The FTC will host a Nov. 16 workshop on privacy issues for “cross-device tracking” for advertising and marketing purposes, the agency said Tuesday in a news release. Questions the commission hopes to answer include: What are the different types of cross-device tracking, how do they work, and what are they used for; What types of information and benefits do companies gain from using these technologies; What benefits do consumers derive from the use of these technologies; What are the privacy and security risks associated with the use of these technologies; How can companies make their tracking more transparent and give consumers greater control over it; and Do current industry self-regulatory programs apply to different cross-device tracking techniques, the agency said. “More consumers are connecting with the internet in different ways, and industry has responded by coming up with additional tools to track their behavior,” said Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich. "It’s important to ensure that consumers’ privacy remains protected as businesses seek to target them across multiple devices.”

Underwriters Labs announced a new safety standard for products that incorporate button or coin cell batteries using lithium technology. Standard UL 4200A applies to household-type products requiring the batteries that are used in areas where children are typically present, UL said. Products that contain a removable battery are required by UL 4200A to define methods to prevent the battery “from being liberated,” it said. The standard details performance tests, including abuse tests, designed to gauge a product's potential for an accidental release of a battery. UL 4200A addresses how the product should be marked, including warnings about the potential hazard and that batteries should be kept away from children. The standard describes the harm batteries can cause if swallowed and the need for immediate medical attention. Incidents involving button battery deaths and severe injuries have been increasing, UL said. The incidents most often involve children younger than 4, it said. Severe problems can arise when a battery becomes lodged in the digestive tract or elsewhere in the body, where electric current produced by the battery can ionize saliva, forming a corrosive alkaline that damages surrounding tissues, UL said. The standard is set to take effect Nov. 10, UL said.

Yahoo announced a new authentication option at South by Southwest Sunday that would let users log in to their accounts without a password. It's now available for U.S. users, a Yahoo news release said. Passwords are texted directly to a user’s mobile phone during the sign-in process under this new authentication system, which Yahoo hopes will “ease anxiety around password memorization and improve security for users,” the release said. Users must opt in to receive “on-demand” passwords, Yahoo said.

The FCC should grant EchoStar's petition for waiver of the analog tuner requirement, to benefit consumers, CEA said in a comment posted Tuesday in docket 15-47. The commission should let EchoStar sell a new model of SlingLoaded HD, Internet-enabled DVR in the U.S., which doesn't include an analog over-the-air tuner, it said. Digital-only devices are cost-effective and the analog tuner requirement should be eliminated for all manufacturers, it said. Delaying this could create a generation of devices with "vestigial analog tuners" while manufacturers comply with "a rule that no longer matches market realities," CEA said. EchoStar's waiver petition and a similar one from Funai in docket 15-42 "are evidence that device manufacturers want to offer consumers the benefits of digital-only devices in upcoming product lines," CEA said. "Eliminating the requirement would also alleviate market uncertainty, permitting manufacturers to introduce innovative, lower-cost, and energy-saving devices in the same timeframe that the remaining analog TV broadcasters have to fully transition to digital broadcasts." CEA was the only commenter in both the Funai and the EchoStar dockets, replies in which are due March 17 and March 19, respectively.

Twelve companies, including Bang & Olufsen and Hitachi, have withdrawn from the DVD Copy Control Association, and one company, Azend Group Corp. of Chino, California, joined, DVD CCA told the Justice Department and the FTC in simultaneous “written notifications” Feb. 6. That’s according to a notice in Thursday’s Federal Register by Patricia Brink, director-civil enforcement, in DOJ’s Antitrust Division. The change-of-membership notifications were required to extend DVD CCA antitrust protections under the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993, Brink’s notice said.

While CEA considered drones one of the “highlights” of CES in January, interactive conference South by Southwest (SXSW), which opens Friday in Austin, Texas, is taking a more guarded approach to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). In a blog post, SXSW organizers said the conference has a “strict no drones policy due to the safety risks drones present to the public,” citing an Austin city ordinance. While SXSW “may make exceptions to this policy if the drones are used within certain trade show areas where safety measures, such as tethering to the ground are implemented, the airwaves and/or frequency spectrums generally used in the remote control of drones are too congested during the SXSW event to ensure operation safe from interference,” it said. Those who want to test the limits could face punishment, SXSW warned. “The Austin Police Department will also be watching for drones in crowded and/or public areas where the drones could pose a risk to public safety,” it said, adding that drones flown in the city of Austin are subject to seizure by police, and the operators are subject to fines and/or arrest. CEA, in announcing last September the first Unmanned Systems Marketplace at CES, said the 6,500-square-foot exhibit space designated for drones would accommodate roughly 16 high-end commercial and consumer UAV technology companies to show how “these unique tools are revolutionizing the way we capture and monitor our world.” According to CEA research, the global market for consumer drones will approach $130 million in revenue this year, up 55 percent from 2014, with unit sales expected to reach 400,000. The revenue from drone sales is forecast to exceed $1 billion in five years, CEA said.

Sony and Screen Innovations have joined Azione Unlimited's vendor roster, bringing the vendor total for the buying group to 40 members, Azione said. Azione, which will hold its spring meeting in Nashville next week, has 110 dealer members.

The Digital Entertainment Group added 12 new member companies, the group said Tuesday. They are Alchemy, Comcast, DirecTV, DreamWorks Animation, Imax, MGM, Playster, Sellthru Co, The Orchard, Testronic Labs, Verizon Digital Media Services and Yekra, the DEG said. "These new companies represent diverse areas all serving the home entertainment industry -- from cable providers, content providers, consumer electronics, cloud storage solutions, streaming services, content distribution, quality assurance solutions and wireless solutions," it said. "Just as the industry evolves, so must the DEG.”

The FCC's Incentive Auction Task Force is holding information sessions in several cities around the country between February through June to offer broadcasters more information about the TV incentive auction and repacking process, the commission said in a public notice Monday. It will hold information sessions in Cincinnati on March 30, Columbus on March 31, Cleveland on April 1, Louisville on April 6, Indianapolis on April 7 and Las Vegas on April 13 to 14, during the NAB Show. Future visits will be announced in public notices, it said. A tentative list of cities can be found in an FCC blog post.

The FCC should use extreme caution and tailor its rules narrowly for multichannel video programming distributors, said media organizations and content distributors in comments posted Wednesday in docket 14-261. The commission should “be slow to interfere” with the evolving concept of TV, said the Digital Media Association (DiMA) comment. The commission should be cautious about changing the definition of MVPDs, especially when the over-the-top (OTT) market is “vibrant and growing,” it said. Changes to the definition of MVPD should be “narrowly tailored to a well-defined class of online video programming distributors,” DiMA said. It approved that the rulemaking rejected a “one size fits all” approach and drew distinctions between Internet-based MVPDs and Internet-based providers of video content, it said. OTT providers should be unaffected regarding program access and carriage rules, it said. Producing and distributing video content is “already fraught with significant risk in this competitive environment,” said MPAA's comment. Changing the current content market could hinder investment and experimentation, it said. Consumer demand, not the government, should determine content and linear and other online distribution methods, MPAA said. The rules proposed in the NPRM raise issues under the First Amendment and copyright law, and also threaten the diversity of programming and licensing relationships among content creators, distributors and programmers, MPAA said. The commission should qualify Sky Angel as an MVPD (see 1503050058), Sky Angel said in its comment. Its program access complaint against Discovery has been stagnant for 27 months, while the commission imposes a five-month standard to resolve these complaints, Sky Angel said. Sky Angel wants the pro-consumer, pro-competition protections from program access rules and asked the commission to grant its renewed petition for temporary standstill, it said.