Amazon has added the Zoom video calling app to its new line of Fire TV Omni Series smart TVs. 

Omni Series TV users of any size configuration can mount a compatible 720p-1080p USB-connected webcam to the top of their set and simply say, "Alexa, find Zoom" to initiate the app through the TVs built-in Alexa voice support. 

Privacy-leery users must remember to turn the TV microphone on. And the app will only use the Omni's built-in speakers -- smart speakers won't work with the app. 

Amazon already announced Zoom support for its Fire TV Cube device over the summer. 

Zoom may have dodged a tougher outcome from allegations of lax security, but the Federal Trade Commission's new acting chair clearly has issues with the company.

The FTC has released its settlement agreement with Zoom, which has become a go-to meeting site for governments, businesses, and virtual birthdays and holidays around the electronic hearth, and the new acting FTC chair is not happy with the decision, which was an 11th-hour vote by the Trump FTC.

Also Read: House Republicans Happy with Zoom Settlement

Zoom settled allegations by the FTC that it misled users about its level of security. 

The settlement requires Zoom to undertake a "comprehensive security program," guard against security flaws in software updates and make sure those updates don't interfere with third-party security and get biennial assessments of its security from an independent source over which the FTC had approval.

It must also notify the FTC of any data breaches.

The decision was 3-2 to finalize the settlement, an eleventh-hour vote Jan. 19--the settlement was released Monday (Feb. 1)--with the Republicans agreeing to the settlement and the Democrats, including now acting chair Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, dissenting.

Slaughter said the decision was "particularly troubling in light of the fact that the Department of Justice recently charged a Zoom employee with allegedly participating in a scheme to surveil, disclose, and censor political and religious speech of individuals located in the United States and around the world at the behest of the People’s Republic of China. These facts heighten my concern with Zoom’s ability to protect user privacy, and, for these reasons, I respectfully dissent from the Commission’s decision to finalize this order."

Also Read: Senators Seek DOJ Investigation of Zoom

Specifically, the FTC had alleged that Zoom misrepresented its level of security of its meeting platform  by calling it "end-to-end" encryption when it wasn't, claimed meetings stored on the cloud were encrypted when they were stored up to 60 days afterwards unencrypted, and undermined an Apple Safari browser safeguard that protected from some types of malware.

Top Energy & Commerce Committee Republicans applauded the Federal Trade Commission for requiring Zoom to boost its security practices, alleging the company was "undermining the safety of and misleading its users."

The FTC announced the settlement with the company Nov. 9 Zoom must "implement a robust information security program to settle allegations that the video conferencing provider engaged in a series of deceptive and unfair practices that undermined the security of its users.

Specifically, the FTC alleged that Zoom misrepresented its level of security of its meeting platform  by calling it "end-to-end" encryption when it wasn't, claimed meetings stored on the cloud were encrypted when they were stored up to 60 days afterwards unencrypted, and undermined an Apple Safari browser safeguard that protected from some types of malware.

During the pandemic, Zoom use has increased 30-fold, from 10 million in December 2019 to 300 million in April 2020, according to the House E&C ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

They called Zoom's failure to protect user data "unacceptable." They also said they were willing to work with Democrats to come up with a "much-needed" data privacy.

Both parties have agreed something needs to be done to protect consumers' data online, but agreement has been elusive over issues like whether it should be an opt-out or opt-in regime and what falls under the definition of sensitive personal information that should get heightened protections.

American Idol will begin auditioning for season four Aug. 10, when “Idol Across America” starts, hitting all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The auditions are remote, featuring Zoom technology. They conclude a month later. 

American Idol calls it a “live virtual nationwide search for the next superstar.” Hopefuls get digital Facetime with an Idol producer, “providing aspiring Idols real-time feedback on their journey to being crowned the next American Idol,” said the show.

Season four starts on ABC in spring 2021. 

Aspiring Idols sign up to audition on the date their home state hosts. 

Delaware, Florida and Ohio auditions happen Aug. 10 and Louisiana, Missouri and Wisconsin go down Aug. 12. Arizona, Oregon and Washington happen Aug. 14 and Georgia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Rhode Island take place Aug. 16. Aug. 17 is “Open Call Auditions” and Aug. 18 is Alabama, Arkansas and Kansas. Idaho, New Mexico and Utah happen Aug. 20 and Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas take place Aug. 22. 

On Aug. 24, it’s Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia, with more Open Call Auditions Aug. 25. 

Iowa, Mississippi and Oklahoma go down Aug. 26 and Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota happen Aug. 28. 

On Aug. 30, it’s Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, and Colorado, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming happen Sept. 1. Sept. 3, it’s Maine, South Carolina and West Virginia, and Alaska, California and Hawaii happen Sept. 5. On Sept. 7, it’s Kentucky, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, then Massachusetts, North Carolina and Vermont Sept. 9. 

American Idol is produced by Fremantle and Industrial Media’s 19 Entertainment. Executive producers include Fremantle’s Trish Kinane, also showrunner, Jennifer Mullin and Megan Wolflick, with Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman exec producing for 19 Entertainment. 

Zoom, which has become a go-to virtual conference room in the age of COVID-19, is in some trouble in Washington.

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who are pretty far apart on the political spectrum, are in agreement that the Department of Justice should investigate both Zoom and TikTok (which has been a major D.C. target already) for "reported violations of Americans’ civil liberties and [for] their close ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)." 

Related: Senate Committee Approves TikTok Ban Bill

The senators are concerned that Zoom and TikTok have disclosed American's "private" information to the Chinese government and engaged in censorship on its behalf. 

"[B]oth Zoom and TikTok have sought to conceal and distract from their meaningful ties to China, holding themselves out as American companies," they said. "This concealment is alarming – Chinese tech firms are notoriously bound to draconian intelligence laws, media regulations, and extrajudicial pressure that compels them to censor and spy for China’s state security services.” 

Related: Hawley Slams No-Shows Tik Tok, Apple 

Their letter to assistant attorney general John Demers is reprinted below: 

Assistant Attorney General Demers: 

We are writing to urge the Department of Justice to open an investigation into reported violations of Americans’ civil liberties by Zoom and TikTok and the national security implications of both companies’ relationships with the People’s Republic of China. Based on numerous reports, we are extremely concerned that Zoom and TikTok have disclosed private information about Americans to the PRC and engaged in censorship on behalf of the Chinese government.  

As tens of millions of Americans turn to Zoom and TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic, few know that the privacy of their data and their freedom of expression is under threat due to the relationship of these companies to the Chinese government. Of particular concern, both Zoom and TikTok have sought to conceal and distract from their meaningful ties to China, holding themselves out as American companies. This concealment is alarming – Chinese tech firms are notoriously bound to draconian intelligence laws, media regulations, and extrajudicial pressure that compels them to censor and spy for China’s state security services. Even when subsidiaries, product teams, or servers are located outside of the country, when their engineers or management are based in China, sensitive personal data is still within the reach of Chinese intelligence. 

By hiding vulnerable ties and dependencies on China, Zoom and TikTok have obscured from American consumers that their personal data could be at risk. While Zoom is headquartered in the United States, the research group Citizen Lab found that the Zoom application appears to be developed by three companies in China, including at least 700 employees in China that work in “research and development.”[1]Similarly, although TikTok has claimed to be based in the United States or Cayman Islands, it is owned by a Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance. Moreover, although TikTok is quick to claim that the app does not work in China, it is slower to highlight the fact that Bytedance operates a sibling app in China that exactly mirrors TikTok. This naturally raises questions concerning TikTok’s other claims of independence from China and calls into question who is actually running the app. 

Zoom and TikTok also share a recurring and disturbing history of complying with demands by the Chinese Communist Party and silencing criticism of the Chinese government. Although the United States has long prided itself on being a safe haven for dissidents and human rights activists escaping repressive regimes, we are profoundly concerned that both companies could pose a threat to the safety of Americans, their families, and brave activists inside of China working with U.S.-based dissidents. 

For example, in early June, several Chinese pro-democracy advocates, including a prominent dissident based in the United States, were suspended by Zoom following a demand from the Chinese Communist Party because they had held a peaceful commemoration of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations on Zoom.[2] In addition to being a chilling case of censorship within the United States, Zoom has still failed to answer whether it turned over information about those attending that meeting to the Chinese government. Such disclosures of sensitive information concerning that meeting, and other similar events like online church services, could be a death sentence for vulnerable communities inside of China. 

Despite repeated promises of transparency and multiple inquiries from Congress, both Zoom and TikTok have failed to answer even basic questions about their business operations, including who has access to personal information and when they comply with request from China or other governments. We believe that it is imperative that the Department of Justice investigate and determine whether Zoom and TikTok’s business relationships, data handling practices, and operational connections to China pose a risk to Americans. In addition to opening an investigation, we request that the Department of Justice and its partners in the Intelligence Community provide a briefing to Congress on this issue as soon as possible.  

We appreciate your consideration of this request. 

Legislators on both sides of the Capitol were hammering Zoom Thursday (June 11) on reports it had closed the accounts of U.S.-based Chinese activists after they commemorated the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre pro democracy movement. That shuttering reportedly came at the behest of the Chinese government.

Zoom said it was due to "local laws."

“Zoom’s recent actions and acquiescence to China raise serious concerns about your data practices, including how you protect information you collect on Americans and, importantly, who you grant access to such information,” wrote Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), in a letter to Zoom CEO Eric Yuan.

They want answers to a lot of questions, including how it collects information on Americans, what third parties it shares that info with and whether any Chinese state-owned entities have access to that information.

Separately, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), one of Big Tech's biggest critics, wrote Yuan asking him to "pick a side." Zoom's choices, said the senator, were "American principles and free-speech, or short-term global profits and censorship."

He said trading values for profits, as he is asserting Zoom is doing, "never ends well."

“These oppressive ‘local laws’ are what Party officials use to oppress more than a billion people, including more than one million Uighurs who have been forced into slavery," said Hawley. "These ‘local laws’ are what China is using to crack down on protesters in Hong Kong who just want the basic liberties they were promised by international treaty,” Senator Hawley writes.

Zoom's videoconference tech has been much in the news as remote meetings, professional and personal, become the new normal with COVID-19.

Fight for the Future and some other civil society groups used Zoom for a teleconference to call on Zoom to institute end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for its teleconferences given its use to bridge physical distancing in a socially distanced COVID-19 reality.

The groups, which also included the Media Alliance, Color Of Change, praised security improvements that Zoom has made, including stronger encryption and greater control over the Zoom room, like being able to lock meetings, after security flaws were put under the magnifying glass of the pandemic.

Still, they said Zoom did not go far enough.

“While zoom has improved their security, we need end-to-end encryption to talk with our friends and loved ones without second guessing everything we say and worrying that someone else may be listening," said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project executive director Albert Fox Cahn. "Encryption has always been indispensable to secure communication, but today it’s more crucial than ever.”

“Zoom has an opportunity to lead the way in video conferencing security. But to do so, they have to implement default end to end encryption. Implementing end to end encryption is the only way to guarantee user security and the most important thing Zoom could do to keep people safe," said FFTF deputy director Evan Greer.

When the stock price of Zoom Video Communications zipped past $160 per share late Monday (March 23), up from $107 a week earlier and $68 at the beginning of this year....

And when I watched newscasts that were not only about working from home (WFH) but also featured anchors, weather, sports and news reporters who were themselves WFH...

And when I saw how DJ D-Nice's Instagram Live Saturday night (March 21) #ClubQuarantine online party (virtually attend by Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Naomi Campbell, among others) almost crashed the internet with more than 100,000 viewers...

And when I read a Brookings report that nearly 48 million K-12 students are studying from home because their schools are closed ...

And when our local high school invited us to a Zoom "Stressbusters" session...

And when I realized I was tuning into far more streaming meetings than I attended just a few weeks ago...

...several historic moments flashed through my mind. They all dealt with capacity management, well-intentioned efforts to deliver electronic home services and also human preferences for virtual connections versus pressing actual flesh. Among the potent memories:

• Cisco's annual Visual Network Index, now renamed "Annual Internet Report (AIR)." Just 18 months ago, Cisco's forecast predicted that video content would account for about 80% of Internet traffic. (It does now, up from about 60% three years ago.)

• "Cable in the Classroom," which debuted in 1989 and ceased operations in 2014, and the nearly 70-year legacy of "educational TV."

•  My own experience running a teleconference in 1970 (50 years ago!) at the "old AT&T" before satellites and way before internet delivery. Regional general managers appreciated the efficiency but preferred in-person meetings.

Related: Small Cable Operators Beef Up Broadband to Battle Coronavirus

In addition to Zoom, WFH platforms such as Cisco's WebEx, StreamYard, Microsoft Teams, Uber Conference, Google Hangout, Apple Facetime, YouTube, Facebook Messenger Video Calling have all surged as millions of self-incarcerated people around the world find the need to work, study or socialize-at-a-respectable-distance. The booming streaming entertainment audience market has suddenly been augmented - possibly eclipsed at times - by the WFH market.

Although providers are coy about revealing actual usage statistics, a few datapoints have materialized.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robins told CNBC last week that WebEx customers spent 5.5 billion meeting minutes on WebEx during the first 11 days of March. Cisco has also said that WebEx traffic in parts of Europe soared by as much as 80% compared to a year earlier. Its February traffic in China was 22 times greater than normal, and other Asian markets saw spikes of three and four times usual levels as COVID-19 spread during the past month, the company said.

Zoom has merely revealed that its monthly, weekly and daily "active user" base numbers are "at all time highs." Zoom's Cloud Meetings free app climbed to the top spot at Apple's App Store, ahead of Netflix and YouTube. KeyBanc analyst Alex Kurtz expects Zoom's revenue to see a 35% year-over-year boom based on the comparison between the first two weeks of March this year versus 2019, according to TheStreet.com.

On Monday, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, who grew up in eastern Shandong Province of China, issued his "business continuity commitment." It included expanded support for online education (primarily in China for now) and telemedicine enablement. Yuan said that doctors from more than 1,000 public hospitals in China are using Zoom’s high-definition video meetings to conduct online consultations, remotely diagnose patients and provide treatment during the coronavirus epidemic.

Is WFH a Fad .. or Here to Stay?

Before the COVID-19 ordeal, about 16% of the U.S. workforce spent some time working remotely, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which did not specify how much of that WFH time actually involved video connections.

Charles Wilsker, president of the Telework Coalition,  told Multichannel News that the current surge in WFH reflects companies' recognition of the need for a business continuity process. He also cited the network capacity challenges that emerged.

"This won't be gone overnight," he said, adding that "It's foolish to think something like this won't happen again. When it happens again, you don't want to be in the same situation."

TelCoa, which was established 20 years ago but has kept a low profile in recent years, has revived its activities in response to what Wilsker calls "the desperate need" of companies seeking to support WFH activities. Its research finds that up to 40% of the work force prefers the option of working from home.

"When companies bring everyone back into the office, people are going to recognize that some of these things worked very well with employees" who have operated remotely, he added.

Former FCC chairman and NCTA and CTIA president Tom Wheeler questioned whether the current telecom infrastructure is up to the job for the expanded WFH usage.

"What is sufficient bandwidth for a couple of home computers for a husband and wife may not be sufficient when you add students who are going to class all day long operating from home,” Wheeler fretted to the New York Times last week. "We just don't know."

Related: Senate Dems: Coronavirus Bill Needs Billions for E-Rate 

As for my own first teleconference experience when I was an AT&T newcomer, it was ultimately discouraging. Since Ma Bell owned/operated the nationwide terrestrial network that carried ABC, CBS and NBC video programs to local affiliates, and since every regional office in the Long Lines division where I worked was developing a closed circuit TV project, we had an idea. We could use the network time for a few hours between the end of the morning game shows and the start of the afternoon soap operas to run a video teleconference to replace the monthly headquarters meeting when the regional general managers all went to New York monthly for a two- or three-day gathering. In addition, their staffs could see the process and "virtually" meet their counterparts in other regions. That live participation also eliminated the need for a local staff debriefing in each city when the GMs returned from New York.

After the successful videoconference, the feedback was universal: they achieved as much in a few hours as they did in a day-long meeting. "Do you want to do it again next month?" "No, we prefer the trip to New York." We interpreted that as meaning they liked dining, drinking and rubbing shoulders in person - at rate-payers expense. (Disclosure: I quit Ma Bell a few months later rather than take a promotion to headquarters - and because I had an opportunity to get into the CATV business.)

My youthful takeaway from that experience was that business executives - at least in that era - were more comfortable at face-to-face meetings than on video. Obviously that hesitancy had eroded, and today's video-savvy executives seem to have little reluctance to use video. Yet I still wonder if the need to press-the-flesh (after the current no-handshake restrictions are lifted) will overcome the value and efficacy of video teleconferencing.

Endless analyses will emerge after this COVID-19 ordeal. The role of video in WFH business, education and medicine may finally find its position alongside entertainment.

That is a strong signal to build and market infrastructure that is up to "the job."

Though the vast majority of cable high-speed Internet customers still lease modems and gateways from the operators, vendors have been ramping up their game in pursuit of the smaller retail market.

Zoom Telephonics, for example, is already seeing sales spike following the launch of a DOCSIS modem product line emblazoned with the Motorola brand. Linksys, meanwhile, has reentered the retail cable modem market under its new owner, Belkin.

Both companies are looking to challenge competitors with a sizable lead in the retail market. Arris had about 57.7% of the retail share for DOCSIS modems, followed by Netgear (26%) and TP-Link (3.4%) , according to NPD data from late October. Linksys hasn’t been back in the fold for long, but it has already secured about 5.2% of the market, NPD said.

They are all fighting for a slice of the overall DOCSIS consumer premises equipment market. Jeff Heynen, consulting director and senior research analyst in SNL Kagan’s Media & Communications unit, estimates that retail sales make up 10% to 15% of the total market.

He projected total DOCSIS CPE shipments in North America will hit 24.14 million units, meaning that the retail split this year will likely be in the range of 2.4 million to 3.62 million units.

RENTAL FEE SAVINGS

A Linksys-sponsored survey of 1,007 U.S. adults conducted last year by IDC found that one-in-five consumers purchased their cable modem from a retailer, and three-quarters did so to avoid monthly rental fees.

“People still, by and large, rent their modems through the operators,” Heynen said, noting that cable operators have been adept at bundling in WiFi and managed services, as well as integrated devices that support their VoIP services. “They’ll accommodate [retail], but they certainly won’t go out of their way.”

Linksys formally rejoined the cable-modem retail market in June, debuting a trio of DOCSIS 3.0-based modems based on Intel silicon, including a high-end model that can bond up to 24 downstream channels. Its renewed focus on retail followed Belkin’s acquisition of Linksys from Cisco Systems in 2013 and added it to Belkin’s home-networking business (Cisco acquired Linksys in 2003 for $500 million).

Linksys, which hawks modems at outlets such as Walmart, Best Buy and in its own online store, has seen a “nice lift” in sales since it started selling the new product line in April, a spokeswoman said.

Also making noise is Zoom, which introduced its first Motorola-branded retail cable modem products in February.

The product launch followed a five-year licensing deal announced in May 2015 that gave Zoom the exclusive rights to use the Motorola brand in cable modems/routers and set-tops (as well as cable modems inside set-tops) sold at retail in the U.S. and Canada. Motorola branding rights were previously with Arris, which now uses the SURFboard brand.

Zoom has since secured worldwide rights to the Motorola brand for modems, gateways, WiFi routers, range extenders and other WiFi products.

Zoom, which uses its own moniker as a “value brand,” has already seen a lift from the Motorola brand, which it uses for “premium” level products. Its Q3 revenues reached $6 million, up 78% from the year-ago quarter and up 51% from Q2.

Zoom expects to expand to six Motorolabranded products before the end of 2016. Frank Manning, Zoom’s CEO, said in an interview that the company is also working on a Motorola modem based on DOCSIS 3.1, cable’s new multigigabit platform for hybrid fiber-coax networks, and hopes to submit it to CableLabs for certification testing this year. “All the sales growth is coming from the Motorola brand,” he said on the company’s recent Q3 earnings call.

SHELF SPACE NEEDED

Zoom estimates that it has cable modem placements in more than 5,500 retail outlets, and offers products in stores such as Best Buy, Walmart and Target stores, as well as outlets like Amazon.

“We need to get more SKUs [stock keeping units] and shelf space,” Manning said. He sees $30 million of sales per year as Zoom’s break-even point, and an annual revenue run-rate of $50 million as an “achievable” goal.

He said dislodging incumbents from that shelf space has been “harder than expected … There’s a position of power when you’re on the shelf.”

And though retail is Zoom’s primary focus, Manning also opened the door to direct deals with MSOs. “We’re seriously looking at giving it a try,” he said, noting that Zoom is already in discussions about a potential hire focused in that area. “Think of it as an experiment; [there’s] no guarantees that we’ll be successful.”

Arris will no longer use the Motorola brand as of the end of 2015, but Arris confirmed that it owns the “SURFboard” brand and will continue to utilize it for retail products.

Motorola has used the SURFboard label on its cable modem products for many years, and Arris, which acquired Motorola Home in April 2013, has been using it in retail products that, of late, have been affixed with both the Motorola and Arris logos (see photo).

Zoom announced this week that it had inked an exclusive five-year license agreement with Motorola Mobility to use the Motorola brand in connection with Zoom’s consumer cable modem products, including cable modem bridges, cable modem/routers and cable set-tops that are manufactured, marketed and sold in the U.S. and Canada, starting in 2016.

Arris said in this blog post that it’s been preparing to take a run at retail without the Motorola banner.

“Since our acquisition of Motorola Home two years ago, we’ve anticipated this transition by accelerating our investment in making ARRIS the trusted name and global leader it is today, the company said. “Now, we’re ready to usher in the next wave of industry innovation under the ARRIS brand…The SURFboard is the most widely recognized and most popular retail cable modem —with more than 135 million sold, covering 90% of the market. It’s the retail standard.”