CTA said technologies to watch include automation, artificial intelligence and smart machinery; 5G and smart cities, including the IoT; cybersecurity; and the experience economy using apps for everyday activities. More than 100 U.S. communities are developing 5G-based systems, said a spokesman at the association's conference in San Francisco Tuesday. He said it’s “critical that we train and educate our workforce with lifelong learning to adapt to these challenges and remain competitive.” The group hired a vice president of jobs in September to advance that mission (see report in the Sept. 7 issue of this publication).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation hit back on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for his Tuesday speech about "responsible encryption" (see 1710100028). EFF General Counsel Kurt Opsahl criticized the deputy AG on a number of points in a Wednesday blog post, calling them fallacies. He said Rosenstein's coining of "responsible encryption" is "another glib phrase to describe a backdoor." Opsahl said DOJ has said it wants to have an "adult conversation" on encryption. "This is not it. The DOJ needs to understand that secure end-to-end encryption is a responsible security measure that helps protect people," he said.

More than 26 million U.S. broadband households will have professionally monitored security by 2021, Parks Associates reported Tuesday. Revenue will top $14 billion by 2020, it said. A fifth of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a smart all-in-one-security product in the next 12 months, the researcher said.

Additional funding and more resources for stronger enforcement of election laws that restrict foreign entities from interfering in U.S. elections is the "best first step" for congressional action rather than new regulations, blogged Electronic Frontier Foundation Executive Director Cindy Cohn Tuesday. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., may introduce legislation as early as this week (see 1709250058) that would regulate online political ads. Cohn said applying traditional FCC and Federal Election Commission campaign finance rules for broadcast media -- which the proposed legislation largely does -- may not translate well for online platforms: Facebook, Google, Twitter and Reddit can handle requirements like reporting major ad buys, but such rules may burden smaller online platforms, websites and blogs. "Extending the TV and radio election rules to small speakers and free and low-cost Internet speech will discourage these smaller entities from allowing or engaging in political expression at all," said Cohn. Proposed rules also could require people to identify themselves, harming anonymous political speech and infringing Americans' rights to engage in public debate, she said. Internet companies can prevent foreign election interference without new rules by tracking and shutting down the malicious use of bots to spread fake news; being more transparent in how they choose ads for users (see 1710020056); and allowing independent auditors to analyze data that shows how fake stories, hoaxes and other misinformation were disseminated and their potential influence.

Blockchain technology can increase security and transparency in government transactions, State Department officials said Tuesday at a forum of tech and government groups. “Blockchain technology is on the move around the world,” said Deputy Secretary John Sullivan. The rapidly developing technology can increase transparency and accountability across the federal government, particularly in tracking flow of foreign assistance dollars and protecting IT platforms, Sullivan said. State is studying how blockchain can work in countries with developing economies and currencies and with human rights monitoring. The government hopes to build public-private partnerships to use the technology to “advance our diplomacy and development objectives,” Sullivan said. Blockchain is gaining more credibility in financial markets, said Jamie Smith, CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council, with representatives from 30 countries aimed at encouraging leading business to adopt blockchain technology. Blockchain can be used with any type of record-keeping or transfer of an asset to provide a “global digital notary” with the ability to timestamp transactions. “Walmart is using it to track the meat they buy,” Smith said.

Despite perception that “nothing is really going well in Washington,” CTA had successes this year, said CEO Gary Shapiro, opening the Innovate and Celebrate conference in San Francisco Tuesday. He referenced “major progress” on autonomous driving, citing legislation in the Senate and House that would give states the right to test self-driving cars. CTA gets big and small companies together, Shapiro said. He highlighted drones, robotics, the IoT, artificial intelligence and connected health. Shapiro said “something’s changed in the last year, and that is, we are no longer the angel,” referring to the tech industry. “There’s a story line that’s starting to appear that we’re the bad guys -- especially some of the bigger companies -- and that’s a harsh glare.” The technology industry is in the spotlight, with the U.S. segment "kind of dominating the world,” he said, and that generates resentment. Incumbent industries including “taxi cab drivers, hotels and broadcasters,” Shapiro said, “see these new groups coming on, taking away what they view as their share of the pie that they owned 100 percent of. And tech-bashing in Washington … and in the press and around the world is starting to feel like a sport.” Those storylines don’t mesh with reality as CTA sees it. “The truth is, and we’ve got to get this truth out, is that technology empowers people,” he said, allowing anyone with a broadband connection to have access to education and entertainment, “which equalizes them and puts them above where anybody was 25 years ago.” Technology is a “neutral, fair, equalizer, and it’s not that expensive when it comes down to what it does.”

Google’s launch Wednesday of smart speakers (see 1710040055) gives it “rough parity” with Amazon at the low end, but it’s still at a “competitive disadvantage,” reported IHS analyst Paul Erickson Thursday. To keep its e-commerce rival in check, Walmart on Thursday announced a promotion on Google Home products bought through Google Express. Despite “long-term ecosystem advantages for Google Assistant” in the Android mobile space, penetration of Chromecast built in and its presence across platforms, Assistant is “outgunned by Amazon in growing its footprint in the home,” Erickson said. Google’s target with Home Max, Erickson said, seems to be Sonos, which announced an Alexa-based Sonos speaker Wednesday, with Google Assistant compatibility to come. Pressure is on Apple “to perform with HomePod and Siri,” said Erickson.

Digital advertising industry actions cut ad revenue for piracy sites at least 48 percent, said a Trustworthy Accountability Group news release on a study released Thursday. “We have not won the war against ad-supported piracy, but the battle is joined, and we are making good progress,” said TAG CEO Mike Zaneis. TAG commissioned Ernst & Young to do the study, which analyzed 672 websites that accounted for about 90 percent of pirated media content activity July 2016-17. Without industry's actions, piracy sites would have potentially earned up to $213 million annually from digital ads, the study said. Such sites made only an estimated $111 million, it said. Initiatives, it added, included "appropriate language in insertion orders, use of ad verification vendors, and use of lists to block undesirable sites." TAG was formed by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Association of National Advertisers and Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Fifteen percent of U.S. internet homes own a home automation device, up from 10 percent in April 2016, said NPD in a Thursday report. “The growth we are seeing in the number of owner homes is an indication that a broader field of available products, wider distribution, and greater awareness are actually adding users.” Ownership of voice-activated wireless speakers “more than tripled” to 10 percent of U.S. internet homes, it said.

Mattel scrapping an artificial intelligence-enabled "Aristotle" baby monitor, which drew privacy concerns from lawmakers (see 1709290034), was praised by children's advocacy groups. In a Thursday news release, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and The Story of Stuff Project had sent a 20,000-plus signature petition to the company. "The backlash against Aristotle should send a strong message to other toymakers and tech companies," said CCFC Executive Director Josh Golin. Mattel confirmed the decision Thursday in an email, saying after Chief Technology Officer Sven Gerjets joined in July, he extensively reviewed Aristotle and "decided that it did not fully align with Mattel’s new technology strategy," canceling plans.