ITU votes are difficult to handicap, but Doreen Bogdan-Martin remains the front-runner to be the organization's next secretary-general, industry experts said Wednesday. The vote is scheduled for Thursday in Bucharest, Romania. The other major candidate is Russian nominee Rashid Ismailov, who mounted his campaign despite concerns across the world over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (see 2205110075).

FTC Chair Lina Khan should recuse herself from the agency’s lawsuit against Meta’s acquisition of Within Unlimited because her publicly aired opinions “irrevocably tainted” the case, Meta argued Friday in 5:22-CV-04325 before the U.S. District Court in San Jose. Senate Democrats defended her willingness to hold Big Tech accountable and name executives in complaints, in interviews last week.

Contract manufacturer Jabil expects some “consumer-centric” end markets “to underperform” during its fiscal 2023 ending Aug. 31, “compared to the robust growth of the past 18 months,” said Chief Financial Officer Mike Dastoor on an earnings call Tuesday for fiscal Q4 ended Aug. 31.

An Aug. 25 consumer fraud class-action complaint in Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, alleging Amazon’s Subscribe & Save automatic-renewal purchase program entraps consumers belongs instead in U.S. .District Court in Chicago, said Amazon in a notice of removal Monday (docket 1:22-cv-05225). The Chicago federal court has “original jurisdiction” under the Class Action Fairness Act because the putative class includes more than 100 members, there is minimal diversity of citizenship and the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, said Amazon’s notice.

Samsung’s Sept. 2 disclosures that cybercriminals had illegally accessed and stolen confidential “personally identifiable information” (PII) from millions of Samsung customers’ accounts sparked the second class-action fraud complaint within a week from consumers contending the company was lax in protecting their sensitive data from hackers.

Nearly three in 10 consumers are planning to spend less this holiday season than in previous years, and only 10% plan to spend more, reported Gartner Monday. For consumers who anticipate spending more, the vast majority said it’s because of brands raising prices due to inflation, it said.

FedEx Express operating income declined 69% in fiscal Q1 ended Aug. 31 due to an 11% year-over-year reduction in global package and freight volume, said the company Thursday. FedEx announced the negative results a week earlier, plunging the stock to a new 52-week low (see 2209160007).

Piracy is a double-edged issue for the video streaming industry, leading to lost revenue and other concerns but also being a form of marketing, panelists said on Parks Associates’ virtual Future of Video event Thursday.

Energy management products, luxury loudspeakers, connected devices and dealer tools are among the products exhibitors will showcase next week at CEDIA Expo, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Dallas.

Holiday retail battles have begun, with Target and Walmart breaking out price and return guarantees, extended payment options and savings promises for an extended promotional run starting the first week of October. The retailers are also competing for tens of thousands of workers -- with a focus on delivery drivers -- with wage and benefits enticements.