AOL completed its acquisition of end-to-end mobile platform Millennial Media (see 1509030062), it said in a news release Friday. AOL made a tender offer of $1.75 in cash per share of Millennial Media common stock, which expired at midnight Thursday, it said. At the expiration of the tender offer, nearly 115 million Millennial shares were validly tendered, or about 80.3 percent of its outstanding shares, said AOL, which completed the acquisition of the remaining eligible shares not acquired in the tender offer. Millennial Media is now an AOL subsidiary, AOL said. AOL itself has been bought by Verizon (see 1505120019).

Apple released several security updates to address critical vulnerabilities in multiple Apple products, a U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team alert said Wednesday. Updates are available for, among others, iTunes 12.3.1 for Windows 7 and later, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch Hermes, iPhones 4s and later, iPod touch 5th generation and later, and iPad 2 and later, the alert said. Exploitation of the vulnerabilities may allow a remote attacker to take control of an affected system, it said.

President Barack Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif “affirmed that international cooperation is essential to make cyberspace secure and stable,” the White House said Thursday. “Both leaders endorsed the consensus report of the 2015 UN Group of Governmental Experts in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security.” Obama and Sharif also pledged to continue to engage and discuss on cyber issues as part of the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, it said.

The FTC and National Credit Union Administration will host a live Twitter chat to discuss cybersecurity tips and ways to protect information Thursday at 11 a.m., said FTC Consumer and Business Education Counsel Carol Kando-Pineda in a blog post Tuesday. “Join the conversation at #NCUAChat,” or submit questions beforehand to socialmedia@ncua.gov, Kando-Pineda said.

Operators of an alleged tech support scam agreed to settle allegations that they tricked consumers into paying millions of dollars for technical support services they didn't need and for software that was otherwise free, the FTC said in a news release Tuesday. The FTC filed suit against Pairsys and its owners, Tiya Bhattacharya and Uttam Saha. It alleged they cold-called consumers pretending to be representatives of Facebook or Microsoft, bought deceptive online advertisements that led consumers to believe they were a legitimate technical support company, and engaged in high-pressure sales pitches to consumers to give the company remote access to their computers allegedly to repair dangerous malware and viruses last year, the release said. “The scammers would then pressure consumers into paying for computer security or technical support services, usually at a cost of $149 to $249, though in some cases the defendants charged as much as $600.” Under the settlement, Bhattacharya and Saha “are required to turn over multiple real estate properties as well as the contents of numerous bank accounts, and to give up the leases on two luxury cars,” and are banned from selling any technical support services to consumers, participating in telemarketing, misrepresenting goods or services to consumers, and from collecting money for any technical support services, the release said. The commission vote approving the stipulated order was 5-0, it said. The order was filed in and entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

Internet marketplace platforms like Airbnb and eBay don’t need their own special regulations to address concerns such as competition, privacy and employment opportunities, said an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report, an ITIF news release said Monday. “Regulators already have the authority to address these and other possible harms,” the release said. “Where we once had town-square bazaars and village matchmakers we now have Internet platforms like Etsy and Tinder,” said ITIF Senior Fellow Joseph Kennedy, who wrote the report. “Online marketplaces are growing quickly because the Internet reduces costs, scales easily, and is available anywhere, any time,” ITIF said. “It is important for policymakers to recognize that some Internet platforms have significant market share only because by doing so they maximize value for consumers,” the release said. “Are we better off with three different ‘Facebooks’ or ‘Twitters’ or just one? Clearly in these cases one large network is better than three smaller ones,” said ITIF President Robert Atkinson. “When looking at antitrust issues, market share has traditionally been the most important indicator of abuse,” Atkinson said. “But for Internet platforms, we can no longer use this old lens. Larger market share is usually a reflection of superior total economic and consumer value for networks.” ITIF said Internet platforms pose no bigger privacy risk than traditional platforms and “there is no need for special privacy policies applying just to platforms.”

FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Director Jessica Rich will speak at the agency’s Oct. 30 workshop on online lead generation, a commission news release said Monday. “Lead generators identify or cultivate consumer interest in a product or service, and sell the consumer ‘lead’ information to third parties.” The workshop will feature presentations and panels with industry representatives, consumer groups, law enforcement agencies and others on the consumer protection issues raised by the lead generation industry, it said. The workshop begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Constitution Center Auditorium in Washington, it said. A full list of panelists and an agenda is on the FTC website.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation will urge the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to order the U.S. government to disclose information about its role in facilitating exports of American-made surveillance tools to foreign nations, during a hearing Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. PDT at Stanford Law School, an EFF news release said Monday. The hearing is part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Commerce Department, “which denied a request seeking disclosure of export applications for surveillance technologies,” the release said. The Commerce Department has argued it could withhold the documents, citing a 1979 law that expired in 2001, EFF said. A federal judge agreed with EFF in July 2013 and ordered the records be disclosed, but the government appealed the decision, it said. During Wednesday’s hearing, EFF Staff Attorney Mark Rumold will argue that dead laws can’t be used to keep information from the public, the release said.

Voxx International’s recent $20.2 million purchase of a majority stake in biometric security supplier EyeLock is important to Voxx because the IoT “has made security a critical part of daily life, demanding more efficient means of protecting identities and assets,” Voxx CEO Pat Lavelle said last week on an earnings call. EyeLock boasts a portfolio numbering more than 100 patents, which includes items “with technology that can potentially create the most powerful cybersecurity solution available as well as logical and perimeter access solutions,” Lavelle said. With its acquisition of a controlling interest in EyeLock, Voxx now controls “all of their IP and substantially all of their assets,” he said. “Their technology and business model enables them to scale across multiple markets and there was no doubt in our minds that iris biometrics will be one of, if not the, chosen method for authentication in the future,” he said. By the end of the decade, iris authentication “will become commonplace” for consumers, financial institutions and government and defense contractors, he said. Moreover, automakers and tech companies “may look to integrate iris authentication into routers, switches, set-top boxes, PCs and mobile devices,” he said. “Blue chip partners and global brands” are evaluating or have already adopted EyeLock's iris authentication technology “as a means to improve system and infrastructure security and for embedded technology applications,” he said. EyeLock also is in talks “with leading PC, tablet and laptop makers about embedding their technology in these devices,” he said.

Don’t forget to create a plan for what you want to happen to your online life after you die, FTC Consumer and Business Education Counsel Carol Kando-Pineda wrote in a blog post Friday. “All the digital files, photos, posts and other accounts you leave behind might cause a lot of inconvenience -- even fraud or identity theft -- for your loved ones to clean up." Kando-Pineda recommended individuals make an inventory of their digital accounts including for email, social media, blogging, gaming and cloud storage. “Set up a spreadsheet or other file to keep track of each site’s name, URL, your user name, password, your wishes for each, and other information that might be necessary for access,” Kando-Pineda said. “Some of your accounts may involve money -- either real-world or online currencies -- and may require additional attention.” Some accounts allow an individual to make arrangements or name someone to manage accounts after death, so research your options, she said. Don’t attach this inventory to your will because your will becomes a public document after your death, Kando-Pineda said. It may help to name a digital executor to handle these tasks, either a friend, family member or third-party service, Kando-Pineda said. A series of reports showed how laws don't fully address such digital decedent issues (see 1508060032), and in their absence some but not all Web companies are rolling out their own services for digital life after death (see 1508070025).