Spotify bought Cord Project and Soundwave to "further boost [its] existing strengths in developing engaging and innovative music experiences," Spotify said in a news release Wednesday. Both businesses will join Spotify's product development team, said Spotify, which didn't disclose the purchase price of either deal.

Amazon China reportedly registered with the Federal Maritime Commission to be a freight forwarder as Beijing Century Joyo Courier Service Co. (see 1601150033), which shows the company isn't giving up on investments in China, said a report from Credit Suisse research analysts. The report said analysts' conversations with Amazon officials suggested the company "will look to iterate its effort to offer Chinese consumers guaranteed authentic products." The report also suggested the fees Amazon will collect as a freight forwarder could result in savings from lower prices for consumers.

Brother printers, a General Electric dishwasher, Whirlpool smart dishwasher and Gmate Smart blood glucose monitor are among the first devices available for Amazon’s Dash Replenishment program, the retailer said Tuesday. Under Dash Replenishment, connected devices automatically order physical goods from Amazon when supplies are running low, the company said. For device makers and developers, Dash Replenishment Service APIs (application program interfaces) are available for integration into any device that can connect to the Internet, Amazon said. Developers can begin an integration using HTML containers and REST (representational state transfer) API calls, it said.

ICANN’s search for a successor to retiring CEO Fadi Chehadé “is proceeding well,” though little other information on the search is available, ICANN Board Chairman Steve Crocker said in a blog post Monday. Chehadé is to resign from ICANN March 12, after the nonprofit corporation’s planned March 5-10 meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco. “It’s clear Fadi has a full run up to his final day and [the Marrakesh meeting], managing the organization and being its representative in key arenas,” Crocker said.

The NSA released an unclassified report on how it's implementing changes to its phone metadata records collection program as required by the USA Freedom Act, the agency said Thursday in a news release. NSA's Civil Liberties and Privacy Office did the assessment, which helps the agency identify impacts to civil liberties and privacy, describe safeguards applied to a certain activity and support more transparency. The law, which was passed last summer, took effect Nov. 29. The report also detailed data minimization procedures designed to protect privacy. It said the NSA "may process, analyze, disseminate, and retain" call detail records -- meaning the metadata -- only as permitted by the minimization procedures adopted by the U.S. Attorney General's Office and approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) is “likely” to adjust its timeline for completing its final proposal on changes to ICANN’s accountability mechanisms based on feedback it receives from ICANN’s six chartering organizations, ICANN said in a blog post Friday. CCWG-Accountability had planned to submit its final proposal to the ICANN board by the end of January, but stakeholders have considered further delays likely given the significant amount of controversy on some aspects of the current proposal (see 1601080054). CCWG-Accountability has sought feedback by Jan. 21 from the six organizations on whether they support the working group’s current proposal. The Country Code Names Supporting Organization, Generic Names Supporting Organization and the Governmental Advisory Committee are preparing comments, ICANN said. “When feedback is received from all six Chartering Organizations, the CCWG-Accountability will be in a better position to judge how much additional work may be needed to finalize the report and will adjust its timeline.” GAC’s feedback has been seen as particularly important given the controversy over how the ICANN board should handle GAC advice following the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition.

Virtual reality software company Envelop VR raised $5.5 million in Series A funding, bringing its total backing to date to $7.5 million, it said. The company will use the funding to grow product and business teams with the goal of having its Envelop Virtual Environment software available when VR headsets from Oculus Rift and HTC reach the mass market later this year, said the company. The software enables enterprises and consumers to create, work and play in a VR environment and will allow developers creating VR content to be able to work while in their VR headsets, instead of having to switch between them and their 2D computer monitors, said the company.

The Education Department should continue to protect college students' online anonymity in any future guidance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said Wednesday in a letter to Arne Duncan, who stepped down as secretary at year end, and Assistant Secretary Catherine Lhamon. EFF's letter came after a coalition of 72 women's and civil rights groups sent a letter to the department in October seeking new federal guidance telling universities and colleges of their legal obligations "to protect students from harassment and threats based on sex, race, color, or national origin carried out via Yik Yak and other anonymous social media applications." The coalition said academic institutions "currently have no explicit guidance" on how to respond to such harassment through social media platforms. It said the department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) should remind universities and colleges that taking action to eliminate such harassment won't infringe on protected speech. EFF said it agrees with the coalition's assessment that harassment on online platforms is a "serious problem" and also agrees with many of its recommendations to fight harassment. But EFF disagreed with the coalition's request that OCR require academic institutions to remove online speech platforms. EFF Legal Director Corynne McSherry said in a news release that "blanket bans" on such platforms is a "counterproductive strategy. Online anonymity is crucial for students who fear retaliation for their political and social commentary. It helps many people avoid being targets of harassment in the first place.” EFF also said even if an academic institution blocks access to such platforms on campus, it won't stop students from going off campus or joining another network to comment anonymously.

Thirty civil rights, privacy and watchdog groups sent a letter Wednesday to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, again asking him to provide "crucial facts" about how Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act affects U.S. citizens and residents, especially before any legislative reauthorization effort. "No member of Congress should be forced to vote on such a critical matter while they and their constituents are kept in the dark about the extent to which Section 702 is being used to surveil Americans and other U.S residents," read the follow-up letter from the coalition. The groups, which include the American Civil Liberties Union, Brennan Center for Justice and Project for Government Oversight, initially requested such information in a letter in October. Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of Brennan's liberty and national security program, wrote in a blog post that the NSA acquires more than 250 million Internet communications annually under the program, which allows the agency to eavesdrop on a foreigner's calls and emails overseas, including communications with Americans. In a Dec. 23 response, the Office of DNI recommended to the coalition through Brennan that intelligence officials meet with civil liberties advocates. "But the letter hinted that much of the information the groups seek may not be forthcoming," Goitein wrote. She said any such meeting should be "focused on moving the conversation forward," meaning intelligence officials should discuss "our specific points and proposals."

Cisco "specially built surveillance, censorship, and other repressive products for the Chinese government that targeted disfavored groups," including the religious Falun Gong and democracy activists, according to a joint amicus brief filed in a case in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Article 19, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International, in support of the Falun Gong plaintiffs, called for the 9th Circuit to reverse a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruling that granted a Cisco motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' second amended complaint. The Falun Gong victims and their families sued Cisco under a law called the Alien Tort Statute, which permits non-U.S. citizens to bring claims in federal courts for human rights violations. In a Tuesday news release, EFF said the amicus brief argues "that the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that Cisco understood that the 'Golden Shield' system (also known as The Great Firewall) it custom-built for China was an essential component of the government’s program of persecution against the Falun Gong -- persecution that included online spying and tracking, detention, and torture." In dismissing the second amended complaint, the district court judge said the plaintiffs didn't offer enough support, EFF said, saying the judge misapplied the law. Cisco has "always maintained that there is no basis for the allegations," emailed a spokesman. "And there is no merit to the case. We do not customize our products in any way that would facilitate censorship or repression. The case was correctly dismissed by the District Court.”