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.”

Tuesday's State of the Union address will stream live on Amazon, White House Chief Digital Officer Jason Goldman said in a blog Sunday. "Our job in the Office of Digital Strategy has been to find new or expanded ways for the American people to engage with the President's address," he said. "That means meeting people where they are [and] recognizing the massive shift in the American media diet toward on-demand video." The Amazon Video streaming will be in addition to streaming on the White House's YouTube channel and on wh.gov/sotu, said Goldman. Amazon also will make the speech available on demand Wednesday through the end of the week, and the company has made President Barack Obama's previous State of the Union addresses available, Goldman said. As in past years, real-time video excerpts of the speech will be available on Facebook and Twitter, he said. Amazon didn't comment Monday.

One hundred ninety-five experts, companies and organizations are protesting laws and legislation that would weaken strong encryption, in a letter that will be delivered to world leaders in China, India, the U.K., U.S. and other nations. “The internet belongs to the world’s people, not its governments," said Access Now Executive Director Brett Solomon Monday in a news release. "We refuse to let this precious resource become nationalized and broken by any nation. This letter seeks to unify the voices of global internet users by demanding the protection of tools necessary to the expression of our human rights.” Access Now, which organized the letter, said several countries, including the U.S. (see 1511240023), want companies to provide governments with a back door to encrypted files. David Kaye, U.N. special rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression, security expert Bruce Schneier and Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of the Icelandic Parliament, among others, signed the letter. Among organizations and companies, ACLU, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Internet Association and TechFreedom signed it.

HDBaseT connectivity is moving into the automotive sector, the HDBaseT Alliance said at CES. The alliance is finalizing specifications for HDBaseT Automotive, which is said to allow better efficiency and cost-savings in automotive applications such as infotainment and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. General Motors joined the HDBaseT Alliance board and Daimler and Delphi joined as contributor members.

Purchases made online from desktop computers during November and December totaled $56.4 billion -- up 6 percent over the previous holiday season, comScore said in a news release Friday. Total holiday digital spend reached $69.1 billion -- a 13 percent growth from 2014 -- and mobile commerce was 18 percent of total holiday digital commerce, said comScore. "I believe that we've seen a paradigm shift in 2016 where the future of retail will increasingly be defined by consumers' behavior on mobile," said Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman emeritus.

The FTC unanimously approved a settlement resolving its complaint against "revenge porn" website creator Craig Brittain (see 1501290058), the commission said in a news release Friday. The FTC voted 4-0 after a public comment period to OK the settlement, which was announced in January 2015. Under the settlement, Brittain must permanently delete all of the images and personal information he received while operating the "revenge porn" site, and is prohibited from publicly sharing "intimate videos or photographs of people without their affirmative express consent," the FTC said.

Lenovo will bring to market this summer the first consumer mobile device with Google's Project Tango, and the two companies opened it to app developers Thursday at CES in Las Vegas. Project Tango uses computer vision, depth sensing and motion tracking to create on-screen 3D experiences. The Lenovo smartphone, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, has a “magic window” that can overlay digital information and objects using the Project Tango platform, allowing users to explore their physical worlds with their device, said the companies. Specialized hardware and software work together so a device such as a smartphone reacts to user’s movements. Unlike GPS, Project Tango motion tracking works indoors. It typifies the kind of “innovation risks” smartphone vendors need to take in the “hypercompetitive smartphone and tablet industries,” said Chen Xudong, president of Lenovo’s mobile business group. It means mobile devices can blend the virtual and real worlds, said Johnny Lee, Google’s Project Tango lead.