25 January 2020

This Week in Apps: Apple antitrust issues come to Congress, subscription apps boom, Tencent takes on TikTok


Welcome back to ThisWeek in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all.

The app industry is as hot as ever with a record 204 billion downloads in 2019 and $120 billion in consumer spending in 2019, according to App Annie’s recently released “State of Mobile” annual report. People are now spending 3 hours and 40 minutes per day using apps, rivaling TV. Apps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours — they’re a big business. In 2019, mobile-first companies had a combined $544 billion valuation, 6.5x higher than those without a mobile focus.

In this Extra Crunch series, we help you keep up with the latest news from the world of apps, delivered on a weekly basis.

This week, there was a ton of app news. We’re digging into the latest with Apple’s antitrust issues, Tencent’s plan to leverage WeChat to fend off the TikTok threat, AppsFlyer’s massive new round, the booming subscription economy, Disney’s mobile game studio sale, Pokémon GO’s boost to tourism, Match Group’s latest investment and much more. And did you see the app that lets you use your phone from within a paper envelope? Or the new AR social network? It’s Weird App Week, apparently.

Headlines

5 Sites to Find Ethical Alternatives to Tech, Fashion, and Unfair Brands


ethical-alternatives-brands

It’s time to make better choices in what we buy and consume. From using eco-friendly products to buying from companies that treat their workers fairly, here’s how you can find ethical alternatives to anything.

When we talk about making an ethical choice, there are different aspects to look at. For example, how a company behaves with its employees or a firm’s carbon footprint, or even how they treat animals. Importantly, you don’t need to be strict about ethical choices either. The first step is finding out what’s out there.

1. Ethical.net (Web): List of Ethical Tech Alternatives

Ethical.net lists ethical alternatives to technology products, brands, and services

Ethical.net is one of the leading websites to find ethical alternatives to several technological brands, products, and services. It also features articles with different takes on ethical choices, such as a guide to foraging and the ethical and sustainable side of Christmas.

The Resources tab has the long list that you’re looking for. It deals with apps and tech services, such as email and search engines, broadband providers, streaming services, office tools, messaging, etc. But look closely for a few interesting choices.

For instance, it’s no secret that most major companies make smartphones in China where labor is exploited. And there are several privacy implications too.

Ethical.net suggests alternatives for smartphones that adhere to certain ethical standards, like the sustainable and ethical Shiftphone.

Apart from the readymade resources, the website also hosts an active forum where you can discuss such topics with like-minded people. You can learn from each other and find what ethical living is all about, plus get recommendations for things not on the lists.

2. Take Care (Web): Discover Companies Focusing on Sustainability and Ethics

Take Care is a catalogue of companies that focus on sustainability and ethics

Take Care is creating a platform for laypeople to discover companies that focus on sustainable methods and ethical practices. The fields range from food and health to large-scale projects like architecture or biotechnology.

There are so many ethical issues out there, and so many companies are tackling it in their own unique way.

For example, the simple toothpaste you use every day has questionable ingredients and is eventually packaged in non-recyclable plastic. So there’s a company called Bite that’s making zero waste toothpaste tablets, packaged in glass bottles.

It would be difficult to find out about a company like Bite without a platform like Take Care. There are a few featured companies on the main page but dive into the full list to discover innovative solutions to the problems we face today. You might find a simple way to make a difference with a small change.

3. Eticaly, Good On You, and r/EthicalFashion (Web): Fashion Without Ethical Compromises

Eticaly hosts a catalogue of eco-friendly, vegan, handmade, fair trade, and zero waste fashion brands

The fashion, style, and beauty industries are notorious for ethical transgressions such as mistreatment of animals, unfair trade practices, and wasteful productions. But if you thought that looking good requires that compromise, a few websites are here to dispel that notion.

Eticaly and Good On You round up ethical fashion brands, and categorize them based on their values.

Eticaly filters them by eco-friendly, vegan, handmade, fair trade, and zero waste.

Good On You categorizes brands by the type of product, and measures each company’s impact on planet, people, and animals.

Go through the list to find specific issues like organic wear or reusing deadstock fabrics. Both are simple catalogs though, stating what each brand does and linking back to the official store.

r/EthicalFashion is a subreddit to discuss fashion and style choices that take some sort of an ethical stance. The community also maintains a master list of ethical fashion brands to add to what you’ll find at Eticaly or Good On You.

Plus, if you’re unsure about any fashion choice, you could ask others to look into it. It’s a fairly supportive subreddit that tries to help rather than preach.

4. Ethical Consumer (Web): UK-Based Non-Profit Since 1989

Ethical Consumer ranks products and brands, and educates people about the ethical problems across goods

Since 1989, Ethical Consumer magazine has been tracking how companies and products affect different problems such as climate impact, sustainability, fair trade, or human rights violations.

While primarily meant for the UK, the advice on the website is generally applicable anywhere in the world.

The magazine does an excellent job of investigating, scoring, and ranking the ethical and environmental records of several common products. These product guides are largely distributed in categories like energy, fashion and clothing, food and drinks, health and beauty, home and garden, money, retailers, technology, and travel.

In each category, you can also find a cheatsheet for the major issues affecting that industry. Ethical Consumer will explain, in simple terms, the problem and how you can make a difference.

The website also maintains a Boycotts List.

Campaign groups often call for consumers to boycott a certain brand or product due to an ethical violation. Ethical Consumer lists all of them in one page, with a quick explanation of why you should avoid it.

5. Platar (Chrome): Extension to Suggest Alternatives While Shopping

Platar is a Chrome extension that suggests ethical alternatives to products while you're shopping online

You don’t need to remember every single cause you want to support or brand you want to avoid. Google Chrome extension Platar will do that for you, suggesting an ethical alternative while shopping online.

Once you activate Platar, you get to choose from a list of campaigns started by organizations like PETA, Greenpeace, Clean Sugar Campaign, and even Ethical Consumer.

Sign up for those causes you believe in, and Platar will add products from their boycott list. You can even add campaigns yourself, but they’ll have to be approved by the app.

When you’re browsing Amazon or another shopping site and come across one of those products, the Platar icon turns red. Click the icon to find out why the product or brand is recommended for a boycott.

Platar also suggests a few alternatives from brands that aren’t on its no-no list. It’s a convenient way to keep shopping while retaining your conscience.

Download: Platar for Chrome (Free)

For an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle

Being more aware of your purchase decisions is only one step in helping build a better planet. But it’s still an excellent step to take, especially for beginners. If you want to do more and go green, then check out these apps for a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

Image Credit: IgorVetushko/Depositphotos

Read the full article: 5 Sites to Find Ethical Alternatives to Tech, Fashion, and Unfair Brands


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7 Underground Torrent Sites for Getting Uncensored Content


utorrent-scandal

Everyone loves Google and Bing, but normal search engines only brush the surface of the internet. To dive into the underground internet, you need to use underground search engines.

In many cases, these search engines are tapped into what is currently termed the invisible web, also known as the dark web. It contains information available on the internet that standard search engines don’t have access to because they are buried behind query forms or directory requests.

The following specialized underground search engines let you access all those hidden areas of the internet, like a legal torrent search engine or public records. Note that none of these can get you in trouble.

1. The Best Torrent Search Engines

If you aren’t familiar with torrents, it’s essentially a shared file that other nodes (computers) on the network can download. People access these networks using torrent clients like BitTorrent or uTorrent. Downloads take place in pieces so that even if you shut down your computer in the middle of a download, you can continue your download later.

With that said, finding available torrent files isn’t easy. To help, you can use a torrent search site like the ones on the list.

However, if you use any of the following popular torrent sites, you’ll have little trouble finding what you need.

The Pirate Bay

the pirate bay torrent search engine
The Pirate Bay has been a source for searching torrents for a long time. While other torrent search sites have shut down, this one remains.

You can search for anything from music and TV shows, to games, and applications.

For listings, you’ll see links to launch your torrent client to download.

the pirate bay torrent listing

Limetorrents

limetorrents search page

Limetorrents is another one that’s been around for many years.

If you click on the Other or Browse links, you can sift through available torrent files (there are millions).

When you start browsing through the available torrent files, you’ll be surprised at the wide assortment of files available.

Torrent networks get a bad rap because of the illegal content you’ll find there, but you can also find useful things like free e-books, manuals, and other hard-to-find content.

limetorrents torrent search engine

There’s even an anime category!

RARBG

rarbg torrent search engine
RARBG has been a favorite among torrent fans for some time. You can click on the Torrents tab to use the torrent search engine (or browse the list of new additions).

Or you can browse specific categories by clicking any of the links along the left side of the main page. You’ll also find a frequently updated top 10 list or read any recent torrent news.

Torrentz2

torrenz2 torrent search engine
Torrentz2 has been around since around 2016 and sprung up when the original Torrentz site shut down. It’s what’s known as a “meta-search” engine, meaning that it scours through results from multiple torrent search engines so you don’t have to.

The main page touts over 61 million files in its database. So whether you’re looking to find something specific, or you’re just looking to browse, you’re likely to find what you want here.

Search results show you download size, user rating, and the estimated download time (based on the number of peers that are sharing).

AIO Search

aio torrent search engine
AIO Search is another meta-search engine for torrent files.

What makes it unique is that you can select specific torrent search engines that you want to include.

The list of torrent sites this search engine plugs into is impressive. The results show up almost like an embedded web browser, with an individual tab showing search results from the individual torrent search engine.

You can also use it to search secret torrent search engines for images, videos, sub-titles, shared files, and even your favorite show.

Other Free Torrent Search Engines You Can Try:

2. Hidden Bargains and Deals

If you search Google for cheap laptops or other gadgets, you’re likely to see results from standard corporate entities like Amazon or eBay.

However, there are databases of extremely cheap (or free!) stuff buried inside a multitude of website directories.

Prospector

free stuff on prospector

Prospector has been around for many years.

It’s like a massive yard sale where everyone is giving away stuff for free.

The site boasts thousands of links to websites that offer things like free file hosting, free stock photos, and free applications.

Bargains on Facebook

free stuff on facebook marketplace
What’s the best way to get actual free goods from your local neighbors? Since most of them are on Facebook, the answer seems obvious.

Just visit Facebook Marketplace, and search for “free stuff” to see what your neighbors are giving away.

Since Facebook already knows where you live, all the listings are in your local area. Or you can set the search area by changing the location field.

If you don’t mind paying a little bit of money for even better stuff, just adjust the price min and max fields to add a price filter.

cheap stuff on facebook marketplace

With so much waste in the world already, why let your neighbors throw away things that you need?

Free Stuff on Craigslist

free stuff on craigslist
It would be foolish to overlook Craigslist if you’re looking for free stuff.

Nearly every community on Craigslist has a free category under the for sale section.

Instead of going to Walmart to buy something, why not check Craigslist to reuse someone else’s?

It’s better than adding even more items to the world’s growing landfills.

Other Good Freebie Sites You Can Try:

3. Search for House Sales and Foreclosures

One of the easiest ways to get into a home at a below-market price is to shop for foreclosures.

There are piles of these properties sitting in official databases throughout the web, but no easy way to find them with Google.

Foreclosure Free Search

foreclosure free search
Foreclosure Free Search is a search engine that sifts through various sources of foreclosure listings from across the country (U.S. only).

Unlike the paid sites—it offers price, address, and other information about the property.

Foreclosure Free Search is one of the unsung heroes of free foreclosure search engines.

Trulia

trulia property listings

Trulia has been around for many years now. It’s a real estate search engine that provides real estate information from various sources.

To get the best bargains, search in your desired neighborhood, and then click All For Sale from the menu. Choose Foreclosures.

trulia foreclosure listings

If you prefer to avoid foreclosures, Trulia also shows recent price fluctuations up or down. This way you can jump on a good deal the moment a seller drops their price.

4. Public Records Search Engines

Another common search that isn’t easy to find are public records. Most public records search engines are disguised commercial companies trying to sell paid public records as search results to you.

The following search engines give you access to “secret” databases where you can search public records for free.

Public Record Center 

public record center

The Public Record Center is different. It’s more of an underground “portal” to government websites than a search engine.

However, it’s organized so well that it’ll save you a lot of time if you’re not sure where to go to find the public database.

Using the Public Record Center you can find government databases for court judgments and liens, conduct asset searches, and even look up copyright and trademark information.

The Public Record Authority

the public record authority

Like the Public Record Center, the Public Record Authority is a trustworthy resource for links to your local and state public databases.

The site offers browsable lists of court records, federal agency databases, and unclaimed funds.

Make sure to check your state records for unclaimed funds under your name. You never know what might turn up!

Other Public Records Portals You Can Try:

5. Legal Search Engines

Ever hear of a search engine that lets you dig up legal information from the web?

Neither did I, until I discovered Cornell’s Legal Information Institute.

This amazing little search engine digs through the institute’s extensive legal library and pulls out any information that you might need. This could include family law, criminal law, labor law and much more.

legal information institute

There are search engines buried throughout this excellent legal resource providing court opinion information, constitutional insights, and much more.

If you have any interest in law at all, take some time to check this one out.

Other Legal Search Engines You Can Try:

6. Paranormal Search Engine and UFO Sightings

If you’re into UFOs, you’ll love the amazing stories you’ll read about in all the underground databases for UFO sightings.

All the private national UFO sightings centers maintain meticulous records of everyone who calls in a report.

MUFON Case Management System

mufon ufo database
The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) is one of the nation’s central clearinghouses for UFO sightings.

MUFON investigators receive calls about sightings and then head out on field investigations. They then enter the information they gather into their reporting database.

This database is completely open to the public and searchable only through this case search form. Google has no idea any of these stories exist.

UFO Stalker

ufo stalker database

One of the most entertaining UFO databases is UFO Stalker. At this site, you’ll see an interactive map that shows most of the recent UFO sightings.

If the sighting was a UFO, it’ll have a UFO icon. If it’s a black triangle, it’ll show a stealth fighter… I mean a black triangle UFO, and so on.

When you click on any of the icons, you can click on the title to read the story.

Many of these sightings include lots of great blurry videos and photos as evidence!

Other UFO Databases You Can Try:

Searching the Underbelly of the Internet

I hope you’ve enjoyed strolling through the deep, dark, depths of the underground internet.

If you’re hungry for more, continue on by exploring our list of the best dark web websites online with TOR search engines. Just remember that once you head down the rabbit hole, there’s no turning back.

Read the full article: 7 Underground Torrent Sites for Getting Uncensored Content


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Vine reboot Byte officially launches


Two years after Vine’s co-founder Dom Hofmann announced he was building a successor to the short-form video app, today Byte makes its debut on iOS and Android. Byte lets you shoot or upload and then share six-second videos. The tiny time limit necessitates no-filler content that’s denser than the maximum 1-minute clips on TikTok.

Byte comes equipped with standard social features like a feed, Explore page, notifications, and profiles. For now, though Byte lacks the remixability, augmented reality filters, transition effects, and other bonus features you’ll find in apps like TikTok.

What Hofmann hopes will differentiate Byte is an early focus on helping content creators make money — something TikTok, and other micro-entertainment apps largely don’t offer. The app plans to soon launch a pilot of its partner program for offering monetization options to people proving popular on Byte. When asked if Byte would offer ad revenue sharing, tipping, or other options to partners, Hofmann told me that “We’re looking at all of those, but we’ll be starting with a revenue share + supplementing with our own funds. We’ll have more details about exactly how the pilot program will work soon.”

Many creators who’ve grown popular on apps like TikTok and Snapchat that lack direct monetization have tried to pull their audiences over to YouTube where they can earn a steady ad-share. By getting started paying early, Byte might lure some of those dancers, comedians, and pranksters over to its app and be able to retain them long-term. Former Vine stars turned TikTok stars like Chris Melberger. Joshdarnit, and Lance Stewart are already on Byte.

Staying connected with Byte’s most loyal users is another way Hofmann hopes to set his app apart. He’s been actively running a beta tester forum since the initial Byte announcement in early 2018, and sees it as a way to find out what features to build next. “It’s always a bummer when the people behind online services and the people that actually use them are disconnected from one another, so we’re trying out these forums to see if we can do a better job at that” Hofmann writes.

Byte founder Dom Hofmann

Byte is a long time coming. To rewind all the way, Hofmann co-founded Vine in June 2012 with Colin Kroll and Rus Yusupov, but it was acquired by Twitter before its launch in January 2013. By that fall, Hofmann had left the company. But 2014 and 2015 saw Vine’s popularity grow thanks to rapid-fire comedy skits and the creativity unlocked by its looping effect. Vine reached over 200 million active users. Then the unthinkable happened. Desperate to cut costs, Twitter shut down Vine’s sharing feed in late 2016 so it wouldn’t have to host any more video content. The creative web mourned.

By then, Hofmann had already built the first version of Byte, which offered more free-form creation. You could pull together photos, GIFs, drawings and more into little shareable creations. But this prototype never gained steam. Hofmann gave Vine fans hope when he announced plans to build a successor called V2 in early 2018, but cancelled it a few months later. Hofmann got more serious about the project by then end of 2018, announcing the name Byte and then beginning beta testing in April 2019.

Now the big question will be whether Byte can take off despite its late start. Between TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and more, do people need another short-form video app? Winning here will require seducing high quality creators who can get bigger view counts elsewhere. Considering there’s already a pile of TikTok competitors like Dubsmash, Triller, Firework, and Facebook’s Lasso available in the US, creators seeking stardom on a less competitive network already have plenty of apps to try. Hofmann may have to rely on the soft spot for Vine in people’s memories to get enough activity on Byte to recreate its predecessor’s magic.


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Vine reboot Byte officially launches


Two years after Vine’s co-founder Dom Hofmann announced he was building a successor to the short-form video app, today Byte makes its debut on iOS and Android. Byte lets you shoot or upload and then share six-second videos. The tiny time limit necessitates no-filler content that’s denser than the maximum 1-minute clips on TikTok.

Byte comes equipped with standard social features like a feed, Explore page, notifications, and profiles. For now, though Byte lacks the remixability, augmented reality filters, transition effects, and other bonus features you’ll find in apps like TikTok.

What Hofmann hopes will differentiate Byte is an early focus on helping content creators make money — something TikTok, and other micro-entertainment apps largely don’t offer. The app plans to soon launch a pilot of its partner program for offering monetization options to people proving popular on Byte. When asked if Byte would offer ad revenue sharing, tipping, or other options to partners, Hofmann told me that “We’re looking at all of those, but we’ll be starting with a revenue share + supplementing with our own funds. We’ll have more details about exactly how the pilot program will work soon.”

Many creators who’ve grown popular on apps like TikTok and Snapchat that lack direct monetization have tried to pull their audiences over to YouTube where they can earn a steady ad-share. By getting started paying early, Byte might lure some of those dancers, comedians, and pranksters over to its app and be able to retain them long-term. Former Vine stars turned TikTok stars like Chris Melberger. Joshdarnit, and Lance Stewart are already on Byte.

Staying connected with Byte’s most loyal users is another way Hofmann hopes to set his app apart. He’s been actively running a beta tester forum since the initial Byte announcement in early 2018, and sees it as a way to find out what features to build next. “It’s always a bummer when the people behind online services and the people that actually use them are disconnected from one another, so we’re trying out these forums to see if we can do a better job at that” Hofmann writes.

Byte founder Dom Hofmann

Byte is a long time coming. To rewind all the way, Hofmann co-founded Vine in June 2012 with Colin Kroll and Rus Yusupov, but it was acquired by Twitter before its launch in January 2013. By that fall, Hofmann had left the company. But 2014 and 2015 saw Vine’s popularity grow thanks to rapid-fire comedy skits and the creativity unlocked by its looping effect. Vine reached over 200 million active users. Then the unthinkable happened. Desperate to cut costs, Twitter shut down Vine’s sharing feed in late 2016 so it wouldn’t have to host any more video content. The creative web mourned.

By then, Hofmann had already built the first version of Byte, which offered more free-form creation. You could pull together photos, GIFs, drawings and more into little shareable creations. But this prototype never gained steam. Hofmann gave Vine fans hope when he announced plans to build a successor called V2 in early 2018, but cancelled it a few months later. Hofmann got more serious about the project by then end of 2018, announcing the name Byte and then beginning beta testing in April 2019.

Now the big question will be whether Byte can take off despite its late start. Between TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and more, do people need another short-form video app? Winning here will require seducing high quality creators who can get bigger view counts elsewhere. Considering there’s already a pile of TikTok competitors like Dubsmash, Triller, Firework, and Facebook’s Lasso available in the US, creators seeking stardom on a less competitive network already have plenty of apps to try. Hofmann may have to rely on the soft spot for Vine in people’s memories to get enough activity on Byte to recreate its predecessor’s magic.


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Google backtracks on search results design


Earlier today, Google href="https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1220768238490939394?s=21"> announced that it would be redesigning the redesign of its search results as a response to withering criticism from politicians, consumers, and the press over the way in which search results display were made to look like ads.

Google makes money when users of its search service click on ads. It doesn’t make money when people click on an unpaid search result. Making ads look like search results makes Google more money.

It’s also a pretty evil (or at least unethical) business decision by a company whose mantra was “Don’t be evil”(although they gave that up in 2018).

Users began noticing the changes to search results last week and at least one user flagged the changes earlier this week.

Google responded with a bit of doublespeak from its corporate account about how the redesign was intended to achieve the opposite effect of what it was actually doing.

“Last year, our search results on mobile gained a new look. That’s now rolling out to desktop results this week, presenting site domain names and brand icons prominently, along with a bolded ‘Ad’ label for ads,” the company wrote.

Virginia’s Senator Mark Warner took a break from impeachment hearings to talk to the Washington Post about just how bad the new search redesign was.

“We’ve seen multiple instances over the last few years where Google has made paid advertisements ever more indistinguishable from organic search results,” Warner told the Post. “This is yet another example of a platform exploiting its bottleneck power for commercial gain, to the detriment of both consumers and also small businesses.”

Google’s changes to its search results happened despite the fact that the company is already being investigated by every state in the country for antitrust violations.

For Google, the rationale is simple. The company’s advertising revenues aren’t growing the way they used to, and the company is looking at a slowdown in its core business. To try and juice the numbers, dark patterns present an attractive way forward.

Indeed, Google’s using the same tricks that it once battled to become the premier search service in the U.S. When the company first launched its search service, ads were clearly demarcated and separated from actual search results returned by Google’s algorithm. Over time, the separation between what was an ad and what wasn’t became increasingly blurred.

“Search results were near-instant and they were just a page of links and summaries – perfection with nothing to add or take away,” user experience expert Harry Brignull (and founder of the watchdog website darkpatterns.org) said of the original Google search results in an interview with TechCrunch.

“The back-propagation algorithm they introduced had never been used to index the web before, and it instantly left the competition in the dust. It was proof that engineers could disrupt the rules of the web without needing any suit-wearing executives. Strip out all the crap. Do one thing and do it well.”

“As Google’s ambitions changed, the tinted box started to fade. It’s completely gone now,” Brignull added.

The company acknowledged that its latest experiment might have gone too far in its latest statement and noted that it will “experiment further” on how it displays results.


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The Pentagon pushes back on Huawei ban in bid for ‘balance’


Huawei may have just found itself an ally in the most unexpected of places. According to a new report out of The Wall Street Journal, both the Defense and Treasury Departments are pushing back on a Commerce Department-led ban on sales from the embattled Chinese hardware giant.

That move, in turn, has reportedly led Commerce Department officials to withdraw a proposal set to make it even more difficult for U.S.-based companies to work with Huawei.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper struck a fittingly pragmatic tone while speaking with the paper, noting, “We have to be conscious of sustaining those [technology] companies’ supply chains and those innovators. That’s the balance we have to strike.”

Huawei, already under fire for allegations of flouting sanctions with other countries, has become a centerpiece of a simmering trade war between the Trump White House and China. The smartphone maker has been barred from selling 5G networking equipment due to concerns over its close ties to the Chinese government.

Last year, meanwhile, the government barred Huawei from utilizing software and components from U.S.-based companies, including Google. Huawei is also expected to be a key talking point in upcoming White House discussions, as officials weigh actions against the repercussions they’ll ultimately have for U.S. partners.

The Commerce Department has yet to offer any official announcement related to the report.


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The Pentagon pushes back on Huawei ban in bid for ‘balance’


Huawei may have just found itself an ally in the most unexpected of places. According to a new report out of The Wall Street Journal, both the Defense and Treasury Departments are pushing back on a Commerce Department-led ban on sales from the embattled Chinese hardware giant.

That move, in turn, has reportedly led Commerce Department officials to withdraw a proposal set to make it even more difficult for U.S.-based companies to work with Huawei.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper struck a fittingly pragmatic tone while speaking with the paper, noting, “We have to be conscious of sustaining those [technology] companies’ supply chains and those innovators. That’s the balance we have to strike.”

Huawei, already under fire for allegations of flouting sanctions with other countries, has become a centerpiece of a simmering trade war between the Trump White House and China. The smartphone maker has been barred from selling 5G networking equipment due to concerns over its close ties to the Chinese government.

Last year, meanwhile, the government barred Huawei from utilizing software and components from U.S.-based companies, including Google. Huawei is also expected to be a key talking point in upcoming White House discussions, as officials weigh actions against the repercussions they’ll ultimately have for U.S. partners.

The Commerce Department has yet to offer any official announcement related to the report.


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