The FCC warned Congress of “limits to the feasibility” of giving the public unrestricted access to 911 over Wi-Fi or unlicensed spectrum. “Existing Wi-Fi and unlicensed infrastructure typically are not engineered to provide the resiliency and reliability needed to support communications in a major emergency and are likely to be affected by many of the same conditions that impair mobile networks” then, said the report in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. Opening the platforms for 911 “would require modifying or disabling authentication protocols and other safeguards, which could result in increased vulnerability,” the FCC said. It backed “further study of the technical and policy challenges.” The document was required in Ray Baum's Act.

Global e-commerce generated $4 trillion in 2020 revenue, up nearly 27% year on year, BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz told a Bank of America virtual investor conference. “Not only are we ordering more and more online, we want our deliveries to arrive faster than ever” and in a manner that doesn’t worsen traffic congestion or emissions, he said Monday. General Motors launched BrightDrop in January as “a true ecosystem of all-electric, first-to-last-mile solutions,” he said. Though e-commerce demand is soaring, “consumers are increasingly saying they want their packages delivered without harming the environment,” said Katz, a former Trip.com and News Corp. executive. "Global package alone is expected to be a $300 billion market this year.”

Consumers who do primary grocery shopping in store vs. online inched up to 71.5% from 71.2% a month ago, Resonate reported Tuesday of a survey fielded Feb. 22-March 10, after 107 million COVID-19 vaccines were administered. The in-store grocery portion rose from 68.6% in December and 61.9% in June. Just over 24% of respondents would buy electronics in store vs. online, up from 18.8% in August. Some 55% aren't going to crowded activities such as movie theaters or concerts until the coronavirus is under control.

Proposed European Commission plans to update cybersecurity rules are overbroad and need clarification, ICANN said Friday. The revisions to the network and information security directive (NIS2), part of a package aimed at tightening rules for online platforms, will affect ICANN (see 2101290006). Responding to an EC consultation, ICANN said NIS2 could have "far-reaching impacts" on the domain name system: The directive captures all DNS service providers. It urged the EC to consider distinguishing between providers of authoritative domain name resolution services (the "publication" side of domain name resolution) and providers of recursive domain resolution services (the name resolving side). Entities that operate a resolver service, often now otherwise classified as essential or important, are within the scope of the draft because they host a domain name or operate a recursive resolver, ICANN said. Providers of authoritative domain name resolution services should qualify as essential only if they serve domains of such important entities, it said. NIS2 requires EU governments to ensure that top-level domain registries and registrars collect and maintain accurate and complete domain name registration data in a "dedicated database facility with due diligence" subject to EU data protection law. ICANN said no entity can guarantee the integrity and availability of domain name registration data. The European Internet Services Providers Association noted only two years have passed since the effective date of the directive, meaning EU countries have had little time for assessment. NIS2 will raise costs for affected providers and should be future-proofed, said EuroISPA. The Information Technology Industry Council urged the EC to ensure reporting requirements are harmonized across the EU. The Internet Systems Consortium, which runs an ICANN authoritative root server, recommended NIS2 not include root name servers, saying doing so could destabilize the unitary DNS system. Verisign encouraged the EC to turn to ICANN's multistakeholder community for details on how EU governments can implement NIS2 consistently.

Walmart and Amazon are expanding major connected health initiatives, with Walmart trying to bring more customers into stores through its COVID-19 vaccine program (2103170065) and Amazon expanding Amazon Care, a healthcare service with telehealth and in-person components. Amazon Care launched in Washington state 18 months ago for company employees and their families and made it available last week to other Washington-based companies. Amazon plans to launch the telehealth service across the U.S. this summer to give “millions” of Americans access to “high-quality medical care” and advice 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it said. Amazon will expand its virtual care to companies and Amazon employees in all 50 states this summer, while the in-person service expands to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, “and other cities” in coming months. Walmart is making COVID-19 vaccination records of vaccines given through its pharmacies available to customers digitally using the open, interoperable Smart Health Cards standard being developed under the Vaccination Credential Initiative.

The New Mexico legislature passed a broadband bill that would allow Sacred Winds Communications to collect a state rural telecom subsidy (see 2103150050). The House voted 66-1 Wednesday for SB-204; the Senate earlier passed the bill unanimously. In other state broadband votes, the Michigan House voted 59-50 Wednesday for HB-4210 to exempt broadband equipment from certain property taxes in underserved areas. The Senate passed the similar SB-46 last month. A $250 million Kentucky broadband funding bill (HB-320) headed to Gov. Andy Beshear (D) after Tuesday passing the House 94-0 and the Senate 36-0. Beshear plans to review bills over the next 10 days, but he has 148 bills before him, after getting 111 from the legislature Monday and Tuesday, a spokesperson said. The governor sought $50 million for last-mile broadband in his budget proposal. The Michigan and New Mexico governors didn’t comment Thursday.

SolarWinds and other recent cyberthreats prove that “stopping a breach is no longer just about protecting end points” but also “encompasses cloud workload security and identity protection,” said CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz on a Tuesday call for fiscal Q4 ended Jan. 31. Organizations globally “are shedding legacy and inferior next-gen security technologies and accelerating their move to modern cloud-native technologies to meet the demands of today's threat landscape,” said Kurtz. “Legacy tech is no match for today's adversaries.” SolarWinds “raised awareness at the board level and will serve as an additional tailwind to the industry over the long term,” he said. CrowdStrike was a beneficiary of the trend, getting 77% subscription revenue growth in the quarter, with a record 1,480 net new subscription customers, he said. SolarWinds and the more recent Hafnium cyberthreat (see 2103030023) are driving “a crisis of trust within the Microsoft customer base,” said Kurtz. “Customers are looking to de-risk their security architecture by choosing an alternative vendor to Microsoft.” CrowdStrike is seeing fallout “across the board,” he said. “Just about every incident response we do involves Microsoft technology. So obviously we're focused on being able to protect it, but there's a lot of customers that are looking at this and saying, ‘Hey, we need to de-risk our environment, and we need another provider.’” Microsoft declined comment Wednesday.

California banned the use of “dark patterns” and related deceptive online navigation methods, Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) announced, with new regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act. California’s Office of Administrative Law approved the additional regulations, giving “new tools” for protecting data privacy, effective Monday. Regulations include “an eye-catching Privacy Options icon that guides consumers to where they can opt-out of the sale of their personal information,” he said. The dark patterns provision “prohibits companies from burdening consumers with confusing language or unnecessary steps such as forcing them to click through multiple screens or listen to reasons why they shouldn’t opt out.”

Final rules for drone remote identification and regulating flights over people and moving vehicles and at night (see 2012290025) take effect April 21, the FAA announced Friday. Remote ID “requires identification of drones in flight as well as the location of their control stations or takeoff point,” the agency said. Drone operation over people and moving vehicles and at night is prohibited without a waiver.

Walmart is investing $153 million for 0.9% of Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce company announced Friday. It's “in line with other recent strategic equity investments the company has made that enable Walmart to benefit from future growth in a rapidly changing global retail environment,” said Walmart. Also planning to invest are Tencent (a 3.6% stake) and Japan Post Holdings (8.3%). Citing evolving “new lifestyles,” Rakuten said businesses that operate retail stores such as supermarkets are now “required to provide services that are more convenient for users, not only providing services online, but also transcending the boundaries between online and offline (real stores).”