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2017-09-26

Tez, Google's New Digital Payment App for India (video)

Introducing Tez, a new payments app by Google

Google Tez video above published Sep 18, 2017: "When making payments, big or small, online or offline, to friends or out shopping, why must we have to choose how we pay? Introducing Tez, a simple and secure payments and commerce app from Google that lets you pay straight from your bank account."

#GoogleTez is a payments and commerce app, made for India first. Make payments big and small, straight from your bank account. It’s money made simple.

Google Tez & India: Google Has Hit the Jackpot With 'Tez' | Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) | SeekingAlpha.com: "Total payments in India via digital payment instruments estimated to reach $500 billion by 2020. Google set to take advantage of favourable macro and industry trends through its capabilities."

Domain: tez.google.com

@narendramodi @arunjaitley We hope that the launch of @TezByGoogle will help take India one step closer to your vision of @_DigitalIndia
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) September 19, 2017

Tweets by TezbyGoogle

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2017-06-13

Hearings June 13: IOT Opportunities and Challenges & Wireless Security

Disrupter Series: Update on IOT Opportunities and Challenges

Scheduled for Jun 13, 2017, 10:30am EDT (US). #SubDCCP

Disrupter Series: Update on IOT Opportunities and Challenges | Energy and Commerce Committee: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 - 10:30am EDT
Location: 2123 Rayburn, Washington D.C.
Disrupter Series: Update on IOT [Internet of Things] Opportunities and Challenges
Subcommittees: Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection (115th Congress)

Witnesses:

Dr. Mark Bachman
CTO and Co-Founder, Integra Devices

Dr. Gary D. Butler
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Camgian Microsystems Corporation

Mr. Cameron Javdani
Director of Sales and Marketing, Louroe Electronics

Mr. Peter B. Kosak
Executive Director, Urban Active Solutions, General Motors North America

Mr. Bill Kuhns
Director of Product Development, Vermont Energy Control Systems LLC

Dr. William S. Marras

Executive Director and Scientific Director of the Spine Research Institute, The Ohio State University

Documents: Hearing Notice and Background Memo.

Promoting Security in Wireless Technology

Scheduled for Jun 13, 2017, 10 am EDT (US) #SubCommTech

Promoting Security in Wireless Technology | Energy and Commerce Committee:
Tuesday, June 13, 2017 - 10:00am EDT
Location: 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington D.C.
Promoting Security in Wireless Technology
Subcommittees: Communications and Technology (115th Congress)

Witnesses

Dr. Charles Clancy
Director and Professor, Hume Center for National Security and Technology, Virginia Tech

Ms. Kiersten Todt
Managing Partner, Liberty Group Ventures, LLC

Witness Statement

Mr. Bill Wright
Director, Government Affairs & Senior Policy Counsel, Symantec

Mr. Amit Yoran
Chairman and CEO, Tenable Network Security

Documents: Hearing Notice and Background Memo

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2017-04-20

China's New Silk Road Project to Reshape Global Trade (video)

China's Pet Project to Reshape Global Trade

Video above published Apr 19, 2017, by Bloomberg.com: China’s President Xi Jinping wants to revive China’s ancient Silk Road by spurring trade via a network of new railways, ports, pipelines and highways. This Bloomberg QuickTake explains Xi’s pet project. Video by Robin Fall, Henry Baker

China wants to relive its glory days by rebuilding the Silk Road https://t.co/bVM5dxJsex pic.twitter.com/r8pEgJFBvZ
— Bloomberg Economics (@economics) April 16, 2017

China, Turkey vow to join hands to revive ancient Silk Road https://t.co/v22iUcwQ6G pic.twitter.com/cHELjnmOpM
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) April 19, 2017

The West stews in self-denial as China and Russia move forward with the New Silk Road https://t.co/BV9t7TAtCD
— Russia Insider (@RussiaInsider) April 18, 2017

#Xinjiang improves passenger rail service, an important step in promoting construction of Silk Road Economic Belt https://t.co/OadHu1hI99 pic.twitter.com/tEZQVIa7Ff
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) April 19, 2017

Tweets about China Silk Road

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2017-01-19

Trump Era: Markets, IPOs, Economy, Trade, Tax Reform, 4% Growth?

S&P 500 Index (source google.com)

The S&P 500 closed up Wednesday (chart above) and has gained 6.18% since Trump's election on Nov. 8th.

Tom Barrack on Donald Trump's Inauguration and Cabinet Picks:

Video above published Jan 18, 2017: Colony Capital Founder and Executive Chairman Tom Barrack discusses the inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump and the make-up of his cabinet.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon: Donald Trump's Reforms Could Cause Economic Growth

Video above published Jan 18, 2017: At the World Economic Forum in Davos, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon talks about tax reform and President-elect Trump's economic policies.

NYSE Chief: Trump May Bring Better Times for Public Companies:

NYSE President Tom Farley discusses the markets under a Trump administration and his outlook for the future for public companies and IPOs. He speaks with Erik Schatzker from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on "Bloomberg Markets" on January 17, 2017.

Wilbur Ross: I'm Not Anti-Trade, I'm Pro-Sensible Trade

Video above published Jan 18, 2017: Wilbur Ross, chairman and chief strategy officer at WL Ross testifies at his confirmation hearing for Secretary of Commerce. Full hearing video here.

Dow Chemical CEO: 4% Growth Is Possible Under Trump

Video above published Jan 17, 2017: Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical CEO, explains what is needed to spark four percent growth in the U.S. economy and shares the details of talks with President-elect Donald Trump on stimulating manufacturing growth. He speaks with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas."

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2017-01-17

Confirmation Hearings LIVE: Trump's Cabinet Nominees (video)

Treasury Secretary Nominee Steven Mnuchin - Senate Confirmation Hearing Jan 19, 10am ET:

Starts at 10 a.m. ET, Senate Finance Committee. "The confirmation hearing on Thursday for Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary, is expected to be divisive and fiery." –TheHill.com

Watch LIVE and Replay: Wilbur Ross's confirmation hearing for Commerce Secretary:

Starts: January 18, 2017, 10 am ET

WATCH Betsy DeVos confirmation hearing:

Watch LIVE and replay above (replay also available here and here): Betsy DeVos confirmation hearing to be Secretary of Education, Tuesday, January 17, 2017, 5:00 pm ET, before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Of greatest interest to investors this week:

Wednesday:
Wilbur Ross (see video above)
Nomination: Secretary of Commerce
Hearing: 10 a.m. ET, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Thursday:
Steven Mnuchin (see video above)
Nomination: Treasury Secretary
Hearing: 10 a.m. ET, Senate Finance Committee

Coverage of confirmation hearings also via c-span.org
Complete list of confirmation hearings listed here.

See also:

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2017-01-16

MacroView | Team Trump Shuns Davos | U.S. Dollar Set To Soar?

Domain Mondo's weekly review of macro economic and investing news:

MacroView Feature • Davos a/k/a World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, will be held 17-20 January 2017, at Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, with Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking at the opening plenary and leading "an 80-strong delegation" of Chinese business executives and billionaires to the annual gathering of global elitists. Although WEF founder Klaus Schwab met with members of Trump’s staff in December, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told Bloomberg.com that “No one will be attending.” Another senior member of Trump’s transition told Bloomberg that the gathering of billionaires and political leaders represents "the power structure that fueled the populist anger that helped Trump win the presidential election." See Davos Wonders If It’s Part of the Problem | Bloomberg.com:

"Kenneth Rogoff can pinpoint the moment he started to grow concerned Donald Trump would be the next U.S. president: It was when Rogoff’s fellow attendees at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting last January said it could never happen. “A joke I’ve told 1,000 people in the months since leaving Davos is that the conventional wisdom of Davos is always wrong,” says the Harvard professor and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. “No matter how improbable, the event most likely to happen is the opposite of whatever the Davos consensus is.” The repeated failure of business and political elites to predict what’s coming—last year, that included the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union—doesn’t strike those returning this month to the Swiss Alps as very funny. After a year in which political upsets roiled financial markets and killed off the careers of once-dominant Davos-going politicians, the concern for delegates attending this year’s meeting isn’t that their forecasts are often wrong, but that their worldview is." (emphasis added)

Davos is the Intellectual Yet Idiots IYIs annual convention, joined w/the International Association of Name Droppers https://t.co/XxfpBXTpSA
— NassimNicholasTaleb (@nntaleb) January 14, 2017

2016-09-09

Senate & House Chairmen's Letter to Attorney General & Commerce Sec.

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), sent the following letter (embed below) on September 8, 2016, to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, urging them to reconsider the IANA Stewardship Transition. Letter excerpts immediately below, followed by full letter embed. See also US Senator Cruz Attacks ICANN, Fadi Chehadé, IANA Transition (video) and ICANN Answers Questions About The IANA Stewardship Transition.

3 excerpts: Antitrust - Accountability - Jurisdiction

Letter (pdf) embed below:

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2016-07-16

ICANN, NTIA, IANA Transition, Fundamental Problems, the Macro View

"We live a very complex world but we want simple answers. What we end up doing is take a micro view of a situation because we have a sense we can grasp the problem better that way. A macro view is more challenging because it requires you to handle more uncertainty."--Micro/Macro View | ceri.msu.edu (http://www.ceri.msu.edu/chatter/micromacro-view/).*

Above video is from IGF-USA 2016, July 14, 2016, program notes here.
Keynote: Larry Strickling, NTIA, US Dept. of Commerce (text of prepared remarks here).
Moderator: Shane Tews
Panelists:

Steve DelBianco, Executive Director, NetChoice
Gordon Goldstein, Managing Director - Head of External Affairs, SilverLake
John Kneuer, President and Founder of JKC Consulting LLC and Sr. Partner, Fairfax Media
Kristian Stout, Associate Director for Innovation Policy at the International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE)
Berin Szoka, President, TechFreedom
Jonathan Zuck, President, ACT

The above video will likely soon be forgotten, though it really shouldn't be, which is one reason Domain Mondo is publishing this post. It provides a snapshot of the IANA stewardship transition, plan and process, at this point in time. Pay particular attention to the concerns raised by some of the panelists.

As has been noted before on Domain Mondo, there are fundamental problems in the IANA stewardship transition, both in process and in substance, including ICANN accountability WS1 mechanisms. Here are some of the pros and cons (depending upon your point of view), of the Obama administration's (NTIA) IANA stewardship transition of U.S. government oversight to ICANN, a California corporation:

Solves (or at least is intended to solve) the U.S. government's problems in the wake of the Snowden revelations, including global criticism of the perceived role of the U.S. government in the operation of the internet, thereby pre-empting a UN (or ITU) multilateral solution that would give governments a leading role;
Fulfills the promise of the U.S. government in 1998 to "privatize" and transition the US government's "historic stewardship role of internet oversight" to the "global multistakeholder community;"
False Narrative: the Obama administration (NTIA) bumbled the IANA transition from the beginning (March 2014) in two critical aspects: (1) NTIA pre-empted consideration of ICANN alternatives by the global internet community, and instead, in top-down fashion designated only ICANN, a California corporation and current IANA functions contractor, as the sole convener of the IANA transition planning process, thereby, in effect, pre-ordaining the end result and declaring ICANN to be the representative body of the "global multistakeholder community" and successor to NTIA in its "stewardship role." Unfortunately, as most knowledgeable people recognize, ICANN is not today, and never has been, truly representative of the global multistakeholder community ("massive power imbalance" within ICANN, absence of full global participation, a "broken" GNSO (ICANN's main policy-making body), etc.,--see News Review: ICANN, China, IANA: ex-CEO Fadi Chehadé's Sad Legacy). As a result, the IANA transition is already being dismissed and attacked globally as a U.S. government scheme to retain power and control over the internet; and (2) NTIA failed to recognize the extent of ICANN dysfunction and how much ICANN is not trusted, even by ICANN's own stakeholders, who in a rare moment of unanimity, insisted on adding an accountability (WS1) component to the IANA transition planning process, months after the NTIA announcement in March, 2014;
Immunity and Liability: once ICANN is operating "naked" without any contract from the U.S. government, or other sovereign authority, and lacking any operational status by way of statute or international treaty, such as that granted to the United Nations and its agencies, ICANN will no longer have the benefit of certain legal defenses based on U.S. law, including government contractor immunity, and may be subject to legal claims and liabilities anywhere a claimant asserts, and court affirms, jurisdiction.
Antitrust: as acknowledged by NTIA's Larry Stickling in the video above, ICANN "has always been and will continue to be subject to antitrust laws" of the United States (DOJ, FTC, and private antitrust actions), but with the U.S. government contract expiring, ICANN, as an unregulated global monopoly after September 30, 2016, as well as some of its "contracted parties," namely, the gTLD registry operators (each of which are granted exclusive global monopolies by ICANN), may be more likely to face antitrust actions in the future, not only in the U.S., but elsewhere.
Untested, unproven: none of the ICANN accountability mechanisms developed by the "ICANN community" in WS1 have yet been implemented, tested and proven. If the accountability mechanisms prove to be ineffective, there may be nothing either the U.S. government or ICANN community can do, leaving the global multistakeholder community with a dysfunctional, unaccountable ICANN.
Critical issues left to Work Stream 2 (WS2): work involving ICANN's jurisdiction and other issues was deferred to a later phase by ICANN and its CCWG-Accountability. The outcomes of WS2 will not be known until 2017, long after the IANA transition is complete.

The above list is not exhaustive, and others, such as U.S. Senators Cruz, Lankford, and Lee, have raised concerns related to foreign governments and free speech. Nevertheless, there is now little doubt that the Obama administration fully intends to allow the IANA functions contract expire on September 30, 2016. Caveat Emptor.

*For a further look at a micro/macro view comparison, with due credit to the Michigan State University source (first link above) and also to Peter Marber (petermarber.com):

Micro View:

Based on recency (present moment) or historic time biases; often failing to recognize changes in the environment, ecosystem, trends or indicators, or other new, evolving factors. Everything is predicated on the present or past perspective, even if past experience may no longer be applicable ("past success is no guarantee of future results"), or past policies no longer work (every economic model, every HFT algorithm, eventually fails);
Assumes larger degree of certainty and predictability than warranted; humans like certainty and often assume certainty, discounting risks, which has its own consequences. What is the level of information required, needed or even efficiently obtainable, before taking action?
Assumes, or locks-in, only one way;
Primary emphasis on control and concentrated power;
Cautious relationships, some participants (stakeholders) count less than others;
Policy changes are reactive not proactive;
Views issues as separate and compartmentalized, to be dealt with separately.

Macro View:

Forward time bias; tries to anticipate and think longer term;
Assumes more uncertainty, ambiguity and unpredictability; there is never a perfect answer or solution;
Many ways forward (more than one right way) depending on how one wants to arrange and rearrange the parts;
Influence is spread widely among a range of players;
Partnerships abound between countries, states as well as non-state agencies and others, such as non-profits (NGOs), education, business, and other interests or stakeholders;
Policy is proactive, involving many players, and evolving to fit the circumstances;
View issues as interrelated, integrative and global.

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2016-05-20

IANA & ICANN: Cruz, Lankford & Lee Letter to Pritzker & Strickling

Senate Commerce Hearing on ICANN & IANA Transition, LIVE, Tuesday, May 24 at 10am ET

Embedded below is U.S. Senators Cruz, Lankford & Lee's May 19th letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and NTIA's Larry Strickling concerning the IANA Stewardship Transition proposal currently under review by NTIA.

The letter touches on several hot-button issues, including:

endangerment of internet freedom;
power of foreign governments over the internet under the proposal;
opening the door to regulation of internet content;
transfer of U.S. government property issues;
ICANN's U.S. jurisdiction subject to change after the transition;
an unaccountable ICANN Board of Directors;
ICANN ex-CEO Fadi Chehade's failure to respond to specific questions about his involvement with the Chinese government's World Internet Conference;
other issues unaddressed by the proposal, including future of .mil and .gov TLDs, ICANN's antitrust status, ICANN's potential to "impose global taxes" without U.S. government oversight;

and the letter concludes: "In light of all these concerns and the magnitude of the potential consequences, we respectfully request that you extend NTIA's IANA functions contract with ICANN."

See also on Domain Mondo:

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2016-05-15

News Review: IANA, ICANN, New gTLDs .AFRICA, .AMAZON, .BLOG

DomainMondoShiningLight ©2013domainmondo.com All Rights Reserved

Domain Mondo's review of the past week and look ahead [pdf here]:

• POLITICO.com has reported a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on "the U.S. handover of oversight of some Internet operations — the so-called IANA transition" is now tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 24th, and NTIA, "the branch of the Commerce Department tasked with making a final decision on approving the handover, has said it’s aiming to give a thumbs up or down by the second week of June."

• Comments close this coming week at ICANN on two issues:

1. Draft Report: New gTLD Program Safeguards to Mitigate DNS Abuse: comments close 20 May 2016 at 23:59 UTC (extended from May 13, 2016). Read all comments here. My comment of May 13th, is also posted on Domain Mondo: Domain Names, New gTLDs, DNS Abuse, ICANN as Chief Abuser: "Why New gTLDs + IANA Transition May Be The Undoing of ICANN"

2. Draft of New ICANN Bylaws: comments close 21 May 2016 23:59 UTC. "Adoption of the new Bylaws by the ICANN Board is anticipated for on or around 27 May 2016. Once new ICANN Bylaws have been adopted, ICANN will notify NTIA so they can complete their anticipated 90-day review of the IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal"--ICANN. Review all comments submitted here. Note that three groups involved in the IANA transition--the ICG, the CCWG-Accountability, and IAB (Internet Architecture Board)--have already submitted comments, essentially telling the drafters to remove provisions in the draft inconsistent with the IANA transition plans. Part of the problem is the drafting bylaws process, as explained in the CCWG-Accountability comment: "Given the necessary complexity of the Draft Bylaws and the short timeframes we are working under, the CCWG participants were unable to conduct a thorough review prior to publication for public consultation." (emphasis added)

• In the IANA stewardship transition at ICANN, a lot of implementation work remains yet to be completed--see ICANN's own update here--below is ICANN's graphic of progress thus far:

ICANN: IANA Stewardship Transition Planning Update (Vol.2), 10 May 2016

A good example of all the details involved is IANA CWG Meeting #79 (12 May 2016) and the slide presentation (pdf) from that meeting.

• ICANN budget: ICANN held community calls on the Draft ICANN FY17 Operating Plan and Budget. Some interesting comments were submitted by various stakeholders, including:

"Similar to what we communicated in our comments a year ago for the Draft FY16 Operating Plan &Budget, we again are concerned that planned expenses are growing too fast and faster than planned revenue. In particular, revenue is forecasted to grow by $11.6M (9.6%) while expenses are projected to grow by $17.8M (16.3%). We appreciate the fact that planned expenses balance planned revenue but we would suggest that continuing to simply spend all of increased revenue is not the only option; because gTLD registries, registrars and registrants fund well over 95% of ICANN’s revenue, reducing gTLD fees should be considered as well."--gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) (emphasis added)

• .AFRICA UPDATE: ICANN has appealed the U.S. District Court's Order granting a Preliminary Injunction in the DCA (DotConnectAfrica) Trust vs ICANN and ZACR litigation over new gTLD .AFRICA. In the District Court, ICANN has allowed ZACR to take the lead, and ZACR has filed a Motion to Reconsider and Vacate the Preliminary Injunction Order (which DCA Trust won), with a hearing date of June 6, 2016, in the U.S. District Court at Los Angeles. ICANN has joined (pdf) in ZACR's motion. Copies of the pleadings and other documents may be reviewed on the ICANN website here. UPDATE June 16, 2016: New gTLD AFRICA Litigation: Defendant ZACR Dismissed as a Party.

• .AMAZON: I recently read ICANN's 25-page Response (pdf) to the IRP filed by Amazon (Amazon EU S.à.r.l.), concerning Amazon's 3 new gTLD applications: .AMAZON and its equivalent in Chinese and Japanese characters. The ICANN response together with the witness statement of Akram Atallah (pdf) and Exhibits R-1 to R-38 (pdf), provide a good history of the new gTLDs program, the particulars of Amazon's applications, and the powers granted to the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee) in the new gTLDs program Guidebook, which itself went through a long development process at ICANN:

Source: ICANN witness statement of Akram Atallah, page 4. filed in Amazon IRP

Money quote from ICANN's response (pp. 2-3):

While it is understandable that Amazon, faced with “injur[y to its] business model,” continues to pursue its Applications through the Independent Review Process, Amazon’s arguments should be rejected because:

a. In highlighting the fact that its Applications passed the reviews for geographic names and community objections, Amazon wrongly deprecates the GAC’s separate role in raising governmental concerns about applications. Those concerns led to GAC consensus advice against the Applications, which the ICANN Board evaluated and ultimately accepted. This meant that Amazon’s Applications could not proceed, even though they passed other parts of the evaluation.

b. Despite Amazon’s claims that ICANN bowed to “political pressure” from Brazil and Peru and “abdicated its independent decision-making role,” the record shows that ICANN’s NGPC [New gTLD Program Committee] independently investigated the circumstances, considered extensive arguments made by Amazon, and even commissioned an independent legal expert to advise whether denial of Amazon’s Applications was inconsistent with international law – the primary legal contention Amazon was then making. The NGPC was careful, thorough, neutral, and objective in its decision to accept the GAC consensus advice. (emphasis added)

Of course, at that same time, ICANN was also deeply involved with Brazil in the NETmundial meeting (conflicts of interest are systemic within ICANN). The NGPC decision and further background information on .AMAZON may be reviewed here. "Governmental concerns" obviously won the day at ICANN on the Amazon new gTLDs. It is conceivable this IRP could lead to more litigation (see .AFRICA above) in the U.S. judicial system, since both Amazon and ICANN have "deep pockets," and ICANN is on shaky ground in blocking Amazon from using its own trademark as a new gTLD:

"[ICANN has] continued to deny Amazon the dot Amazon top level domain, claiming it is somehow a geographical indicator. Now that’s just not true, it’s not a geographic indication, and there is no law that I’m aware of in my 22 years of practice that supports that conclusion." --J Scott Evans, trademark attorney and former INTA President

• .BLOG: It was reported this week that Automattic (domain: automattic.com), owner of Wordpress and WooCommerce, "is actively asking businesses having the word ‘woo’ in their domain name to change the domain name" according to WPMayor.com. Wonder if Automattic will now try the same tactic with the word 'blog,' which is also their new gTLD (pdf)? Read more: The creator of WordPress on why .blog was worth $19 million | VentureBeat.com. $19 million? It was originally reported that the sales price was $30 million. But that must have been just more new gTLDs hype. In any event, it will be interesting to see what happens to .BLOG. It has the right operator, is only 4 characters, and is a recognizable term and category. Negatives are that the word 'blog' is in decline, as is 'web'--so sayeth Google--

Google Trends - Web Search interest: com, web, blog, net, app - Worldwide, 2004 - present

• ICANN FY15 Form 990 Announcement May 13, 2016: "ICANN's FY15 Form 990 [PDF, 5.51 MB], as well as the restatements for FY14 Form 990 [PDF, 5.60 MB] and FY13 Form 990 [PDF, 5.06 MB], are now posted and are available to the community." Note FY15 Lobbying expenditures: "The organization [ICANN] utilized the services of a staff registered lobbyist and three government affairs firms during the year ended June 30, 2015, for a cost of $620,997."

• Goodbye: ICANN Announces Senior Leader Transitions: "The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced its Chief Contract Compliance Officer, Allen R. Grogan, and Nora Abusitta, Senior Vice President of Development and Public Responsibility Programs (DPRD), have notified the organization of their intent to leave ICANN later this year. Grogan will transition to a part-time role beginning 1 August 2016 and continue to oversee Contractual Compliance and Consumer Safeguards until his departure at the end of December 2016. Abusitta will remain in her current capacity until 1 June 2016, followed by a short part-time engagement period ..." As Chief Contract Compliance Officer, Grogan has been criticized by ICANN stakeholders, with one stating, "The Compliance department of ICANN is an unmitigated disaster when it comes to earning the consumer trust." Grogan was reportedly one of several cronies ex-CEO Fadi Chehade hired during Chehade's short tenure (3½ years) at ICANN. The global internet community can only hope that all of Chehade's cronies at ICANN follow Grogan's lead out the door.

• This week in tech:
1. Google I/O 2016, May 18-20, in Mountain View, California. Keynote speaker: Sundar Pichai, Google CEO. What to look for: Google IO: Positioning Android To Disrupt The PC Industry | Seeking Alpha.com: "This year's Google IO developer conference ... could be a watershed event for Android. I expect it to provide confirmation of Google's intentions for Android as a converged mobile personal computing platform that will disrupt the traditional PC platforms of Microsoft and Apple ..." See also: What to Expect From Google I/O 2016 | Gizmodo.com.
2. The Best Thing That Could Happen to Yahoo: Reuters and Recode have reported Warren Buffett has offered a consortium led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, financing in the form of a preferred instrument, similar to those he did with Goldman Sachs and General Electric, to buy Yahoo assets. Read more: Top ex-Yahoos are advising a Buffett-financed group in a bid for the company | Recode.net.

• Q1 2016 Earnings Season for stocks covered on Domain Mondo, has now ended. The "Q1 2016 Earnings Season Scorecard" will be an upcoming post this week.

• Five most popular posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this week on DomainMondo.com:

Honorable mention: World Press Freedom Index, Release of Panama Papers Database

• Other Reading Recommendations, some with a tease of content or my commentary:

Outside ICANN's Mission & Scope? Berkeley names iCANN as next cannabis dispensary | Berkeleyside.com.
Facebook Likes Censorship: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News | gizmodo.com: "In other words, Facebook’s news section operates like a traditional newsroom, reflecting the biases of its workers and the institutional imperatives of the corporation." See also: Senate GOP Launches Inquiry Into Facebook’s News Curation | gizmodo.com and Leaked documents show human editors shape Facebook’s trending news | TheHill.com.
Amazon Video Direct Takes On YouTube - Variety.com: With the launch of Amazon Video Direct (videodirect.amazon.com), open to any video creator, the e-commerce giant will compete head-to-head with Google’s YouTube.com for video-ad dollars and views as well as other big Internet video distributors like Facebook.com and Vimeo.com.
Trend: iPhone Sales Are Down ... Flipping for 'Dumb' Phones.| NBCnews.com: America bought 24 million "dumb" phones last year, an increase of 1.7 million from 2014, according to a recent study by research firm IDC ... Rihanna, Scarlett Johansson, and Iggy Pop have all been spotted clutching clamshells ... It's much easier to talk on, it holds a charge for days, and costs a fraction of what you'd pay for a smartphone. There's no need to worry about hacking ... "People are tired of having the same smartphone as everyone else," said Maxime Chanson of Lekki.fr a website that sells vintage mobile phones to a high-end clientele. "Some people have had enough of the ultra connectivity of the 21st century and are looking for a phone that gives them some space for their private life, without being constantly interrupted."
If you think "professionals" or "experts," or even you, can consistently beat the markets, read this: Defeated managers, in assets globally | The Big Picture / ritholtz.com.
Prepare for the worst: The Coming War of Central Banks | WashingtonsBlog.com: "Nations such as China are boxed into a lose-lose choice ... The Fed is boxed in, too: if the Fed can’t raise rates after seven years of “growth,” then its credibility suffers. If it raises rates, that accelerates the capital flow into USD and the U.S., pushing the dollar higher, which then triggers mayhem in China, emerging markets, commodity markets ... "
IoT anyone? France’s SigFox will expand its dedicated IoT network to 100 U.S. cities | TechCrunch.com: "The U.S. is a huge growth market for Internet of Things connectivity." See also: Salesforce.com to build IoT cloud on Amazon Web Services | ZDNet.com
Snowden's Legacy: Twitter Bars Intelligence Agencies From Using Analytics Service | WSJ.com: "Social media firm cuts access to Dataminr, a service used to identify unfolding terror attacks, political unrest ... the latest example of tension between Silicon Valley and the federal government over terrorism and privacy."
Google - FTC Antitrust: Sources: Feds taking second look at Google search | POLITICO.com. See also Android legal troubles hit Google | SeekingAlpha.com.
Election 2016 Update: Trump Is A Metal Band | Lefsetz.com May 9, 2016: "... That’s what Donald Trump is, a disruptor. As is Bernie Sanders ... To see the press and the Congress and everybody who paid their dues under the old paradigm freak is incredibly satisfying ... Trump is more real than Hillary Clinton ..." and Bernie Wins Again! (West Virginia)| Lefsetz.com: "... this looks very bad for Hillary Clinton. And if you think attacking the Donald will win you the election, you’ve got no understanding of a populace scorned ..." and DoubleLine Capital CEO (a/k/a the "Bond King") Jeff Gundlach Bashes Hillary Clinton | ZeroHedge.com: "Donald Trump will win ... Trump has been underestimated for months, but he is the better campaigner ..." "People are going to start putting greater focus on Hillary (Clinton). Voters are going to say, 'No. I don't want this,'" he told Reuters. "Hillary is going to evolve into an unacceptable choice. If she is such a great candidate, how come (Bernie Sanders) is beating her?"

Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo

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2016-03-11

ICANN Board Transmits IANA Transition Plan, What Happens Next?

Now that the IANA stewardship transition plan has been transmitted by the ICANN Board of Directors to the U.S. Department of Commerce (NTIA), what will happen once the plan is received in Washington, D.C.? Read the remarks of Larry Strickling, NTIA (excerpt and in full below), at the ICANN-GAC Meeting, Marrrakech--

Lawrence E. Strickling, NTIA

Remarks of Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, at the ICANN GAC High Level Governmental Meeting, Marrakech, Morocco, on March 7, 2016, (emphasis added)--

"I am pleased to be here today at the third GAC High Level Governmental Meeting ... Assuming final approval of the plan by chartering organizations in the next couple of days, we expect the [ICANN] Board to transmit the proposal to us this week. Once we receive the transition proposal, we will review it, hopefully within 90 days, to ensure it meets the criteria we outlined when we announced the transition. Let me remind all of you of the specific conditions that we said that the plan must satisfy. First, the proposal must support and enhance the multistakeholder model of Internet governance, in that it should be developed by the multistakeholder community and have broad community support. More specifically, we will not accept a transition proposal that replaces the NTIA role with a government-led or intergovernmental organization solution. Second, the proposal must maintain the security, stability, and resiliency of the domain name system. Third, it must meet the needs and expectations of the global customers and partners of the IANA services. And finally, it must maintain the openness of the Internet. As promptly as we can, we will carefully evaluate the proposal and measure it against the criteria. In this effort, we will be joined by other agencies of the U.S. government that will be impacted by the transition. We will also follow the recommendations of the U.S. General Accountability Office. The U.S. Congress has a strong interest in this proposal and we expect Congress to closely monitor and review the proposal as well as our evaluation of the plan...."

Full remarks of Ass't Sec. Strickling:

Note: Implementation has already started within ICANN in anticipation the plan will be approved--read more at ICANN: IANA Stewardship Transition Implementation.

Also note the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee has scheduled an IANA Transition Hearing for March 17.

See on Domain Mondo:

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2016-03-10

ICANN55: IANA Transition Plan, Sexual Harrassment, ICANN New gTLDs

ICANN55 wrapped up today in Marrakech, Morocco, with the final day's Public Forum and ICANN Board of Directors Meeting. As expected, the ICANN Board approved the transmittal of the IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal to NTIA, U.S. Department of Commerce, in Washington, D.C., in response to NTIA's 14 March 2014 announcement. A tired and self-congratulatory mood permeated the last day of ICANN55.

Topics of interest raised at the Public Forum:
• Sexual harassment issues were raised starting with a speaker who said she had been to only two ICANN meetings, and both times had been sexually harassed.
• The new gTLDs lobbyists tried again (unsuccessfully) to get a commitment from the ICANN Board that would allow them to hijack the ICANN auction proceeds for new gTLDs' marketing purposes. (The issue of use of auction proceeds will be the subject of a lengthy process--an upcoming post on Domain Mondo will have more details.)
• A domain name registrant pressed the ICANN Board about its past decisions and statements--e.g., "adding a 1000 new gTLDs per year for a 1000 years to the internet root"--and ICANN Board members replied, somewhat sheepishly, that the entire new gTLDs program is under scrutiny and review based upon experience with the first round.

The next meeting of ICANN, ICANN56, will be in Helsinki, Finland, 27-30 June--it will be a "working meeting"--no public forum, no welcome session.

ICANN Global Domains Division President Akram Atallah enjoying Wednesday night's Gala:

Thank you to our host, ANRT, for a fabulous evening in Marrakech! #ICANN55 pic.twitter.com/eM9whwi9lH
— Akram Atallah (@AkramAtallah) March 9, 2016

For a complete review of ICANN55, Domain Mondo recommends reading the Centr Report, which covers the ccNSO, GNSO and GAC sessions by topic and theme, with a special focus on the CCWG-Accountability:

See also on Domain Mondo: ICANN Board Transmits IANA Transition Plan, What Happens Next?

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2016-02-25

Is ICANN's IANA Stewardship Transition Plan DOA Washington DC? (video)

Is the IANA Stewardship Transition Plan DOA [Dead on Arrival] in Washington? On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker (NTIA is an agency of the Commerce Department) testified in a budget hearing before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, and was asked specifically, by Subcommittee Chairman John Culberson, if she understood Congress had prohibited any effort towards an IANA stewardship transition--watch the relevant portion of that testimony below (27:20-32:53)--

Video above starts at 27:20, and ends at 32:53. Hearing: Department of Commerce Budget - The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science holds a hearing to review the FY 2017 budget request for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker testifies. (Streamed live Feb 23, 2016) (EventID=104476).

Excerpt:

Chairman John Culberson: "You recognize we've prohibited any effort to move to such a [IANA stewardship] transition?"

Secretary Pritzker: "I understand the language which has been put in appropriations, and so what we are going to do is receive a plan and then we will talk to you about it."

It is now expected that the ICANN Board of Directors will deliver, in March, 2016, to NTIA, the IANA Stewardship Transition Plan developed in response to the NTIA, March, 2014, announcement.

For background and further information see on Domain Mondo:

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2017-09-26

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2017-01-16

2016-09-09

2016-07-16

2016-05-20

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2016-03-11

2016-03-10

2016-02-25

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