President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday unveiled a tightening of rules for immigration visas used widely by technology firms, claiming the new system would be better for American workers.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the new regulations for so-called H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, which allow up to 85,000 immigrants annually.

The move marked a new step aimed at tightening immigration under the Trump administration, which sought to block the H-1B program in a move halted last week by a federal judge.

Tuesday's new regulations, details of which were not disclosed, would narrow the definition of "specialty occupation" which according to DHS "allowed companies to game the system."

The plan, to be implemented after a 60-day comment period, would also seek to require firms to make "real" offers to US residents before seeking to bring in foreigners and add new compliance mechanisms.

The visa program has been widely used by Silicon Valley firms to bring in engineers and other skilled workers, many coming from India. Critics have said the program has depressed salaries in some professions.

"We have entered an era in which economic security is an integral part of homeland security," acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement.

"Put simply, economic security is homeland security. In response, we must do everything we can within the bounds of the law to make sure the American worker is put first."

Last week, US District Judge Jeffrey White in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction to block the government from ending the H-1B visa program, in a case brought by the US Chamber of Commerce and supported by technology trade groups.

TechNet, a trade group which includes many Silicon Valley firms, denounced the new regulations, calling it an effort to circumvent the court order.

"The administration is flouting the court's ruling by issuing different rules to try to obtain the result it wants," TechNet president Linda Moore said.

"This new rule only harms America's ability to recover from the pandemic during this critical time and has zero impact on increasing domestic American jobs."

Lawmakers slam Big Tech 'monopolies' in new report
Washington (AFP) Oct 6, 2020 - A House of Representatives panel said in a report Tuesday that four Big Tech firms are "monopolies" which abuse their market dominance and called for sweeping changes to antitrust laws and enforcement, which could potentially lead to breakups of the giant firms.

But the report by the staff of the House Judiciary Committee failed to win the endorsement of Republican members, highlighting a partisan divide despite widespread criticism of the tech giants.

The 449-page document concluded that Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google "engage in a form of their own private quasi regulation that is unaccountable to anyone but themselves."

"To put it simply, companies that once were scrappy, underdog startups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons," the report said.

The report comes after an investigation of more than 15 months and hearings this year with the top executives of the four firms, in parallel to antitrust probes being led by federal and state enforcers.

Judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler and antitrust subcommittee chairman David Cicilline said in a joint statement that the tech firms "each possess significant market power over large swaths of our economy" and that all have "exploited their power of the marketplace in anticompetitive ways."

The report suggests moves which could lead to breakups without offering details on doing so.

It calls for "structural separations" to prohibit companies from competing on platforms they operate.

Also recommended was a requirement that platforms allow "interoperability" with competitors and the establishment of a standard to halt acquisitions that hurt competition.

The findings echo a growing backlash against the firms which have seen their fortunes rise in recent years as they extend market dominance, even during the coronavirus pandemic.

But while Democrats have assailed the growing market power of tech platforms, Republicans have decried what they consider bias by the Silicon Valley firms against conservatives.

Republican panel members declined to endorse the report, highlighting the partisan divide on tech regulation.

"Big Tech is out to get conservatives," Representative Jim Jordan said as the report was issued.

"Unfortunately the Democrats' partisan report ignores this fundamental problem and instead advances radical proposals that would refashion antitrust law in the vision of the far left."

Matt Schruers of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a trade group including some of the large tech firms, said the lawmakers failed to understand the digital economy.

"If the goal is simply to knock down successful US businesses, then perhaps this plan would score a hit," he said.

"But if the goal is to benefit consumers, which has until now been the standard for antitrust policy, it is hard to see how this would do anything but invite regulators to micromanage business models."

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Germany mulls law to fight labour abuses abroad
Frankfurt Am Main (AFP) Sept 30, 2020
When German carmakers seek cobalt from Congolese mines or when a chocolatier sources cocoa beans from Ghana, they may soon no longer be able to hide behind their suppliers if it turns out that the producers are using child labour or flouting environmental standards. Under a new law proposed by the labour and development ministries, companies above a certain size will have to meet social and environmental rules all along their production chains. The mooted law was spurred on by a deadly fire in a ... read more