Potential for “reckless” regulation against big technology companies has never been higher in the aftermath of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, blogged American Enterprise Institute writer James Pethokoukis. Conservative lawmakers seem willing to abandon “natural pro-market bias” in favor of action against perceived conservative censorship on platforms like Facebook (see 1804120058), Pethokoukis said Thursday.

CEDIA bought the Technology & Business Summit series of regional home technology industry events from Clarity AV International, it said Wednesday. The organization wants to build on the Tech Summit’s “strong foundations” and provide deeper support for the manufacturer rep community, said CEDIA CEO Tabatha O’Connor, saying no changes are planned for the events. Mark Cichowski, Clarity AV CEO and Summit founder, will be a consultant for the events, with marketing and operational support from CEDIA.

It's no sure thing the Music Modernization Act will pass the Senate this year, though MMA House passage seems likely after that chamber's Judiciary Committee unanimously OK'd HR-5447 earlier Tuesday (see 1804110060), an NAB Show panelist told us in Las Vegas. MMA has "been pretty well set up to pass the House," but work is at an earlier stage in the Senate, NAB Deputy General Counsel Garrett Levin told a panel. There will "probably" be "some hearings" on the bill on the Senate side, he added. "But it doesn't look like there's a pretty good chance of seeing comprehensive music licensing reform passed into law this year." He acknowledged in later Q&A to us that "it's a little hard to prognosticate" on prospects for the copyright change: "It's a little bit of a race against the clock. It's an election year. There's probably not a whole lot left that Congress is going to do" this session. The wide-ranging support from industries would suggest "a pretty good chance that it does make it through the Senate," but "it only takes one senator to slow it down," Levin said. Copyright interests like RIAA praised House Judiciary's 32-0 vote. The bill "represents a level of compromise and consensus on music licensing issues that has eluded lawmakers for decades," said NAB CEO Gordon Smith.

ProSource added a dozen new members in Q1, for $49 million in new revenue for the buying group, it said Tuesday. New dealer members are Home Theater Technologies, Colleyville, Texas; Macauley Technologies, Austin; Smart Systems, The Colony, Texas; Symspire, Nashville; AMS Mobile Electronics and Home Theater, Fitchburg, Wisconsin; Arracal, Lakeland, Florida; Davis Audio & Video, Chicago; Habitech Systems, Ormond Beach, Florida; Hi-Tech Home, Clovis, California; HiWay Hifi, Ithaca, New York; Innovative Technology Solutions, Key Largo, Florida; and SmartHouse Integration, Sarasota, Florida. ProSource also elevated six dealers to the Power membership program: Audio Interiors, Hauppauge, New York; Audio Intersection, Canton, Georgia; Avio, Troy, Michigan; Digital Interiors, Alpharetta, Georgia; Imagine Audio Video, Franklin, Tennessee; and Spectrum Technology Integrators, Deerfield Beach, Florida. Power dealers generate at least $4 million per year. ProSource plans its spring meeting next week in San Antonio.

Total U.S. radio station advertising revenue fell 0.2 percent last year to $13.87 billion as online sales gained 9.7 percent and terrestrial fell 2 percent, reported BIA/Kelsey Thursday. "Although local radio stations are still important players in their local markets, we do not expect the over-the-air advertising revenue of U.S. radio stations to grow much this year or in the near future," said Chief Economist Mark Fratrik. "There is an unprecedented number of new audio entertainment and information sources and new advertising platforms competing with radio, including many that are unregulated." On-air annual revenue growth for radio stations may stay below 1 percent "for some time," Fratrik emailed us. "For the next five years we do not see faster growth." Mergers and acquisitions last year were the most since 2011, with 752 stations sold for $3.32 billion, the research firm said. Fratrik said broadcasters can further expand their HD Radio efforts, given carmakers are including the receivers in new autos, and noted increasing use of FM translators for rebroadcasting AM signals (see 1804050047).

An active shooter was reported at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, Tuesday evening Eastern time, and details were emerging. The San Bruno Police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tweeted that they responded to a shooting. “Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive,” San Bruno Police wrote. Google tweeted that it's "coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.” YouTube employee Vadim Lavrusik tweeted: “Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers,” before tweeting that he safely evacuated. The closest emergency room to the YouTube campus wasn’t treating any gunshot victims, but it’s not a trauma center and such nearby facilities may have received patients, a spokesman for the Kaiser healthcare system told us. We couldn’t reach anyone immediately at area hospitals with trauma centers. Following its initial tweet, Google said: "We have advised those who are currently at the SBO office to continue to shelter in place until further notice."

Azione Unlimited said it added AudioQuest -- which sells AudioQuest cables, Niagara power products and DragonFly digital-to-analog converters and amplifiers -- to its vendor roster. The buying group, comprising roughly 190 members, added Google Home last week (see 1803290041).

Policymakers should avoid data-protection regulations that inadvertently limit artificial intelligence (AI), ITIF President Rob Atkinson said Tuesday, delivering a report during a G7 ministerial meeting in Montreal. Laws and other regulations that “apply restrictive standards to automated decisions that would not apply to human decisions would raise costs and limit AI innovation, as well as force a trade-off with the accuracy and sophistication of AI systems,” said the report.

The G7 should focus on modern job development and the deployment of artificial intelligence when it has a ministerial meeting this week in Montreal, tech industry groups said Tuesday. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council, Engine and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce were among the organizations seeking a “Jobs of the Future” theme at the G7 Meeting of Innovation and Employment Ministers. The G7 should build on progress made in Italy in 2017, “where members made a commitment to allow people and firms from all sectors to take full advantage of the benefits of innovation that will increase both the quantity and quality of jobs,” the group wrote. Companies and policymakers need to work together to ensure workforces have the proper training and flexibility needed to succeed alongside emerging technology like AI, CCIA CEO Ed Black said.

ON Semiconductor said it’s participating in the Plug and Play Tech Center, a Silicon-Valley-based startup accelerator. ON will be part of the mobility and IoT platforms with a goal of advancing solutions in the automotive and industrial segments, said the company Monday. Customers are looking to companies to provide enabling technologies that disrupt existing business models, said Mamoon Rashid, ON Semiconductor senior vice president-strategic business ventures. Partnering with innovation accelerators such as Plug and Play gives ON a way to efficiently evaluate and consult new technologies and to integrate them earlier into its semiconductor portfolio, said Rashid.