As online holiday deals for tech products heat up, many Americans are expected to buy such gear during Black Friday Week starting next Monday and lasting through Cyber Monday a week later. The Consumer Technology Association expects 91 million Americans plan to buy tech or tech accessories during Black Friday Week, as more consumers shop online and via mobile devices during the Thanksgiving week, CTA said. Some 37 percent of U.S. adults plan to buy technology products during Black Friday shopping week, and videogame consoles rank at the top of the list (31 percent), up from fifth place last year, CTA said Wednesday. TVs hold the second spot again in 2015 at 26 percent; tablets (24 percent), slipped to third from No. 1 in 2013 and 2014; laptops (24 percent); smartphones (22 percent); and in last place after other items are smartwatches (4 percent). Amazon jumped the gun on Black Friday week, announcing eight days of holiday deals that begin Friday. Shoring up its mobile business, Amazon will introduce deals available only through the Amazon Mobile Shopping App for Android, iOS and Fire OS. Total holiday sales from Amazon’s mobile shopping app doubled in the U.S. last year, led by Black Friday, the company said.

Spotify introduced a new global parental leave policy that allows all full-time employees to take up to six months of leave with full pay, the company said in a news release Thursday. Spotify said the six months of leave can be taken until the child's third birthday, and all employees who had children in 2013 are also eligible for the benefit. Mothers and fathers can split leave into separate periods, the release said, and employees transitioning back to work from parental leave will be able to work from home on part-time schedules within the first month of their return.

Hispanics continued to lag behind other ethnic groups in Internet use in 2013, the NTIA said in a blog post Tuesday. Hispanic online use was 61 percent, trailing non-Hispanic whites (75.4 percent), Asian-Americans (75.3 percent) and African-Americans (64 percent), NTIA said, citing a Census Bureau July 2013 survey. Hispanics did narrow the gap some from 2011, when their Internet use was 54.4 percent, while overall, Internet use by Americans edged up from 69.7 percent to 71.4 percent from 2011 to 2013. “Language barriers and citizenship considerations may be associated with differing levels of Internet use and help explain this dimension of the digital divide,” said John Morris, associate administrator-NTIA Office of Policy Analysis and Development, saying the Hispanic population is on average younger than other groups. “Low Internet use in the Hispanic community continues to be a major concern, although adoption is growing more rapidly for this group than the country as a whole.”

The ACLU said it filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Justice to “uncover” what a conferenced cybersecurity information sharing bill “will actually authorize" under DOJ interpretation of the bill. The House and Senate are in the process of conferencing the House-passed Protecting Cyber Networks Act (HR-1560) and the Senate-passed Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-754). The ACLU’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, seeks “timely disclosure” under the Freedom of Information Act of a 2003 legal opinion from Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) interpreting “common commercial service agreements.” The ACLU said it’s concerned the opinion could result in a dangerous interpretation of a conferenced information sharing bill. Although the ACLU, other privacy groups and tech sector stakeholders opposed S-754 in the lead-up to that bill’s passage in October (see 1510280057), its controversial provisions “may pale in comparison to what the bill allows when read in conjunction” with the OLC opinion, the ACLU said in a blog post. “Before our lawmakers expand the government’s surveillance authority under the guise of cybersecurity legislation, shouldn’t we -- and the legislators themselves -- know what the real consequences will be?” DOJ didn't immediately comment.

Pandora agreed to buy "several key aspects" of streaming music technology provider Rdio for $75 million cash, Pandora said in a news release Monday. The company will acquire certain technology and intellectual property from Rdio and will offer "many" Rdio employees roles with Pandora, the release said. After regulatory approval of the transaction, Rdio will begin "winding down" its branded services, Pandora said.

Administrative Law Judge Michael Chappell dismissed the FTC's case against LabMD. He said Friday that the agency failed to prove that the medical testing company's previous data breach potentially harmed consumers (see 1509180062). "At best, complaint counsel has proven the 'possibility' of harm, but not any 'probability' or likelihood of harm," Chappell wrote in his decision. "Fundamental fairness dictates that demonstrating actual or likely substantial consumer injury ... requires proof of more than the hypothetical or theoretical harm that has been submitted by the government in this case." Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau, in an emailed statement said, "Commission staff is disappointed in the ruling issued by the administrative law judge in this case. We are considering what next steps may be appropriate."

For Fossil, the traditional watch category “remains sluggish, as tech-enabled devices offer consumers additional choices,” CEO Kosta Kartsotis said on an earnings call Thursday. “Technology is emerging as the latest trend in fashion with a growing interest in wearable technology, inspiring new entrants into the watch space, as well as explosive growth in activity trackers,” he said. That is why Fossil decided to buy activity-tracker supplier Misfit for $260 million cash, he said. The acquisition “will allow us to combine our key competitive advantages in design, sourcing, distribution and powerful brands with a business that is already a recognized player in technology-infused accessories and possesses a world-class software and hardware engineering team that stays ahead of emerging technology trends,” he said.

NTIA’s Dec. 2 meeting of its vulnerability research disclosure multistakeholder process will focus on trying to make more progress in areas stakeholders identified during the process’ late September meeting -- awareness and adoption, multiparty disclosure, economic incentives and disclosure safety -- said NTIA Director-Cybersecurity Initiatives Allen Friedman in an email Thursday. Most attending NTIA’s September vulnerability research multistakeholder meeting urged NTIA to focus on incentivizing responsible vulnerability research practices over developing new best practices (see 1509290061). NTIA’s Dec. 2 meeting, at the 20 F Street NW Conference Center, will review drafts developed at the September meeting, Friedman said. The meeting also will be an “opportunity to break out into working groups to plan out specific focused steps, and discuss as a whole community the broad agenda and milestones for the next few meetings,” Friedman said. The Dec. 2 meeting is to run 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. A mid-January meeting will also be in D.C., while a late February meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area will “be timed around” the Feb. 29-March 4 RSA cybersecurity conference, Friedman said.

PayPal completed its buy of electronic money transfer service Xoom, PayPal said in a news release Thursday. Under the terms of the acquisition announced in early July, PayPal bought all shares of Xoom for $25 in cash per share, it said. Xoom CEO John Kunze will continue to lead the company, which will operate as a separate service within PayPal, and will join PayPal's executive staff, PayPal said.

Angie’s List said it will “carefully review and evaluate” an unsolicited bid from IAC/InterActiveCorp to buy it at $8.75 per share, for a total of about $512 million cash. IAC is also willing to exchange ownership of its HomeAdvisor business for ownership of Angie’s List, that company said in a Wednesday news release.