Twitter said it’s changing its direct message functionality “so that it’s even easier for you to communicate one-to-one or with a chosen group of people, anywhere in the world.” Twitter users are now able to opt to receive direct messages from all Twitter users instead of just people who follow a particular account, Senior Software Engineer Nhu Vuong said in a Monday blog post. Twitter is also updating its messaging rules to allow users to reply to anyone who sends the user a direct message, and is adding a direct message button on Twitter profile pages accessed via Android and iPhone, Vuong said.

The FTC has taken action and obtained settlements in more than 50 cases against businesses charged with failing to provide reasonable protections for consumer data, or misrepresenting the protections they provide, FTC Commissioner Julie Brill said Wednesday in testimony on IRS impersonation scams and identity theft before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. Brill talked about how the agency “collects, manages, and analyzes identity theft complaints in order to target its education efforts and assist criminal law enforcement authorities.” The FTC also “reaches out to businesses by distributing ... guides for data security and developing data security guidance for specific industries,” Brill said. The commission will “soon provide more guidance for businesses as part of its Start with Security initiative,” Brill said, which includes road shows, webinars and updating business guidance on data security. The “FTC develops data security guidance for specific industries,” Brill said, such as specific guidance for mobile app developers. Business guidance materials are also available on specific topics such as peer-to-peer file sharing programs and companies’ obligations to protect consumer and employee information, Brill said. The FTC “recently released guidance about ways to provide data security for Internet of Things devices, which includes tips such as designing products with authentication in mind and protecting the interfaces between devices connected to the Internet,” Brill said. In response to the President’s Executive Order last year on "Improving the Security of Consumer Financial Transactions," the “FTC is developing and implementing a plan to make the recovery process for identity theft victims quicker and less burdensome,” Brill said. The agency will unveil a new IdentityTheft.gov in the coming weeks, she said.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager should “file formal charges against Google in the European Commission’s ongoing antitrust investigation of the Internet giant,” a Consumer Watchdog news release said Tuesday. Formal charges are necessary to ensure consumer welfare, the news release said, saying “three unacceptable proposals” from former Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia “did not resolve the fundamental issue of search manipulation.” In a letter to Vestager, Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project Director John Simpson wrote that “without a formal Statement of Objections to motivate Google, the company simply engages in lengthy settlement talks and continues its abusive anticompetitive behavior. If nothing else, a Statement of Objections will concentrate Google executives’ minds and prompt serious negotiations,” he said. “If the Internet giant fails to give an adequate response, the path is open to force changes and levy substantial fines,” Simpson said. Consumer welfare “must be the ultimate test of any antitrust settlement,” Consumer Watchdog said, saying the “only way to deal with this conflict is to remove it.” Simpson said Google’s different services and assets need to be separated, and at a minimum “any remedy must insist that Google use an objective, nondiscriminatory mechanism to rank and display all search results -- including links to Google products.” Google didn't comment.

Akamai Technologies has become a strategic investor in Rubicon Labs, the cybersecurity firm said Wednesday. Rubicon said it has now closed its Series A financing round after garnering a combined $11 million from Akamai and earlier investors Pelion Ventures and Third Point Ventures. “Akamai invested in Rubicon because it has the unique capability to make encryption keys invisible so that authorized users and potential hackers alike have no knowledge of what they are,” Akamai Chief Architect Stephen Ludin said in a news release. “Rubicon has developed a true zero knowledge system whose protocols are cryptographically sound for use in data centers but also light enough to scale down to emerging IoT applications.” Akamai's investment “represents an opportunity for Rubicon to work closely with the industry’s leader in cloud security to explore and develop next-generation secure communications technology,” Rubicon CEO Dave Lundgren said in a news release.

Netflix said TVs from three manufacturers will wear the Netflix Recommended TV logo at retail, certifying that the TVs offer “easy access to Internet TV services, faster performance, and new features that enable a next-generation smart TV experience.” TVs include LG 4K UHD TVs with webOS 2.0, Sony Android Full HDTVs and Roku TVs from Hisense, Insignia and TCL. In a Tuesday blog post, Netflix said it’s “particularly excited” about instant on functionality supported by the Roku-powered and Sony Android HDTVs. “These TVs wake up quickly, remembering where you left off, similar to how smartphones and tablets behave today,” Netflix said. The Sony and Roku models are also capable of turning on and launching Netflix with one button press, it said. The LG 4K UHD TVs with webOS 2.0 have made “special optimizations to make streaming services like Netflix launch much faster,” it said. All the TVs offer “improved user interfaces, allowing you to move seamlessly between live TV and Internet TV services,” Netflix said.

HBO Now is available to Apple and Optimum Online subscribers, giving audiences instant access to HBO’s programming, Time Warner Inc. said in a Tuesday news release. HBO Now is available directly through Apple or Cablevision's Optimum Online broadband service for a monthly subscription of $14.99. Customers who sign up this month for HBO Now will get a 30-day introductory free trial period. Similar to HBO Go, HBO Now will offer more than 2,000 titles online, including current series such as Game of Thrones, True Detective, Silicon Valley, Girls, The Wire and Deadwood. HBO Now subscribers will also have access to Hollywood movies such as Divergent, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Neighbors and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

ICANN should “change its corporate structure to include a membership that will hold its leadership accountable,” the Global Commission on Internet Governance said in a news release Thursday. GCIG released a report making several recommendations for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition. “Any solution for IANA oversight should apply to all current IANA functions to avoid risk of fragmentation,” the release said. “ICANN’s membership should have the power to recall individual directors and approve changes to bylaws; and the effectiveness of financial transparency and oversight should be strengthened,” it said. The report said the transition’s tentative Sept. 30 deadline isn’t likely to be met, a conclusion shared by many ICANN stakeholders (see 1501230063).

The Economic Innovation Group, a tech-oriented lobbying outfit, launched, the group said in a news release Tuesday. EIG was co-founded by Steve Glickman, a former economic adviser to the Obama administration, and John Lettieri, former vice president-government affairs at the Organization for International Investment. The group also has support from Sean Parker, Facebook’s founding president; Ted Ullyot, Facebook’s first general counsel; and SV Angel Founder Ron Conway. “It’s time for those of us in the tech community to look beyond the borders of Silicon Valley, and to think long term about solutions to broader national challenges,” said Park in the release. EIG plans a policy event in partnership with The Atlantic April 15.

ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade’s dismissive rhetoric about the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority cross-community working group (CWG) points to the need for strong oversight of the transition by Congress, said Daniel Castro, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation vice president, in an op-ed for The Hill Tuesday. "There is no one today in the CWG who even understands how the functions work," Chehade said last month at a Domain Name Association event. "I sent my CTO David Conrad to explain to [the CWG] how the system works,” and “no one there even knew that he was talking about." Castro called the comments “disappointing” and said they “show that unless the Internet community, including the U.S. government, demands strong accountability reforms, the ICANN CEO is likely to dismiss these efforts out of hand.” “The greatest concern is that a future CEO or board might take ICANN in an undesirable direction,” said Castro. “‘Trust me’ is not a model for good governance on the Internet or anywhere else.” The CWG met in Istanbul last week to discuss its delayed names proposal (see 1503300057 and 1503170058). The CWG scheduled a 30-day public comment period of its draft proposal, which was originally slated for early April, beginning April 20. ICANN didn’t comment.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition cross-community working group (CWG) saw “significant progress” during its meeting last week in Istanbul, but the “work on the post-transition structural arrangements remains in a developmental stage and there are details to resolve,” an ICANN news release said Monday. “Moreover the proposed structure will need to be reviewed against the CWG-Stewardship principles, amongst other tests and considerations,” it said. ICANN stakeholders told us earlier this month that the Istanbul meeting would be key in determining the progress of the CWG (see 1503170058). The group has delayed its names proposal largely due to the debate over whether the day-to-day operations of the IANA functions should be governed by an internal or an external mechanism. The CWG scheduled a 30-day public comment period of its draft proposal, which was originally slated for early April, beginning April 20, the release said.