John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Barrack Obama, is questioning the direction of the office under President Donald Trump. Holdren emailed his response Tuesday to our questions from last week (see 1801180055). “Most of what OSTP has been doing, as best I can tell, has been about a few areas in technology with wholly obvious connections to the economy,” Holdren said. He listed spectrum, artificial intelligence, drones and self-driving cars. Holdren noted no positions requiring Senate confirmation are filled. “There are a few scientists among the 40-45 staff there now, but not many, and they’re not poking their heads above the trenches,” he said. “There has been little if any indication that anybody now at OSTP has been in a position to make the case to [Office of Management and Budget] or the West Wing that science is the foundation on which technological advances are built, as well as a major source of understanding about what technological advances are needed, for what purposes.” If OSTP hadn't been created by statute, the Harvard Kennedy School professor guesses Trump would “rename it the Office of Technology Policy.”

ProSource added six members in its custom integrator tier, it said: AC/DC Systems, Kihei, Hawaii; Creative Systems, Collegeville, Pennsylvania; Fischer Technologies, Eagle, Colorado; Hive, Tampa; Hoppen Home Systems, Tampa; and Imagine More, Windsor, Colorado. The buying group also said Director of Membership Sherry Dantonio took responsibility as the main contact for ProSource power members, complementing the work of district managers. ProSource added 44 members in 2017, it said.

Liability protections for third-party online content should be included in the North American Free Trade Agreement, said 55 scholars and groups of various regulatory persuasions in a letter Monday to trade heads of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The internet was an "obscure electronic network" when NAFTA was negotiated and now is an essential part of the economy, said the Center for Democracy & Technology, Competitive Enterprise Institute, FreedomWorks, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge, R Street, TechFreedom and others. They urged that a new agreement include immunity provisions like Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects online companies from legal action for content on their sites. Immunity provisions make it easy for startups to launch new services, and advance consumers' free speech rights, the letter said. “The legal exposure of Internet businesses raises vitally important trade issues,” blogged Santa Clara Law professor Eric Goldman, who spearheaded the effort and has been critical of congressional legislation aimed at curbing online sex trafficking that would make exceptions to Section 230 protections (see 1801040050). "New rules on cross-border data flows, non-disclosure requirements for source code and algorithms, and highlighting the role of interoperability mechanisms to transfer data across borders" should be part of a new pact, said Software & Information Industry Association Vice President-Public Policy Mark MacCarthy.

A Virginia Senate Democrat introduced a net neutrality bill Friday that would create state rules banning broadband ISPs from blocking content, degrading traffic, engaging in paid prioritization or interfering with customer access or edge provider provision of content applications, services or devices. Like bills in many other states, SB-948 by Sen. Jennifer Wexton (D) counters the FCC's December decision to rescind Communications Act Title II protections (see 1801190025). Also, Vermont House Democrats introduced HB-680, which in addition to net neutrality rules includes extensive language doubting FCC pre-emption authority. "It is not clear that the FCC has such preemption authority under Title I or other provisions of the Communications Act," it said. "After all, if the FCC cannot enforce its own net neutrality standards using its Title I authority, as was held in Verizon v. FCC, 740 F.3d 623 (2014), then it stands to reason that it is similarly constrained from preempting state net neutrality standards." By returning authority to the FTC, the FCC divested itself of authority to pre-empt state consumer protection rules, the bill said.

It's time for Facebook and Google to pay publishers carriage fees "similar to the model adopted by cable companies," News Corp Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch said Monday. Amid "much discussion about subscription models," there hasn't been a proposal "that truly recognizes the investment in and the social value of professional journalism," Murdoch said, and he plans to "closely follow" Facebook's latest shift in its news feed (see 1801120030). News publishers are "obviously enhancing the value and integrity of Facebook through their news and content but are not being adequately rewarded for those services," Murdoch said. Facebook and Google didn't comment.

The credit outlook this year for cable and telecom infrastructure companies remains stable, but wireline and wireless companies have a negative outlook, S&P Global Ratings said in a news release Monday. It said recent tax changes will help the balance sheets of some U.S. cable and telco operators, and the big issues facing the wireless sector are pricing and competition, while for wireline it's accelerating revenue declines and for cable it's the growth of over-the-top services. It said 5G could be a future threat for cable.

CTA detailed $1 million in disaster relief donations designated for California, Florida, Las Vegas, Puerto Rico and Texas in a Friday announcement. The contributions help 11 organizations supporting recovery efforts on the ground, said CTA. California donations went to the Napa Valley Community Foundation ($62,500), Community Foundation Sonoma County-Sonoma County Resilience Fund ($62,500) and The United Way of Venture County-Thomas Fire Fund ($75,000). Florida contributions were to Harry Chapin Food Bank-Recover, Rebuild, Restore ($50,000) and the American Red Cross ($50,000). For Puerto Rico, CTA donated $150,000 to the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust and $250,000 to the American Red Cross. Texas donations included the Houston Food Bank ($80,000) and the Greater Houston Community Foundation-Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund ($20,000). Las Vegas donations were for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Foundation ($50,000) and the Trauma Intervention Center ($50,000). CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said the trade group wanted to help “fellow citizens get back on their feet as quickly as possible.” The industry is “committed to supporting the hundreds of volunteers and affected individuals overcome these difficult times."

The FTC flagged the recent $650,000 settlement with connected toymaker VTech (see 1801080029) in its annual report highlighting 2017 privacy accomplishments, also noting complaints filed against revenge porn site MyEx.com (see 1801090067), and the upcoming PrivacyCon event Feb. 28. In a separate report, the commission lauded its work on competition, privacy and consumer protection laws during acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen’s one-year tenure. The commission filed 10 competition cases in federal or administration courts and took action in 25 other cases to protect consumers from anticompetitive mergers or business conduct, the report said.

Tech innovations on display at CES in Las Vegas last week highlight issues that need addressing, including the future of net neutrality and how to increase diversity among candidates for jobs in tech and related sectors, said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., in a Friday opinion piece in the Las Vegas Sun. Commissioners' December vote to rescind 2015 net neutrality rules is “troubling” because “while we don’t know what the next game-changing inventions will be, you can bet they involve the internet,” they said. “It’s important to ensure that connecting to our online world remains open and fair to everyone who creates and consumes online. The fight for this openness is not over” given upcoming legal challenges and a planned Congressional Review Act resolution to undo the repeal order, the Democrats said. Increasing diversity in the science, tech, engineering and math workforce is important because women hold “only 24 percent of the jobs in STEM fields,” Cortez Masto and Rosenworcel wrote: “This math needs to change,” in part via legislation and using “clubs, classes and apprenticeships to build a more diverse STEM pipeline.” The Democrats also noted an ongoing commitment to closing the “digital divide,” with “too many of our students ... falling” onto the wrong side at “a moment when digital skills are essential for future success.”

The GSMA said it opened a North American regional office near Midtown Atlanta, with 15,000 square feet of office space and room to accommodate 90 employees, after opening its initial office in the area in 2006. Last year, GSMA held its initial Mobile World Congress Americas, in partnership with CTIA. The event is to shift from San Francisco to Los Angeles this year.