up, we see trains lose their smiling faces. worry whether we can afford the bus to school tomorrow. >> for a complete schedule go to c-span.org. >> gary shapiro is the president and ceo of the consumer technology association long known as cea. he is our guest to talk among the future of technology and also joining us is tony who covers technology for politico. >> thank you for being here. we have a couple of days until the event in las vegas. from 2016? we expect >> it will be a great event. we had 176,000 last year so

we're -- we thought it was a little too much so we're trying to go under than that -- under that. far we have lost the hotel and airfare war. over 3600 exhibiting companies space. million excitementtion, more and more categories than ever before. where we are solving real-life problems for the world. it is about health care and transportation, clean food and clean water. that's all the big problems with technology. we see these images every year like nice tvs and souped-up cars. a lot of the see folk go out there. what is the technology washington needs to have on its radar?

>> who have over 200 policymakers. i know from around the world to -- from cabinet ministers and france to leading canadians to cabinet secretaries plus the entire ftc -- all the commissioners are coming and many other agencies and senators and congressmen as well. wouldn't don't want them regulating from inside the beltway. growth are seeing is the should be looking at. drones, robotics, health care, 3-d printing. automobiles have huge growth. there is so much going there as we shift toward driverless car. we want to be looking at these technologies and have a huge area of focus and say this is our future. this is a dynamic and exciting industry how can we as policymakers ensure that the

united states stays at the lead. others are coming from other countries saying how can we capture that. the chinese have a five-year plan that focuses on innovation but france will have over 100 exhibitors and they have a huge delegation because they are focused on innovation. we have competition which is a good thing and good for our own government. >> let's talk about some of the technology. you mentioned your own business starting with the new requirement that consumers have to register small craft like drones with the government. the cea was critical of some of what the government had contemplated. what is the organization's current take on drone registration requirements? x we were part of a committee that made recommendations and the government worked at lightning speed to get something

done before the holiday season. we were a little taken aback by the new tax which is an impediment but the fact is that drones are a reality in not only the consumer marketplace but the commercial and government marketplace. they help protect prisons and do perimeter security. they do aerial mapping to give medicine to people who need it and at some point they will be providing package delivery not only to your home but also cutting down on traffic. there take as we are behind rest of the developed world and our regulatory structure and we are losing out on the testing site. the fatah virginia and others have jumped in. on and it lot going is definitely a form of mobility that is very important and we have to be leaders and we have

to be a little bit more responsive. moreould there have been on retailers in the places where these drones are sold now to register craft at time of purchase? >> and of think it would've been reasonable to say that retailers have to change all their systems. i would be devastating to brick-and-mortar retailers. to throw one more thing at them would make it more difficult to .o business and contribute >> has the faa got it right? or are they moving too slowly? >> certainly it was moving too slowly. everybody including all of our nations companies trying to build and sell them. they move quicker and they're headed in that direction.

they mean well but their objective is safety. there are safety issues connected with drones. >> there are also privacy issues connected with all of that and that is hanging over the entire thing. we have these devices expected to deliver information and have services. have those privacy issues abated in the year since we haven't talking about technology? is privacy still the top issue for companies like drone makers? >> i think privacy is definitely an issue that some care about. particularly people in the media and these officials who make a living at it. we have to balance privacy and the concerns that people really do have against the fact that roddick's are coming which will make a fundamental difference in our lives and sometimes it's less important. for example if you're in a car and is going over pot hills -- potholes that's information that has to be transmitted to others.

you can get all sorts of information which will solve these issues and problems of privacy is important -- technology will solve big problems. big issue.s a what do you think will happen with facial recognition, micro keys analysis -- technology will solve the problem with terrorists. there's a balance between terrorism and privacy but right now i think defeating terrorism is a little more important than -- the -- defeating protecting every aspect of privacy. >> is there one opinion among all members on the issue of encryption? text genuinely the tech and a street is pretty united. to start giving governments so that evil people

can get backdoors solves nothing. there is consensus not only in the tech industry but the government security world that it is not such a great idea to give a backdoor. when it comes down to it, the truth is that you follow the trend. when there is a legitimate need with law enforcement. new analysis of videotapes and things like that and then they respond but to say that we have to design products and the chinese government or american government has a backdoor is that something viewed as a favorable development. >> why the name t hey?from cea to see >> we represent over 2000 tech companies. some of them provide services but you have airbnb, step chat, pandora and uber and lift and all of these disruptive companies providing new technologies and services with

status quo companies and industries trying to use government to stop new entrance, we want to help. we want to make sure everyone understands the world is about change, innovation and disruptive technology and giving consumers and power men and choice and allowing them to do business with each other and that is why we created something called the disruptive innovation council. we say, stop using government to stop new entrant to markets. they are united in their willingness to embrace change. that is what everything we do in washington is about. we don't as the government for money and hopefully we never will we like to say these things can change because that is what the u.s. economy thrives on in that moves the human condition or word. >> let's talk more about the name change. you mentioned the disruptive innovation council.

how does that work? the disruptive innovation council is part of the association. hand selected group of companies which are truly disruptive measured by the number of customers they have changes in the existing paradigms, it is a carefully selected group by innovation only. a lot of copy city are disruptors but every startup thinks they are disruptive. you have to establish a threshold of customers and the ability to change the market. it is a pretty wide array of companies that they touch on. what is on this agenda as we begin 2016 and deal with some of the right sharing work. is it working on benefits and issues around workplace

protections? what is the agenda. >> its reactive to what governments are trying to shut down. some of it is just the concept of disruption been positive. we spent a lot of time debating it. veryld definitions were negative. the majority of the way the new world looks at it is positive. it's a good thing. we will be doing market research and sharing the research. but it is a heart of how we were evaluating each of the 50 states as to whether they were pro-innovation or anti-innovation. we released the results and will be releasing them again in the first quarter of the year. these are states which have to improve their game if they want to be considered pro-innovation. >> with some of the political back and forth, are the states a bigger concern to you then the federal government?

>> some states are a little bit more aggressive. for example, recycling issues is state-by-state and that is really challenging for industries trying to get products out. with trade and immigration the action is all on the federal government. >> greg shapiro, one of the issues we've talked about quite a bit on this program is the issue of net neutrality. as it works its way to the court system, what is your view? >> net neutrality as a concept is a good. the way the government has chosen to go about it is not healthy. they say we can regulate anything. we are starting to see that t-mobile -- the chairman of the ftc said it is a great thing they are doing with the new plan but now we have to question the information you have to ask permission first -- it is

dangerous. it was working great. we have been fighting for net neutrality for 15 years. we got everyone to agree on principles but it is still unclear to me why the federal government had to step in and say we have to do this by law and come up with a strained version of it. we don't know what the results will be. in principle, net neutrality is good but companies need to be able to have differential pricing and we need to do whatever we can to encourage broadband cup petition. -- competition. if consumers can choose their broadband provider a stunt cost and price options with full disclosure and the ability to get out of the contract if they change the rules than that neutrality is less important. >> what about the upcoming spectrum options? >> we have fought for those for years.

it is a little complex. i will not deny the fact that it is not a slamdunk. we do not know what broadcasters will do or the way the auction will work. we need that spectrum desperately. we need to spectrum for it. we have to give this a try and hopefully it will work. if it doesn't, we will try something else. like to see more of that become available. there are a great proposals out there. theinally, when it comes to cea show you will have all five commissioners out there. but you also have to encourage them to see some of this. -- arounde who comes 99% of them do. part of the excitement is the

experience of the show we are seeing the excitement of companies like intel what they are offering is huge and multiply that by thousands and they learn and see and talk to real inventors and engineers and executives. every chairman has really done a great job of going to see the exhibits and that is what they generally do. but what has been an incredible challenge is the ethics rules. they say if you get to a place like us figures and you have crazy things. we've a dinner or we host all international guests, the top executives from around the world the ethics rules are our biggest entrant to the fact that our government has an obligation to help us host this global event you get 50,000 people from outside the united states. i go to my competitor in germany and see angela merkel greeting everyone and yet we have rules

and complacency where we are not allowed to have the government do its job and welcome focusational visitors and on the fact that if this is what we are doing it is good. we should be thankful -- a lot of them pay their own way which is unfortunate on a government salary in the cannot go to recessions or dinners. >> to continue on that line of argument the flipside would be you can consider cea to be a form of lobbying. you're talking about looking for access to government regulators. eisai lobbying but it is providing information experience which makes more sense to me if you're asking legislators to make decisions without experience. we embrace both sides of an issue.

we have patents. they are totally against us on patent controls. we present both sides of an issue. all the positives are out in the open. the press like you are welcome to encourage it. we don't have too many secrets. regulars are following the rules. those that do not go in my view are less likely to do a good job legislating or regulating. they are just seeing the world firsthand the way they should. anytime a legislator gets out of washington even to go elsewhere in the world is a good ring. any the experience to make reasonable judgments. >> we talked about drones as one of the big pieces of technology. another one is virtual reality technology. there seem to be a lot of zones set up for vr technology. is that a concern.

it seems like the sort of thing that washington is good at. >> there is virtual reality which is made up reality like a videogame and augmented reality where you are putting yourself in an existing situation modeling after a piece of furniture as it would look in your house. virtual reality seems at this point to be more game and training oriented. but i'm not sure what regulators would be focused on. the companies are so busy trying to compete with each other that i would guess they are not thinking that much about washington. >> one of the major companies in registered as one of the first virtual reality companies here in d.c.. you about thisll

industry where other industries the way theyming are in washington now as opposed to a few years ago. >> certainly microsoft is made the mistake of ignoring washington and microsoft and google -- google try to learn from that. they try toceed block you. they have to know what is going on. your airbnb or step chat. do snail mailchat notification. they can't, it's not in their business model. needs why they presentation. make thousands of regulations on the books.

that is the biggest challenge. how do you comply with the >> wement regulations have groups that represent these are these groups competing? >> i like it. together sometimes the more names they have the more influential it is. it's a free market. theirmpeting with dollars. >> in 2016 are there going to be displays on that kind of security? focused on cyber

security and personal security. that's an issue for our government it's an issue for any commercial company but it's also into the fact that we are going into the internet of things and all these connected products with each other using the there's issues they are dealing with very effectively can you take over a car? that is a similar issue. but whether you can have your garage door open we have dealt with these issues in different ways. technology will create problems but also provides a solution. with the train our kids and employees to be cyber smart and not have that foolish attachment. there is a focus but we can solve it. >> communicators has gone to

vegas to this show we have found that at the sands hotel from the -- separate from the convention center there is emerging technology. >> we are so focused such that that is what we believe. before a joint the organization theard this is why we have show for anyone with an idea to expose it will stop retailers and partners that's a subsidized area established just a few years ago. now we have over 500 and we have a waiting list that is curated. it is exciting. you are seeing engineers and entrepreneurs and innovators. these people seeing it and they all leave with a different concept than they came with about how they should launch that business. their arm ultimately in dollar investments made -- there are

multimillion dollar investments made. we use it for that and many other things like a lot of other new technology. 10 conventiontop centers in the country. we wish there was more space. >> is it open to the public? >> it is not open to the public. we are careful to screen the public out. >> why? >> first for pure space, second it is a business only event. business to business people say how can i have this product ready for the holiday season. if you modify this i might go with it. it is more of the feedback relationship. theke european events, truth is everyone of us is a consumer so there are people

going to different areas. it's radically changed in the last 10 years they must go across industry. from the auto industry to hollywood to broadcast the cable . to madison avenue to wall street. segments.ss we have three hotels focused on chief marketing officers because they have new platforms to get the message out and they want to see and talk to each other. it is a convergence marketplace and those are all consumers, but they are all business people. you have to be business percent ago. >> -- person to go. --is there increasing a gap

with the way consumers are using technology, you read tech blogs saying some of the smart home technologies are not the things ending up in homes after they are shown on display. >> that is what ces is. they put out products, some of which will never go to market because it does not get a book response from those who make a difference like media and partners. but there are tremendous things going on in the video display and audio area will stop ultra hd is a grand slam -- in the audio area. ultra hd is a grand slam. everyone who has seen ultra hd would like one. but we have seen products up double-digit growth every year. the high water mark set by some products have got the media penetration. so it probably takes time.

it is a matter of expectation. but this in tremendous opportunity and people are buying products. what i have around my wrist now is measuring my steps and my heartbeat. these products did not exist a few years ago and now 10% of the population is wearing them. that is huge growth. maybe not enough for media people but there is a joint and cynicism in some of the trade reporters, but we embrace technology in this company and there is huge room for growth. they are solving real-life problems and helping in agriculture and in mobility. election, has that you basically wrote an op-ed talking about marco rubio and called him your candidate. talk about why you say rubio is the candidate of choice here for

republicans entering november. >> this is a personal view, but i have a position because he is the only one talking about innovation and the dynamism of the american economy. there is a whole chapter in his book about uber. that relates to the average american especially young people using it instantly different ways to extend with a live to get to that last mile away from whatc transportation. we've seen is deadly, this proposal that unless you make $50,000 will kill many startups. -- we had toare spend $50,000 per your extra just a higher interns because we have to put them on obamacare. this is not good for people graduating college. i have not seen any other candidate on the republican or democratic stage talking about

this in such a forceful way or in any way at all. that is what i appreciate about rubio. he is taking a reasonable view on immigration and is one of the creators of the startup act which allowed fast funding -- he is focused on innovation and creating jobs and that is the discussion this country should be having. i don't agree with his positions on some issues, but in terms of innovation he is the candidate we should be talking about in the tech industry. >> the tech industry is mostly talking about hillary clinton if you look at the two nation numbers and some of the startups. why hasn't rubio gained the traction in silicon valley that he and others would like him to have? >> the republican literati i'm sure he will. theire problem is

promiscuous in their campaign giving. they support candidates who they agree with on social issues which means both democrats and republicans going to silicon valley and collecting donations without regard to where they stand on technology and innovation. want to giveey money to candidates like hillary clinton they should be supporting highly skilled innovation and patent reform and all of these issues. these policies we've seen from the obama administration have been increasingly difficult. kids out of college to get work -- it's a problem faced not only by tech startups but where they are coming from and we have to start talking about them and that is what they should be talking about. >> finally, gary shapiro, you have introduced and all technology to the show which is books.

someone goes to the website, what kind of books will they find? >> i successfully launched two of my books at ces and our chief economist. we said why not give other authors this opportunity? 2016, say look, people still read. andas been very successful we found lots of authors want to have their book there. we had a huge number of submissions. you know we have criteria. it must have to do with innovation and technology. >> gary schapiro. they sponsor the ces show in las vegas january 9.