Overnight Tech: Venture capitalists’ message to Trump | Bitcoin site ordered to give IRS data | Broadband gets faster

VENTURE CAP’S MESSAGE TO TRUMP: The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) congratulated President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday and offered him such suggestions on policy priorities in a letter.

The letter offers Trump nine ideas, the group says can help  entrepreneurs and spur job growth. 

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Their recommendations included tax reform to encourage new company creation; encouraging immigrants to create or work at startups; pushing health tech innovation; increasing R&D spending; cracking down on patent litigation; and spreading startups to economically distressed portions of the country.

Trump has yet to offer specific policy positions on many tech concerns, but the group’s calls on immigration could be a hard sell with the president elect. Trump at times has suggested he would make it harder for skilled foreign workers to get jobs in the U.S.

The NVCA’s members include venture capital heavyweights like Sequoia Capital, CRV,  and Andreessen Horowitz.

Their letter comes one day after a coalition of tech trade groups representing the likes of Apple, Google and Facebook, penned their own letter to Trump, offering congratulations and policy suggestions.

During the campaign, Silicon Valley, including individuals at places like Andreessen Horowitz and CRV, bashed Trump and his policies. Trump fared poorly in attracting fundraising support from the tech industry.

But the letters from venture capitalists and other tech players come amid a larger shift in tone, suggesting that tech is at least open to working with the coming Trump administration.

CONSUMER TECH, TOO: The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) – noted for putting on the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event – is also coming around. The group’s president Gary Shapiro, who had previously derided Trump told BuzzFeed, “We are in the innovation world. We adapt to change. That’s what we do. We’re tech ninjas. That means things change and you adapt.” 

“The American people have decided he’s qualified. What I think doesn’t matter,” Shapiro said. 

Please send your tips, comments and Conference Championship predictions to Ali Breland (abreland@digital-staging.thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @HilliconValley. 

GAVEL RACE: The Hill’s Scott Wong is covering the Energy and Commerce Committee’s leadership race, where Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) is favored to succeed Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) The results aren’t in yet, but be sure to check out The Hill’s homepage and Scott’s Twitter for updates on the race.

THE INTERNET IS GETTING FASTER: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its sixth report on Measuring Broadband in America on Thursday. The report compared actual broadband speeds to internet service providers’ claims market, and found that consumers were usually getting internet just as fast or faster than advertised. “The median speed across all consumers this year is 39 Mbps which represents a 22% increase to last year’s value of 32 Mbps, indicating that consumer speeds are continuing to increase,” the report found.

BITCOIN SHENANIGANS: A Northern California District Court ordered that major bitcoin exchange and wallet, Coinbase, hand over three years worth of data to the IRS, The Verge reports. The move was prompted by concerns that some individuals were avoiding paying taxes on earnings they made from buying and selling bitcoins. “The taxpayers being investigated have not been or may not be complying with U.S. internal revenue laws requiring the reporting of taxable income from virtual-currency transactions,” the IRS wrote in its request. Coinbase said that they oppose the magnitude of the order and will fight it in court.

FACEBOOK’S NEW AI TOOL: The Palo Alto, Calif. based social media company is developing an AI tool to flag offensive live videos, Reuters reports. Facebook has received heavy scrutiny in 2016 over its policies on sensitive material, censorship and for not taking a firmer stance against fake news disseminated on its website. The platform has previously relied on humans to flag and report inappropriate content but will now use “an algorithm that detects nudity, violence, or any of the things that are not according to our policies,” for live videos.

ON TAP:

Practicing Law Institute is holding a meeting on telecommunications policy and regulation on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m.

An FCC task force on “optimal public safety answering point architecture” is holding a meeting on Friday at 1:00 p.m. the group is looking for ways to aid the transition toward the “Next Generation” 911 system.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Airbnb is now enforcing annual caps on the amount of days users can rent out their homes in some cities.

The House passed an intelligence bill aimed at beefing up efforts to combat covert Russian attempts to influence foreign affairs.

The DOJ, along with international law enforcement, struck a major blow on Thursday to a massive malware network.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) wants the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hold a hearing on Russia’s influence during the 2016 elections.