NTIA should establish an interagency task force to study application redlining, the practice of discriminating against or racially profiling online minority users, in part through the collection and analysis of consumer data, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council in a seven-page letter Friday directed to Administrator Larry Strickling. App redlining, wrote MMTC President Kim Keenan, is "a new method of institutionalizing online racial discrimination in commerce, housing, banking, employment, transportation, and public accommodations." She cited criticism against Google for alleged discriminatory ad practices through various applications like Gmail, Amazon's selective use of ZIP codes for one-day shopping that ended up "isolating places where minorities live," and the social networking site Nextdoor.com that has been used for online racial profiling. Since it's unclear which regulatory bodies have jurisdiction, she wrote that NTIA should discuss with the White House to create the task force. Both the FCC and FTC may have some regulatory overlap on internet commerce, but since the issue crosses other sectors, the departments of Commerce, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Justice as well as Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. should have an interest, she said. MMTC recommended the task force consider the need for equal employment opportunity in across industries, a civil rights enforcement entity focused on consumer privacy and "creation of best practices on misleading language that should not be welcome in the online space."

Internet sector businesses now make up 6 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, meaning it's now “rivaling the auto industry in size,” the Internet Association reported Thursday. “The internet beats out powerhouse sectors like construction, the federal government, as well as many others, and it is growing at a far faster rate. It is now, indisputably, a discrete section of the American economy.” IA said it analyzed a range of economic studies and methodologies, which all point to the internet being a “major economic sector” and one that's “growing rapidly” as a contributor to GDP. IA said it estimates internet companies could become 7 percent of the U.S. GDP by 2020.

U.S. cybersecurity offense "is way ahead of our defense," Rudy Giuliani said Thursday in a conference call after the incoming Donald Trump administration announced that it would consult with the former New York City mayor on cybersecurity issues and that Giuliani would chair a committee on cybersecurity developments involving company heads. That committee also will hold a number of meetings with President-elect Donald Trump about cybersecurity, said a Trump transition team release. "It's kind of like cancer in the sense there are so many different things being done to cure cancer, you almost feel like if you could put all the people together in the same room, maybe we could cure it," Giuliani said, saying "a perfect defense" to cybersecurity threats is unlikely and improvement is the aim. The Trump transition team said the meetings are to get "experiential and anecdotal information" from the executives about cybersecurity issues and how they were handled. The Trump team also said it's not seeking consensus advice or recommendations. Giuliani is Greenberg Traurig chairman-global cybersecurity, and chairman-CEO of security consulting firm Giuliani Partners.

The federal government should take additional steps to encourage IoT growth, including creating a multistakeholder process to identify related policy challenges, NTIA said Thursday in a green paper. NTIA had been collecting stakeholders' feedback on IoT issues since April, though some critics suggested in comments the agency's investigation into those issues was a waste of time (see 1606060042). Stakeholders identified multiple challenges and barriers to IoT growth during a September event, suggesting the federal government employ only a light regulatory touch (see 1609010063). NTIA said it “heard a strong message from the submitted comments that coordination among U.S. government partners would be helpful, because of the complex, interdisciplinary, cross-sector nature of IoT. A federal coordination structure for these issues may also be helpful when working with international and private sector partners.” The Department of Commerce can promote IoT advancement through its own usage of the technology, and highlight its benefits to foreign partners, NTIA said. Commerce can encourage global development of technical standards on the IoT to ensure interoperability and advance tech development, NTIA said. The department should examine “removing barriers” to IoT innovation and promote norms that will protect the technology's users, NTIA said. Commerce also should enable the allocation of spectrum and other infrastructure developments to support IoT growth, NTIA said. The IoT “promises to revolutionize our world from increasing efficiency and convenience for industry, consumers, and government to improving safety,” said Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker in a news release. “Today’s report affirms the Department’s commitment to creating the conditions for emerging technologies to thrive, and it identifies future actions necessary to support the evolution and expansion of the IoT.” NTIA said it planned to publish a request for comment on the green paper in Friday's Federal Register. NTIA “has built a strong case for a proactive and coordinated effort throughout the federal government to support [IoT] on a national scale,” said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Center for Data Innovation Director Daniel Castro in a statement: “Because of the unique characteristics of [IoT], including its potential scale and scope, the United States will not be able to capture the full social and economic benefits of the technology without a concerted effort from policymakers throughout government to promote the development of the technology. We hope this report builds further momentum for Congress to move forward with establishing a national strategy” for IoT.

Mozilla faulted the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday for not including a broader discussion of cybersecurity issues during Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearings. Sessions committed during a hearing Tuesday to follow the USA Freedom Act, which restricts NSA from the bulk collection of Americans' phone records, despite his voting against the bill in 2015 (see 1701090038). Surveillance continued to occasionally emerge as an issue during Sessions' hearing Wednesday (see 1701110069). Senate Judiciary almost exclusively mentioned cybersecurity in the context of government-sponsored cyberattacks like Russia’s hacking of IT systems associated with the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, said Mozilla Chief Legal and Business Officer Denelle Dixon-Thayer in a blog post. “Discussion about robust cybersecurity for everyday Internet users -- through practices like strong encryption -- was largely absent,” she said. “It would have been helpful if the Senate asked Sessions to clarify his position, and even better if they asked him to clarify that privacy and security are important for all Americans and a healthy Internet.”

Updating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, enhancing cybersecurity, opening new global markets for U.S. technology products and services, and promoting broadband investment and spectrum availability are some priorities the Information Technology Industry Council says the new Congress should concentrate on. In a Wednesday blog post outlining its blueprint, Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Andy Halataei wrote that lawmakers, the incoming Trump administration and tech industry need to collaborate to implement "smart policies" that spur U.S. economic growth across all industries. Other priorities listed include advancing changes to the patent system to help curb "abusive and costly patent litigation."

Ixia and K2 are collaborating on a solution targeting appliance manufacturers, giving them an on-ramp to the IoT, they announced Monday. Integration of two platforms, scheduled for availability this quarter, will enable K2’s OEM customers to cost effectively add Wi-Fi to mainstream products, said the companies.

Uber will be introducing a website with "anonymized and aggregated" trip data from the 450 cities it serves to better help transportation planners deal with infrastructure needs, wrote Jordan Gilbertson, product manager, and Andrew Salzberg, head of transportation policy, in a Sunday blog post. By analyzing trips over time, the firm can provide estimates for how long it takes to get from one place to another, they wrote. "We can compare travel conditions across different times of day, days of the week, or months of the year -- and how travel times are impacted by big events, road closures or other things happening in a city." The company will work with planning agencies and researchers over the next several weeks to access the data on the website called "Movement," they said. The website will soon be available to the public, they added.

Holiday season retail spending grew 12 percent online and 1.6 percent in stores over 2015, said a Monday First Data report tracking sales for the 66-day period through Jan. 2. Electronics posted some of the highest gains, at 13.2 percent in e-commerce and 7.1 percent in stores during the holiday season, said First Data, attributing the higher in-store growth for electronics to consumers’ preference for wanting to try products before they buy. Average retail ticket size inched up 1.1 percent for the holiday season, with electronics tickets flat, increasing 5 cents over 2015, it said. Electronics and appliance retail sales advanced 1.8 percent for the period from January through October and an average 8.5 percent (brick and mortar and online) during the holiday season, it said. Same-store sales data were based on point-of-sale activity at 942,155 merchants.

ICANN and NTIA formally terminated their joint affirmation of commitments, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said Friday in a letter to ICANN Chairman Steve Crocker. That follows months after the completion of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority oversight transition (see 1609300065 and 1610030042). ICANN has fully incorporated the agreement’s provisions into its governing documents, said Global Domains Division President Akram Atallah in a blog post. “ICANN's commitment to remain a not-for-profit corporation, headquartered in the United States of America is embedded into ICANN's Articles of Incorporation, and in the Bylaws, which specify that ICANN's California office is its principal place of business.” Strickling emphasized the need for stakeholders to provide “opportunities for all interested parties to have a voice in decision making, not just those most directly involved or impacted by ICANN.” Decisions should “be done in a transparent manner that affords the opportunity to participate for those not directly engaged in ICANN’s supporting organizations and advisory committees,” Strickling said.