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.

Aura Labs, marketer of a mobile blood pressure app, agreed to settle FTC allegations the app's readings aren't as precise as a traditional around-the-arm blood pressure cuff, said the commission in a Monday news release. Commissioners voted 3-0 to authorize staff to file the complaint and stipulated order, which was filed and signed by a judge in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the FTC said. “For someone with high blood pressure who relies on accurate readings, this deception can actually be hazardous,” said Consumer Protection Bureau Director Jessica Rich. “While the Commission encourages the development of new technologies, health-related claims should not go beyond the scientific evidence available to support them.” The commission said the company, which does business as AuraLife and AuraWare, and its co-owner Ryan Archdeacon are barred from making deceptive claims about the app and any health benefit claims without supporting scientific evidence. The settlement also imposed a nearly $600,000 judgment, which is suspended because the defendants are unable to pay unless they misrepresented their financial condition, the commission said. In a statement on the company's website, Archdeacon said the dialogue with the FTC "was a learning experience" for both sides and the company values consumer safety. "That being said, we feel that the agency's heavy handed approach can stifle innovation with a costly and bureaucratic process," he said. "A conversation regarding potential concerns early on would have allowed the Commission and the company to reach a swift resolution, saving time, energy and taxpayer dollars."

Australia-based Moose Toys, which makes "SelfieMic," should stop advertising claims that "imply" children under 13 also can use the app StarMaker, which is promoted with the product, but is age-restricted -- a recommendation accepted by the toymaker, said the Children's Advertising Review Unit in a Friday news release. CARU, which is the ad industry's investigative unit, administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, said it found Moose's TV ad that portrayed the use of the product and app for children under 13 through routine monitoring. "However, users seeking to save videos, share them with friends, redeem bonus tokens for popular songs and purchase songs with the app, are required to share personally identifiable information [PII] as part of a registration process," said the release. "To prevent children under the age of 13 from sharing such information, the app contains an age gate." StarMaker Interactive's privacy policy said its StarMaker app isn't directed to children under 13, "and we do not knowingly collect PII from children under 13." CARU said it wanted Moose Toys to remove the TV ad or modify it to accurately depict how children under 13 could "realistically use the product." In its advertiser's statement, the toymaker said it accepts the recommendations, according to CARU. Moose didn't comment.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to consult with the city attorney Dec. 13​ in closed session on a proposed ordinance prohibiting landlords of multi-dwelling units from interfering with tenants’ choice of communications service providers. The board voted 9-1 Tuesday in favor of the motion for closed session on item 161110, said meeting minutes posted Wednesday evening. The Electronic Frontier Foundation supported the proposed ordinance in a Sunday blog post. “San Francisco is one of the few places in the United States with significant broadband competition, but many renters are barred from taking advantage of alternatives to large Internet service providers like Comcast and AT&T,” EFF wrote. “Many landlords agree to restrict tenants’ choice of ISP in exchange for kickbacks from the favored provider.”

Headphone audio expo CanJam Global will be held Feb. 4-5 in the Broadway Ballroom of the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. The event is sponsored by Audeze, Echobox and Hi-Fi+ magazine. Among the 44 exhibitors as of Tuesday: Acoustic Research, Audio-Technica, Focal, Jerry Harvey Audio, Kimber Kable, Sony and Stax.

The Trump transition's Jeff Eisenach cited Latino economic and demographic dynamism in a study Tuesday by NERA Economic Consulting, where he's managing director. "The US Latino population is growing, young, increasingly educated, employed, connected, entrepreneurial, and upwardly mobile in terms of income as well as consumption," said the study. It said: the Latino population grew from 22 million in 1990 to 57 million in 2015 and is considerably younger than the U.S. population average; Latinos are responsible for 29 percent of the growth in real income since 2005; are more likely to participate in the labor force; are more likely to be entrepreneurs; and accounted for 46 percent of U.S. employment growth 2011-15; with $1.3 trillion-plus in buying power. Eisenach is a member of President-elect Donald Trump's FCC landing team, along with fellow American Enterprise Institute scholars Mark Jamison and Roslyn Layton (see 1611210045, 1611280050, 1611230014 and 1611290022).

President-elect Donald Trump plans to convene CEOs in early February for what he’s calling a Strategic and Policy Forum. Disney's Bob Iger, General Motors' Mary Barra and IBM's Ginni Rometty are to be among attendees. “My administration is committed to drawing on private sector expertise and cutting the government red tape that is holding back our businesses from hiring, innovating, and expanding right here in America,” Trump said in a statement. The meeting will be at the White House, the transition team said: “Members of the Forum will be charged with providing their individual views to the President -- informed by their unique vantage points in the private sector -- on how government policy impacts economic growth, job creation, and productivity.”

YunOS, a division of Alibaba, joined the ZigBee Alliance at the participant level, the trade organization announced Wednesday. YunOS works with various partners in the information industry and powers smart devices including phones, wearables, internet cars, robots and household appliances. More than 400 companies are in the ZigBee Alliance.

Saturday’s Fox Sports TV broadcast of the Big Ten championship game between Wisconsin and Penn State will feature a GoPro camera embedded in the game referee's cap, the companies jointly announced Wednesday. GoPro worked closely with Fox Sports and Big Ten officials to design a referee-worn hat that "delivers a unique POV perspective from the heart of the action," the companies said. The GoPro footage will be shown live during the game and also will be captured as an “isolated stream” on Fox Sports Go, the network’s TV everywhere service, they said.

Record labels remained the largest investors in the music industry during 2015, having spent more than $4.5 billion globally for artists and repertoire (A&R) as well as marketing that year, reported the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and World Independent Network Wednesday. The $4.5 billion that record labels spent on A&R and marketing in 2015 equaled 27 percent of the labels' total revenue for the year, IFPI and WIN said. Companies have sustained their investment in the music industry despite “two decades of revenue decline,” the groups said. Music companies and distributors also invest in developing the digital music market's infrastructure, which now includes 360 digital music services globally, IFP and WIN said. The report “highlights not just record companies’ financial investment in artists, but also the enduring value they bring to artists’ careers,” IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore and WIN CEO Alison Wenham said in a news release.