Gates Set to Meet With Trump, as Others Press Their Cases Ahead of Tech Meeting

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was scheduled to meet Tuesday with President-elect Donald Trump, said transition spokesman Jason Miller in a conference call with reporters. He provided no details, but said Gates had "fantastic things" to say about Trump during a CNBC interview. In that Tuesday interview, Gates said Trump could provide a "very upbeat message" in the education, energy and healthcare sectors, just as President John F. Kennedy did with the U.S. space program. Trump's "administration is going to organize things, get rid of regulatory barriers, and have American leadership through innovation be one of the things that he gets behind," said Gates in the interview. Trump is planning to meet with several CEOs and executives of major technology companies on Wednesday 2 p.m. in New York (see 1612120026). Miller didn't provide details about the agenda nor a list of attendees, but said Trump wants to foster a business climate including access to capital and a tax structure that spurs innovation. Also, 19 music organizations, including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and RIAA, sent a letter to Trump, asking him to enforce IP laws to promote creativity and technology. "Search engines, user upload content platforms, hosting companies, and domain name registrars and registries should follow others' example to effectively stop theft and assure fair payment," said the letter. Encryption, free speech, mass surveillance and net neutrality are areas that tech leaders should stand firm on when they meet with Trump Wednesday, said the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a Tuesday blog post. EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn and analyst Karen Gullo wrote that tech leaders should tell Trump's transition team that it's "technically impossible" to engineer a back door for law enforcement to people's communications and devices without risking everyone's security. The two said Trump shouldn't get away with his attacks on free speech and internet freedom. "Any speech-limiting practices and policies must be narrowly applied, transparent, and easily correctable, or they will inevitably be targets for gaming and harassment," they wrote. Cohn and Gullo said they're disturbed by the nominations of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., for attorney general and Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., for CIA director, considering their support to restore a mass phone surveillance program under the Patriot Act. "The program eviscerated the privacy rights of hundreds of millions of innocent Americans with no proof of a countervailing gain," said the post. Tech leaders also need to back the FCC open internet order and rules to stop companies from using people's personal data for profit, they said.