COVID-19 response technology must be “non-discriminatory, effective, voluntary, secure, accountable, and used exclusively for public health purposes,” more than 80 advocacy groups said Thursday. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and New America’s Open Technology Institute signed a set of principles to “guide employers, policymakers, businesses, and public health authorities” while reopening society. Decision-makers should “be mindful of the risks of overreach and unintended consequences, especially to marginalized communities already suffering disproportionately from the virus and economic hardships,” the groups wrote.

The FCC should “at the very least” suspend regulatory fee increases for broadcasters or allow them to pay their fees in installments, said NAB in comments Thursday in docket 20-105. “Given the uncertainty on the duration of the pandemic, there is no telling when broadcast operating revenues will return to previous levels.” Broadcasters face a regulatory fee increase despite the unchanged FCC budget, the filing said. The agency should broaden the range of entities it collects regulatory fees from, and provide justification for the fee increase, the filing said: “Given that the FCC is requiring broadcasters (and other licensees) to pay for the privilege of being regulated, it must do far more to ensure these payments are reasonable, equitable and, at the very least, adequately explained.”

House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, Ore., and Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Wash., pressed Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Thursday about the company’s data privacy practices and potential coordination with the Chinese government. The company has drawn increasing government scrutiny amid increasing videoconferencing use during the pandemic (see 2005110041). The Republicans responded to reports that Zoom closed the account of a group of U.S.-based Chinese activists after they held an event commemorating the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. “Zoom’s recent actions and acquiescence to China raise serious concerns about your data practices, including how you protect information you collect on Americans and, importantly, who you grant access to such information,” Walden and McMorris Rodgers wrote. They want information on what “’local law’ you claim to have complied with to justify suppressing the free speech of U.S.-based Chinese activists and identify the date on which you reinstated the accounts of such activists.” The lawmakers also want the company to “explain how Zoom collects information on Americans and what specific categories of information is collected.” It didn’t immediately comment.

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly is hopeful performance of telecom technology during the pandemic will hasten trends to allow more work from home, he told USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter Thursday. O'Rielly said he attended the USTelecom conference from his bedroom and addressed commissioners' meeting Tuesday from his children's nursery. O'Rielly said he's spending more traditional work hours on childcare, influencing his decision-making. He applauded industry for making U.S. broadband networks "the envy of the world." In the future, he said, punching a clock won't matter as much: "You'll work when you can fit it in." New technologies and devices will support the shift, he said. "I'm optimistic we're going to grow from this experience."

Five Below e-commerce sales were four times higher in fiscal Q1 ended May 2 than the year-ago quarter, as total sales fell 45%, said CEO Joel Anderson on a quarterly call. It began reopening stores April 21 and now has about 90% of its 920 locations back in business in 36 states, he said Tuesday. The retailer sells kids-targeted headphones and tech accessories, most under $5. It began closing stores days after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11. All stores closed for most of the second half of Q1. The stock closed 9.4% higher Wednesday at $113.67.

The FCC approved $20.2 million for 67 applicants to its COVID-19 telehealth program, it said Wednesday. In total, the agency has approved $104.98 million to 305 healthcare providers in 42 states and Washington, D.C., more than half the congressionally allotted budget of $200 million (see 2004010042). "We will continue processing applications as quickly as we can in order to promote worthy telehealth projects across the country,” Chairman Ajit Pai said.

The Library of Congress canceled all public events until Sept. 1, the LOC announced Wednesday, citing COVID-19. Buildings and facilities remain closed.

Subscription-based businesses are more “resilient” to COVID-19's economic downturn than companies that had to endure supply chain disruptions, reported Zuora. It compared the subscriber acquisition metrics of 700 businesses before and after the pandemic struck in March and found 53.3% had limited impact, while 22.5% had subscriber growth accelerate. Relatively few had subscription growth slowing (12.8%) or contracting (11.4%), said Zuora. Over-the-top video streaming companies had the most growth, up sevenfold in March compared with the growth rate over the previous 12 months, it said. “As people shelter-at-home, streaming services for entertainment have seen a spike in subscription growth.” Consumer IoT is experiencing a slowdown, said the report. Growth there in March was a third of that in the previous year, it said. Consumers under lockdown mandates were “not rushing to buy” IoT devices and services, and companies in the sector “are seeing a decline in subscription sign-ups,” it said.

The FCC used Microsoft Teams for its first video meeting of commissioners, Chairman Ajit Pai told reporters after the gathering, answering our query. "The meeting was a success." The Office of Media Relations coordinated before Tuesday's meeting with all the offices of commissioners, bureaus and other offices participating in the event, Pai said. "Our goal is to make sure that we can be as transparent as possible even though we are in this new environment." We asked what it would take technically to bring back FCC staff news conferences after monthly meetings. Pai deferred to OMR for details. "I had the idea and I pushed it," Commissioner Mike O'Rielly told reporters in his own virtual news briefing, about the FCC video gathering. "It felt like a real meeting" he said of the virtual commissioners' meeting. Democratic commissioners and agency staff haven't held virtual news briefings after meetings while the agency's headquarters have been mostly closed during COVID-19. For a recent report on that, see here. (The article is in front of our pay wall, as is some other coronavirus coverage.) There's been one request, from Communications Daily, for staffers such as those at bureaus to participate in news conferences during this period of remote work, an FCC spokesperson emailed. "We have not yet determined the best approach, or if there will be buffering and bandwidth issues, to having such a large number of people conduct a press conference remotely." During teleworking amid the pandemic, the representative said OMR has had no media requests "specific to bureaus and meeting items" approved at the monthly commissioners' meetings. He said OMR remains "happy to take emailed questions from reporters for the bureaus after the meeting and relay back answers." FCC IT staff "sped up implementation of our video conference vendor, which was initially planned to coincide with the move to the new building, to accommodate the agency teleworking," completing that work in the past month, the rep said. "In the last couple of weeks, the video platform added functionality to show more than four participants at one time, enabling the full Commission to be viewed together." COVID-19 delayed the headquarters move.

The APTS 2021 Public Media Summit will be “in a virtual rather than physical setting,” emailed America’s Public Television Stations Tuesday. “This decision was based on research suggesting that many station general managers have substantially reduced or completely eliminated their travel and conference budgets for the next fiscal year in reaction to the severe economic downturn” caused by COVID-19, the email said. “Congress itself is under visitor restrictions which may well last beyond February, and our traditional Capitol Hill Day at the conclusion of the Summit would have been similarly constrained.”