdog, prepares to defang tough rules protecting internet access in the US following pressure from cable companies and other internet service providers (ISPs).
Quick Guide
Net neutrality
What is net neutrality?
Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) treat everyone’s data equally – whether that’s an email from your mother, a bank transfer or a streamed episode of The Handmaid’s Tale. It means that ISPs don’t get to choose which data is sent more quickly, and which sites get blocked or throttled (for example, slowing the delivery of a TV show because it is streamed by a video company that competes with a subsidiary of the ISP) and who has to pay extra. For this reason, some have described net neutrality as the “first amendment of the internet”.
Why is net neutrality under threat?
In February 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to more strictly regulate ISPs and to enshrine in law the principles of net neutrality. The vote reclassified wireless and fixed-line broadband service providers as title II “common carriers”, a public utility-type designation that gives the FCC the ability to set rates, open up access to competitors and more closely regulate the industry. Two years on, Trump’s new FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, has pushed to overturn the 2015 order. On 18 May, the FCC voted to support a new proposal that would repeal the order and started a 90-day period in which members of the public could comment. The deadline for feedback is 17 July, after which the FCC has to provide reply comments by 16 August, before a final vote later in the year.
Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight For the Future, the not-for-profit group organizing the day of action, said the protest came at a critical moment for the internet. “The internet has had a profoundly democratizing impact on our society. If we lose these protections, then we will lose all that diversity,” she said.
The FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, is a longtime critic of the 2015 “open internet” rules which he has called politically motivated and “heavy handed” and has claimed stifle innovation by imposing unnecessary burdens on cable companies. Those rules have been unsuccessfully challenged in the US courts but could now be overturned by the Republican-controlled FCC.
In May, the FCC voted two to one to start the formal process of dismantling “net neutrality” rules that prevent ISPs from creating fast lanes (or slow lanes) that could favor one service over another and potentially allow them to choose winners and losers online.
Pai has called his proposed rule-making “Restoring Internet Freedom”.
The move has already sparked a huge online backlash, with more than 5.6m comments submitted to the FCC. So many comments were submitted to the FCC after the comedian John Oliver attacked Pai’s opinions that its comment system collapsed and the regulator has been flooded with fake comments from “people” in support of the weakened rules.
But Pai has remained steadfast in his commitment to roll back the measures: “Make no mistake about it: this is a fight that we intend to wage and it is a fight that we are going to win,” he said in a speech in April.
Alongside the tech companies, pressure groups and activists including the American Library Association, ACLU, Free Press, Greenpeace and National Hispanic Media Coalition will all champion their support of the current rules today and press their followers to write to the FCC and their members of Congress to stop Pai overturning them.
“Ajit Pai has made it clear that he doesn’t care what millions of people have to say or to listen to the voices of the leading technology companies in the world. That said Ajit Pai answers to Congress and Congress will soon be well aware that people from acrioss the political spectrum overwhelmingly support the current rules,” said Greer.
Another supporter, the Writers Guild of America, has called the move a “war on the open internet”.
Pai’s proposals have attracted fierce criticism from Democrats, too. In a letter to Pai sent last month, the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi said she was “dismayed” that Pai had chosen to ignore the millions of public comments filed in support of the FCC’s current rules.
“Consumers should be able to use the internet on the device they want, using the apps and services they want, without their internet provider standing in the way,” says Pelosi. “I support the current rules because they are in place to protect consumers, and I oppose your efforts to eliminate them.”
Global tech companies including Google, Netflix and Twitter joined a similar day of protest in 2014 that helped push the FCC to reclassify broadband under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, a move that regulates the internet service ISPs provide in a way similar to how it regulates access to the telephone.
Comments on the FCC’s new proposal will be open until August and an as yet unscheduled vote is expected later this year.
BEIJING: US tech giant Apple today announced that it is setting up its first data centre in China, becoming the first company to comply with a new strict law that requires foreign firms to store Chinese users’ information within the country.
The centre in the southern province of Guizhou, part of a USD 1 billion investment there, will be operated with a local data management company, the company said.
Apple said in a statement that the new centre would keep “strong data privacy and security protections in place,” adding that no back doors would be created in its systems, the New York Times reported.
“The addition of this data centre will allow us to improve the speed and reliability of our products and services while also complying with newly-passed regulations,” the company said.
The data centre in Guian New Area plans to offer iCloud services on the Chinese mainland.
The new centre will run entirely on renewable energy and will become a pilot green data centre project in southern China.
Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, said Guizhou’s efforts in sustainable development had been impressive and the province was one of the most promising places in China to set up date centres.
Apple is the first foreign firm to announce amendments to its data storage for China after the digital security regulations approved last month require foreign firms to store Chinese users’ information within the country.
The rules also call for security reviews and for users of messaging apps to register their real identities. The regulations are part of a wider Chinese industrial policy put into place to build local capabilities.
China generates 25 per cent of all Apple’s profits and is the company’s second-largest market.
For over twenty years, Jeff Ifrah’s practice has focused on the intersection of white collar crime, government investigations and iGaming.
WASHINGTON, DC – July 12, 2017 /MarketersMedia/ — Jeff Ifrah, founding partner of Ifrah Law, was again recognized by Chambers & Partners as a leader in the fields of both Gaming & Licensing and Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations in the 2016 USA Guide.
This marks the sixth year that Mr. Ifrah has been named in the category of White Collar Crime & Government Investigations (Washington, D.C.), and the second year he has been ranked nationally in the area of Gaming & Licensing Law.
“I deeply appreciate the acknowledgement by Chambers USA our clients and peers of our trial work within the areas of internet gaming securities, antitrust and advertising,” said Mr. Ifrah. “Our clients and peers weighed in, giving Ifrah Law outsized representation in this prestigious guide.”
For over twenty years, Jeff Ifrah’s practice has focused on the intersection of white collar crime, government investigations and iGaming. One client noted that he “has performed outstandingly in every aspect of my dealings with him and his firm, and he’s made often extremely complicated processes very easy to follow. One thing you know one hundred percent with Jeff is that he’ll work tirelessly to get to the best possible outcome for you.”
The Chambers Guides have been ranking the leading law firms and lawyers since 1990. The qualities on which rankings are assessed include technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial astuteness, diligence, commitment, and other qualities most valued by clients. Chambers’ researchers and editors conduct in-depth interviews with lawyers and clients, as well as information submitted by law firms, to develop a comprehensive view of the best attorneys and law firms in jurisdictions around the globe.
“These rankings are based on feedback from our peers and our clients,” said Mr. Ifrah. “Achieving this recognition indicates that the legal and business communities have taken note of the numerous successes my team and I have secured for our clients in the fields of Internet gaming, Internet advertising, and white collar litigation.”
About Ifrah Law:
Ifrah Law is a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that represents clients in a variety of litigation settings. Founded in 2009, the firm specializes in Internet advertising, iGaming, government contracts, and healthcare. Its attorneys also author three noted blogs: www.ifrahonigaming.com, covering all aspects on online gaming, www.ftcbeat.com, FTC and State AG News for Ecommerce, and www.crimeinthesuites.com, an analysis of current issues in white collar defense. For more information, please visit www.ifrahlaw.com
Jeff Ifrah Law – Hands-on Counsel, Gloves-off Litigation: http://www.jeffifrahlaw.com
Jeff Ifrah – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jeffifrah
Jeff Ifrah – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeff.ifrah
Contact Info: Name: Jeff Ifrah Email: contact@jeffifrahdc.com Organization: JeffIfrahDC.com
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NulnyhvjT_M
Dallas, July 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Winstead PC has been ranked among the nation’s 20 Best Law Firms to Work For in the area of Real Estate Law according to the recently released Vault Top 100 Law Firms For 2018. Winstead also remains in the Top 20 Firms to Work For in Texas, for the seventh consecutive year.
This is the first year Winstead has earned overall recognition in a specific category of law, but the firm has consistently maintained its inclusion in the Top 20 Firms to Work For in Texas since 2010. Winstead is ranked in the following categories:
Overall – Best Law Firms for Real Estate Law (#20)Firms voted strongest in each practice area by associates working in that area at peer firms.
Texas – Best Law Firms in Texas (#24)Reputations rated by associates of peer firms in their own region. These rankings reveal the most prestigious law firms by region across the U.S.
Vault is highly regarded for its rankings, ratings, and reviews on thousands of top employers and hundreds of internship programs across numerous industries.
“Winstead has always been among the elite real estate firms, said Winstead Chief Recruiting Officer Teresa Schneider. “But we are particularly proud of this recognition because it shows that we practice at a high level while fostering a work environment where young lawyers can hone their skills, thrive and grow with a firm that prioritizes both its clients and its lawyers.
“Winstead’s associate compensation and development structure values more than just billable hours—it takes into account a person’s intangible contributions to the firm, the legal community, and the local community more broadly.” said Winstead Real Estate Associate Holly Magliolo. “The result is a consistent and clear message that the firm sees inherent value in producing associates with a broader understanding of our firm’s role (and our individual roles) in the success of our clients, our firm and our community.”
Various methodologies are employed to obtain these rankings. All are based on associate surveys evaluating various aspects of work life, overall satisfaction; firm culture; hours; substantive work; compensation; business outlook; career outlook; associate/partner relations; leadership transparency; informal and formal training; pro bono; and overall diversity.
Winstead PC is a national business law firm with more than 325 attorneys. The firm provides a full range of business legal services to some of the most recognized and respected companies across the country and throughout the world. Winstead has offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and The Woodlands, Texas and Charlotte, North Carolina. For detailed information about Winstead, visit www.winstead.com.
Attachments:
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6a0c3b6d-58bd-4c1a-a33d-b72ce5dd7e52
Michael A. Webb
Winstead PC
214.745.5308
mwebb@winstead.com
The Wisconsin law firms of Gingras, Cates & Luebke and Richie, Wickstrom & Wachs have merged, the new company said in a statement Tuesday.
A combined venture of Gingras, Cates & Wachs will have law offices in Madison, Eau Claire and Waukesha. The firm focuses on personal injury, insurance misconduct, professional malpractice and employment law, while employing 12 attorneys and about 20 other legal professionals.
“As our firm and the reach of our clients have grown over the years, it makes sense to continue this growth with another firm that has the same philosophies, reputation and successful outcomes as ours,” attorney Beverly Wickstrom said in a statement.
Mark Thomsen, a Milwaukee attorney and chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, has also joined the merged business, the company said.
