U.S. District Judge James Donato has instructed the Federal Trade Commission to dismiss a case against Taiwan-based D-Link Corp., leaving its U.S. subsidiary D-Link Systems Inc. in Fountain Valley as the sole defendant in a case alleging it “failed to take reasonable steps to secure the software for their routers and IP cameras” against hacking methods.
The company retained Washington, D.C.-based Cause of Action Institute to defend against the complaint.
The Institute defended similar claims against Atlanta-based LabMD and ultimately sued the FTC. Several motions in the dispute remain unresolved.
D-Link had rejected the FTC claims, a rare move, considering most companies tend to quickly settle those types of allegations.
“D-Link denies the allegations outlined in the complaint and is taking steps to defend the action,” D-Link Systems Chief Information Security Officer William Brown said in a statement to the Business Journal. “The FTC complaint does not allege any breach of any product sold by D-Link Systems in the U.S.”
That’s an interesting point of distinction, as the FTC alleges that consumers were placed “at risk” to security breaches, but hasn’t claimed individual consumers have been affected, or their products breached.
D-Link Systems is the North American unit of Taiwan-based D-Link Corp., which generates about $1 billion in annual sales.
The D-Link case is the second tussle this year between an Orange County company and the FTC.
The Business Journal in February reported that Irvine-based Vizio Inc. agreed to a $2.2 million settlement related to charges it violated unfair trade practices and consumer protection laws by tracking the viewing habits of about 11 million smart-TV owners without their knowledge or consent and sold that data to third parties. The company also agreed to change some business practices in the settlement.
DynTek Credit Line
Newport Beach-based technology service provider DynTek Inc. has received a three-year, $50 million revolving line of credit from Wells Fargo & Co.
The company said it plans to use the credit line to support general working capital and revenue growth initiatives nationwide.
DynTek on April 27 reported third-quarter revenue climbed 6.4% to $41.5 million and net income of $941,000, or 38 cents a share, compared with $392,000, or 17 cents, in the same period a year earlier. The company has a market cap of $27 million, and its shares are rarely traded.
It has strategic partnerships with Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp., as well as Fort Lauderdale security software maker Citrix Systems Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. in San Jose, the world’s largest networking equipment maker.
Autonomous Vehicles
Several tech companies and major automakers, including the Irvine-based U.S. units of Kia and Hyundai, are in various stages of bringing autonomous vehicles to the market.
In San Francisco, bold predictions are being made about the future of driverless cars.
A new report by San Francisco independent think tank, RethinkX, titled “Rethinking Transportation 2020-2030: The Disruption of Transportation and the Collapse of the ICE Vehicle and Oil Industries,” forecasts that by the end of the next decade, 95% of all U.S. passenger miles will be served by on-demand, autonomous electric vehicles owned by transport service companies.
The report also predicts that electric vehicles will account for 60% of vehicle stock by those operators, and that with fewer cars traveling more miles, passenger vehicles will drop from 247 million in 2020 to 44 million by 2030, a decrease of more than 82%.
Other lofty predictions include:
• Ride sharing will be four to 10 times cheaper per mile than buying a new car, and two to four times cheaper than operating an owned vehicle by 2021.
• The average American household will save $5,600 per year by giving up its gas-powered car and traveling autonomously.
• Savings on transportation costs will result in a boost in annual disposable income for U.S. households of $1 trillion by 2030.
