Chinese electronics giant Huawei is preparing to sue the United States government for barring federal agencies from using its telecommunications equipment. The lawsuit is expected to challenge the law on the basis that it singles out a person or group for punishment without a trial, which the US Constitution prohibits. Meanwhile, Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government. In November 2018, Meng was arrested in Canada on suspicion of violating US sanctions against Iran; she is fighting extradition to the US. Some Canadians view Meng’s life in Vancouver detention as “luxurious.” [Raymond Zhong and Paul Mozur / The New York Times]
Recode Daily: China’s Huawei prepares to sue the US government; its CFO has already sued Canada
Plus: Congressional Democrats unveil legislation to reinstate net neutrality rules; with an all-star slate of creators, the Luminary app wants to be the Netflix of podcasts; the AI diet.
Congressional Democrats plan to unveil the “Save the Internet Act” tomorrow; the legislation aims to reinstate the net neutrality rules repealed by the Trump administration in December 2017. The Republican-controlled Senate voted in May 2018 to reinstate the rules, but the House did not take up the issue before Congress adjourned last year. [David Shepardson / Reuters]
Joining three other Republican senators, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he will support a House resolution opposing President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the US-Mexico border. Paul’s vote could give Democrats the 51st and decisive vote they need to send the measure to Trump — who has said he would veto it. “But it’s worth taking stock of how significant this moment is — and how it could potentially impact the battle that actually will decide the fate of the national emergency declaration: the legal case.” [Aaron Blake / The Washington Post]
A new subscription-based podcasting service aims to be the Netflix of podcasts. For $7.99 a month, the Luminary app will launch by June with more than 40 original shows by Lena Dunham, Trevor Noah, and Malcolm Gladwell, along with fresh content from Bill Simmons’ The Ringer, Planet Money creator Adam Davidson, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. And there’s more, including a follow-up to John Cameron Mitchell’s musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, starring Broadway diva Patti LuPone as a bebop-singing junkie nun. “We want to become synonymous with podcasting in the same way Netflix has become synonymous with streaming,” said Luminary co-founder and CEO Matt Sacks. [Brooks Barnes / The New York Times]
Days before the company’s annual meeting, Walt Disney cut tens of millions of dollars of future potential earnings for CEO Bob Iger. According to a regulatory filing, Iger’s target annual compensation will be cut 28 percent to $35 million after Disney’s completes its deal to acquire assets from 21st Century Fox. Iger will still be one of the highest-paid CEOs of a publicly traded US company: “Iger’s annual target compensation would have risen to $48.5 million, from roughly $32 million before the deal was announced, an increase of about 50 percent.” Investors are set to vote on Disney’s executive compensation program at the company’s annual meeting on Thursday. [Anders Melin, Jenn Zhao, and Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg]
Top stories from Recode
Trump reportedly tried to order a lawsuit to block the AT&T/Time Warner merger. “I want that deal blocked!” [Peter Kafka]
How New York City earned its reputation for being tough on tech. Community outrage over Amazon HQ2 is just one example of the city demanding oversight of tech’s expansion. [Shirin Ghaffary]
This is cool
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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