News Review | ICANN Brought Its GDPR Train Wreck To ICANN62 Panama

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-07-01) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) ICANN Brought Its GDPR Train Wreck To ICANN62 Panama,  2) Other ICANN news: a. New gTLD .AFRICA--ICANN Facing Fraud Allegations in California State Court Trial, b. New gTLD .WEB: Afilias vs ICANN et al? c. SSAC2, and more 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: IDN homograph attacks, and more, 4) ICYMI: EU, China, and more, 5) Most Read.

1) ICANN Brought Its GDPR Train Wreck to ICANN62 Panama

ICANN CEO & President Goran Marby and GNSO Chair Heather Forrest at ICANN62
Can you tell which one's "brain just melted"?

"One of the more frustrating aspects of the current GDPR crisis that ICANN has been struggling with, is the repeated assertions from folks who should know better in [ICANN org] senior management, that the GDPR was a complete surprise, that these data protection obligations are new, and that the data protection commissioners are not well informed about ICANN and its role. The GDPR passed in 2016 after years of fractious and well-publicised debate, during which US multinational corporations played an active role in Brussels to influence outcomes. While the size of the fines might be a surprise, the requirements were not. Furthermore, the NCSG and its precursor the NCUC have been bringing data commissioners and their staff to ICANN meetings for the better part of two decades. I myself spoke at an ICANN privacy workshop in 2005 while working for the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and said pretty much the same things I say today. More importantly, Giovanni Buttarelli, now the European Data Protection Supervisor and arguably one of the most important data protection commissioners in the world, came to an ICANN meeting in 2004 when he was working in the Italian Data Protection Authority. He returned in 2017 to the meeting in Copenhagen March 13th and repeated the same messages, yet even then the response from ICANN to the upcoming challenges was still not swift and effective. One wonders why."--Stephanie Perrin, June 21, 2018, ncuc.org (emphasis added). Editor's note: Why? "An Incompetent ICANN Management Team."

See also Working Paper (pdf) on Privacy and Data Protection Issues with Regard to Registrant data and the WHOIS Directory at ICANN, International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications, 62nd meeting, 27-28 November 2017, Paris, France.

Personal observation: the prevalence of handwringing, “what we really need to do is” & alarmed, angsty tone of speakers in #ICANN62 #GDPR sessions reminds me of the 1st ICANN meeting to discuss #IANAsteward transition… Only difference is this GDPR thing has truncated timeframe.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) June 26, 2018

Editor's note: "Truncated timeframe" = just 4 months for deliberations and publication of the initial EPDP report.

#ICANN62 public sessions end for the day. Now, most of the onsite participants are headed to cocktails, to try and forget about #GDPR for a little while. But it’ll all be back on the table tomorrow...

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) June 26, 2018

Read more at Synopsis of ICANN62 via a Twitter Feed & GAC Communique, and last week's News Review. Editor's note: details of the EPDP (expedited policy development process) initiated by the GNSO Council as a result of the ICANN Board's adoption of the Temporary Specification, such as scope and working group membership, should be released in the coming weeks (see ICANN video). Follow discussions here and here, and read the transcription (pdf) of the ICANN62 Panama
GNSO Council Wrap-Up meeting, Thursday, 28 June 2018.

Next ICANN meeting: ICANN63, 20th Annual General Meeting, 20-25 Oct 2018, Barcelona, Spain.

2) Other ICANN News

a. New gTLD .AFRICA--ICANN Facing Fraud Allegations in California State Court Trial:

The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, Court Calendar for Case BC607494

For more info, read "Dot-Africa saga going to jury trial... thousands of miles away in America | theregister.co.uk - ICANN faces fraud allegations in continent's top-level-domain dispute" by Kieren McCarthy, 26 Jun 2018. See also ICANN.org's litigation documents page.

b. New gTLD .WEB: Afilias vs ICANN et al?

New gTLD .WEB Reconsideration Request 18-8 to ICANN, from Afilias Domains No. 3 Limited, 22 June 2018: Request 18-8 [pdf 799 KB--18 pages] embed below, and Exhibits 1 to 34 [pdf 130 MB--963 pages]:

c. SSAC2 Review Assessment Report published for community input 21 June 2018, by Analysis Group, the independent examiner performing the second review of ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC)--assessment report [PDF, 761 KB]. Public Comments on the report are encouraged and can be sent to mssi-secretariat@icann.org until 23:59 UTC on 20 July 2018.

Analysis Group will host a webinar on Thursday, 12 July at 20:00 UTC (4pm EDT), during which participants will have the opportunity to provide initial feedback and ask questions. To request dial-in information for the webinar, please send an email to mssi-secretariat@icann.org. The goal of the assessment report is to achieve maximum agreement between the wider ICANN community and the independent examiner as to which areas of the SSAC work well and which may benefit from improvements. No recommendations are included in the assessment report. Recommendations will be included in the final report, expected to be published in November 2018. More info here and also the executive summary [PDF, 85 KB].

Editor's note: I'd like to see the Analysis Group address SSAC's inexplicable failures in regard to new gTLDs--failures subsequently acknowledged, implicitly, by SSAC's ICANN Board liaison--read: More Problems Crop Up With Universal Acceptance of Top Level Domains by Ram Mohan, Feb 07, 2014, particularly in view of ICANN's contract provision with new gTLDs registry operators:

"1.2 Technical Feasibility of String.  While ICANN has encouraged and will continue to encourage universal acceptance of all top-level domain strings across the Internet, certain top-level domain strings may encounter difficulty in acceptance by ISPs and webhosters and/or validation by web applications.  Registry Operator shall be responsible for ensuring to its satisfaction the technical feasibility of the TLD string prior to entering into this Agreement." (emphasis added)

And further, SSAC failing to demand or even recommend that either ICANN or the new gTLDs' registry operators and registrars warn prospective registrants of new gTLDs' domain names "failing to work as expected on the internet."

How could a group of otherwise competent professionals be so irresponsible and negligent? I can only speculate, but I attribute it to "conflicts of interest"--for example, Ram Mohan, a member of the SSAC and ICANN Board (2008-present) is employed by Afilias, a new gTLDs applicant and TLD registry operator, including providing new gTLDs' backend registry services.

What we now know is that apparently no one tested for "technical feasibility" before hundreds of new gTLDs were negligently and irresponsibly delegated by ICANN into the global internet root:

UASG017: Evaluation of Websites for Acceptance of a Variety of Email Addresses

UASG017 (pdf): "Conclusion: There is much work to be done to get many of the world’s websites UA and EAI-ready. Where we thought we could address just a few applications and code repositories, that does not appear to be the case."

But domain name registrants still are not warned that their new gTLDs' domain names may "fail to work as expected on the internet." Occasionally they show up at an ICANN meeting to complain, but no one of consequence at ICANN cares about domain name registrants--"it's all about the money."

Also note:
SSAC2018-017 | SSAC Input to the Chartering of GNSO EPDP (Expedited Policy Development Process) on Temporary Specification of gTLD Registration Data 26 Jun 2018 ssac2018-17-26jun18-en.pdf [pdf 99.1 KB].

Ongoing dysfunction (pdf) in planning for the next round of new gTLDs--ICANN is rushing through the whole process:

d. Information Transparency Initiative (ITI)--How the ITI Technical Infrastructure Works | ICANN.org.

e. GNSO Overtasked?--GNSO active projects list (pdf).

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. IDN homograph attacks--registration of homographic domain names is akin to typosquatting, the major difference being that in homograph spoofing the perpetrator deceives victims by presenting visually indistinguishable hyperlinks. [Editor's note: ICANN enables and encourages cybercrime and domain name abuse via homograph attacks through its IDN new gTLDs program.] See also:

• Hackers ‘Using International Characters To Create Scam Sites’--silicon.co.uk
• "... a problem that exists because of ICANN's failure to generate a coherent and universally applicable set of standards for registration of IDNs to prevent this type of abuse"--techrepublic.com.
• “Chilling results”: new domain name homograph report shows rising threat to online brands--worldtrademarkreview.com.

b. EURid (eurid.eu), registry operator for ccTLD .eu, and the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC.org) team up to fight cybercrime--businesswire.com June 27, 2017.

c. France.com: using a domain name for many years will not necessarily provide a business or any registrant with a right to registration of the domain name as a trade mark--an EU court has ruled against Florida-based France.com which had argued that its 'france.com' mark should also be registered as an EU trade mark. The court reasoned France.com was too similar to an existing trade mark "france" owned by the French government--out-law.com, 26 Jun 2018. [Editor's note: the applicant has already lost the domain name france.com as a result of a separate French legal judgment that resulted in the transfer of the france.com registration to an agency of the French government.]

d. Trademarkers: New data reveals the most prolific trademark applicants in the United States last year--Leading the list was a 71-year-old New York physician with more than 300 applications--Expert suggests [trademark] filers lists “might not be dominated by large corporations in the future”--worldtrademarkreview.com.

e. Who needs GDPR or an EPDP? Free WHOIS Privacy at Namecheap.com--how to add WhoisGuard to your Namecheap domains.

f. F is for Family: branches of Rothschild empire settle dispute over family name ... Under the deal, the groups cannot use the name Rothschild by itself ... Rothschild & Co will stop using the rothschild.com domain name--ft.com.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

a. European Union: EU votes for copyright law that would make internet a 'tool for control'--TheGuardian.com and ZDnet.com: ​European Union prepares to wreck internet with new copyright law--"If passed, Article 13 will force all websites to check any and all posts for copyright violations. That will include photos, videos, words, tweets, memes, software code, etc, etc. Think about that for a minute, and shudder."

b. China & Internet Governance: "Beijing Wants to Rewrite the Rules of the Internet - Xi Jinping wants to wrest control of global cyber governance from the market economies of the west"--TheAtlantic.com:

"China’s model appeals to these countries because it provides them with tools to take control of an open internet. Online platforms used for terrorism and political dissent threaten national stability. The Edward Snowden revelations and crippling cyber attacks like WannaCry and Mirai create a sense of vulnerability that China’s model promises to fix."   

c. US & Net Neutrality: Lawmakers must level the field for all players in the internet ecosystem--Robert McDowell, former FCC commissioner (2006-13) in Richmond.com.

d. Internet Society: Internet Society Names Andrew Sullivan as New President & CEO  29 June 2018.

e.  UPDATE: Deadline to respond to the NTIA notice of inquiry has been extended to July 17, 2018, 5:00 pm EDT.

5) Six Most Read Posts this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

1.  News Review | ICANN62 Panama City, Policy Forum, 25-28 Jun 2018

2. Tech Review | Media Disruption, Mergers & Fear of the Future (video) Jun 23

3. CrowdEmotion, an Emotion-Inspired Artificial Intelligence Company

4. Micro Class on Laddering and Apple's Strategy on Privacy (video)

5. AI, NTIA, Crypto, ZTE & CyberSecurity Hearings LIVE June 26-27 (video)

6. Tech Review | Digital Advertising's Disruption and Data Addiction (video) Jun 30

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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News Review | GDPR Effect: ICANN Sues German Domain Name Registrar

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-05-27) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) GDPR Effect: ICANN Sues German Domain Name Registrar, 2)  EU GDPR & ICANN WHOIS, What's Next for ICANN? 3) ICANN news: At-Large Review, GNSO,  FY19 Budget, June Public Comments, 4) Names, Domains & Trademarks, 5) ICYMI, 6) Most Read Posts.

UPDATE June 22, 2018: ICANN announced on June 22, 2018 (UTC):

"On 13 June 2018, ICANN appealed the Regional Court's initial decision to reject ICANN's application for an injunction, in which ICANN sought a court order requiring EPAG to reinstate collection of administrative and technical contact data for new domain name registrations. Upon receipt of an appeal, the Regional Court has the option to re-evaluate its decision that is being appealed, or affirm its decision and immediately forward the matter to the Higher Regional Court for consideration of the appeal. In this instance, the Regional Court has decided to revisit its initial decision and has asked EPAG to comment (pdf) on ICANN's appellate papers within two weeks." (links and emphasis added)

UPDATE May 30, 2018: German Court Rejects ICANN Request for Injunction
Court Order on Application for Preliminary Injunction (German) [PDF, 2.82 MB] Unofficial English Translation provided by ICANN embedded below:

As disclosed by ICANN, in rejecting the injunctive relief, the Court ruled that it would not require EPAG to collect the administrative and technical data for new registrations. The Court said that the collection of the domain name registrant data should suffice in order to safeguard against misuse the security aspects in connection with the domain name (such as criminal activity, infringement or security problems). The Court reasoned that because it is possible for a registrant to provide the same data elements for the registrant as for the administrative and technical contacts, ICANN did not demonstrate that it is necessary to collect additional data elements for those contacts. The Court also noted that a registrant could consent and provide administrative and technical contact data at its discretion.

"While ICANN appreciates the prompt attention the Court paid to this matter, the Court's ruling today did not provide the clarity that ICANN was seeking when it initiated the injunction proceedings. ICANN is continuing to pursue the ongoing discussions with the European Commission, and WP29, to gain further clarification of the GDPR as it relates to the integrity of WHOIS services."--John Jeffrey, ICANN's General Counsel and Secretary.

UPDATES 29 May 2018: the blowback-- 
a. Tucows (tucows.com), parent company of EPAG, the German Registrar sued by ICANN (see below) on Friday, has responded to ICANN in a statement on its website--Tucows Statement on ICANN Legal Action | Tucows Inc. | tucows.com--excerpt: "... We realized that the domain name registration process, as outlined in ICANN’s 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement, not only required us to collect and share information we didn’t need, it also required us to collect and share people’s information where we may not have a legal basis to do so. What’s more, it required us to process personal information belonging to people with whom we may not even have a direct relationship, namely the Admin and Tech contacts. ICANN’s goal since discussions about the impact of the GDPR on domain registration began has been to preserve as much of the status quo as possible. This has led ICANN to attempt to achieve GDPR-compliant domain registration via ‘process reduction’, as opposed to Tucows’ approach of starting with the GDPR and rebuilding from the ground up. These two approaches have led to significantly different results, and consequently a need to determine whether ICANN’s insistence on the collection of the full thick Whois data and this data’s transfer to gTLD Registries is in compliance with the GDPR. It is this disagreement and need for legal clarity that is at the heart of the lawsuit filed by ICANN ... we perceive three core issues with the [ICANN org / ICANN Board] Temporary Specification that we do not believe are compliant with the GDPR. These issues are the collection, transfer, and public display of the personal information of domain registrants and the other contractually-mandated contacts ... ICANN will need to prove that the minor, marginally incremental benefit of collecting, processing and transferring Admin and Tech contact data at the request of third parties outweighs the principles of data minimization and lawful processing enshrined in the GDPR. We find the argument that duplicative technical contacts are necessary for the security and stability of the DNS implausible. We were not convinced this was the case when we first examined the law, and we remain unconvinced following the release ICANN’s Temporary Specification ..."

b.  The Injunction: ICANN's lame attempt to turn DNS into a Trademark Registry | InternetGovernance.org: "... A narrow definition of ICANN’s mission, which involves coordinating and maintaining the stability of the domain name system, makes it clear that the Tech-C and Admin-C  information are not really necessary to that purpose ... Despite [ICANN CEO] Goran Marby’s friendly posturing of “consulting” with various groups, ICANN clearly isn’t listening to them and has unilaterally determined what its position will be ... With this filing, ICANN the organization has thrown off its mask of bottom up multistakeholder policy development regarding Whois, it has staked out a position that serves the interests of a few stakeholders. It has shown that it will fight hard and spend a lot of money to support those interests. It has also shown a willful disregard for the limited nature of its mission. The good news here, however, is that legal certainty regarding the application of GDPR to Whois may be on the way soon."--Professor Milton Mueller (emphasis added) [Editor's note: Professor Mueller has been an active participating stakeholder in ICANN since its founding in 1998, has written numerous oft-cited articles and books about ICANN and related matters, and would be an excellent 'expert witness' for EPAG in the German proceeding.]

c. Domain Names Registrar Namecheap (namecheap.com) announced today Free WHOIS Privacy forever:

Editor's note: Score (as of 29 May 2018):
ICANN: 0  vs. EPAG (Tucows) & EU (GDPR): 3

Original Post:
1) GDPR Effect: ICANN Sues German Domain Name Registrar

ICANN Files Legal Action in Germany to Preserve WHOIS Data | ICANN.org 25 May 2018: "The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today filed injunction proceedings against EPAG, a Germany-based, ICANN-accredited registrar that is part of the Tucows Group. ICANN has taken this step to ask the court for assistance in interpreting the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in order to protect the data collected in WHOIS. ICANN's "one-sided filing" in Bonn, Germany, seeks a court ruling to ensure the continued collection of all WHOIS data, so that such data remains available to parties demonstrating legitimate purpose to access it, consistent with the GDPR. EPAG recently informed ICANN that when it sells new domain name registrations it would no longer collect administrative and technical contact information, as it believes collection of that data would violate the GDPR rules ...." (emphasis added)

ICANN v. EPAG Domainservices, GmbH | ICANN.org: lawsuit in the Regional Court of Bonn [Germany] [*NOTE: Personal identifiable information has been redacted by ICANN] ICANN’s Motion for the Issuance of a Preliminary Injunction 25 May 2018 (in German) [PDF, 1.76 MB].  (excerpt from p. 4 of 25, unofficial English translation, full embed further below):

"The technical contact and the administrative contact have important functions. Access to this data is required for the stable and secure operation of the domain name system, as well as a way to identify those customers that may be causing technical problems and legal issues with the domain names and/or their content. Therefore, GDPR provisions do not prevent the Defendant from collecting these data elements. If the Defendant does not collect the requisite technical contact or administrative contact information among other things, the secure operation of the domain name system and other legitimate uses of the data, such as law enforcement trying to locate bad actors that use the domain name system for criminal activity, will be in jeopardy. Accordingly, the Applicant has attempted to convince the Defendant that it is still obligated under its contract with the Applicant to collect the administrative and technical contact information as part of the registration data it collects at registration. The parties were not able to solve this issue out of court. Therefore, the Applicant kindly asks the court to order the Defendant by way of preliminary ruling, not to sell respective new domain name registrations without collecting such data."

English Translation of Motion for Issuance of Preliminary Injunction (Unofficial; provided for information purpose only) [PDF, 937 KB] embed below:

Appendix AS-8: Affidavit of John Jeffrey in support of ICANN’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction [PDF, 79 KB] embed below:

Related:
•  Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data | ICANN.org: effective as of 25 May 2018; Adopted on 17 May 2018 by ICANN Board Resolutions 2018.05.17.01 – 2018.05.17.09. Temporary Spec PDF here [735 KB].

• 25 May 2018 Letter to Graeme Bunton from Jamie Hedlund, ICANN SVP Contractual Compliance and Consumer Safeguards. ICANN response to Registrars request for Compliance Moratorium for Temporary Specification Implementation--excerpt from letter:

"As you know, on 17 May 2018, ICANN posted an announcement regarding the Board’s adoption of the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data. The Temporary Specification, effective 25 May 2018, modifies contractual obligations in ICANN's agreements with registries and registrars in order to comply with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR]. It does not include a compliance moratorium since ICANN must also comply with the law. ICANN Contractual Compliance will enforce the Temporary Specification from the effective date and address any areas of non-compliance with the contracted parties per the established process."

• 23 May 2018 Letter from ICANN CEO Göran Marby to Roberto Viola, Paraskevi Michou, and Tiina Astola (pdf) re: ICANN Proposed Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data, excerpt:

•  For further background see last week's News Review | ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck 25 May 2018 & Beyond.

Editor's note--Bottom Line: EU law (GDPR) trumps ICANN bylaws and ICANN's contracts with its gTLD Registry Operators and accredited Registrars. ICANN believes its interpretation of the GDPR and its application to the collection, processing, and publishing of WHOIS data is correct, but ultimately, EU DPAs (data protection authorities) and European Courts will decide, not ICANN. My own opinion is that current WHOIS policy collects much more data than is necessary or appropriate. The relevant questions are: 1) Who is the legal registrant (or representative of the registrant) of a domain name, and 2) how can that person be contacted? Registrants should be able to choose to list their name, address, and email and phone data (fax is an anachronism), or appoint an agent ("Registrant's Agent" which could include an accredited WHOIS privacy provider) for public WHOIS purposes. As a default, and to comply with the GDPR, if the registrant fails to choose one of the above methods for the Public WHOIS, the domain name's registrar of record should be listed as registrant's agent since most domain disputes (e.g., UDRP and URS) are essentially in rem or quasi in rem actions. It really should be that simple, but I am afraid ICANN is "lost in La-La Land."

2) EU GDPR & ICANN WHOIS, What's Next for ICANN? EPDP (Expedited Policy Development Process): 25 May 2018 Letter from ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby to GNSO Chair Heather Forrest (highlighting added):

Chat transcript below from above presentation webinar:

Webinar Transcript (pdf) from above GNSO council webinar, excerpts:

• "Keith’s (Keith Drazek) made a good point in the chat, his understanding is that a PDP triggered by the Board’s initiation of a temporary policy can confirm, amend or replace the temporary policy of specification." (p. 9)
• Michele Neylon (pp 15-16): "... if you look at the history of Whois related activities over the last, I don't know how many years, pretty much everything has failed in one shape or another. This time around there really is no room for failure. The other point as well, I put that in the chat, is that I had asked during the GDD Summit last week in Vancouver and it needs to be asked again, is that we do need to see some kind of list of the policies and contractual clauses that are impacted by this temporary spec, because this EPDP will need to address those things specifically."
• Stephanie Perrin (p.37): "I think it would be worthwhile even though we have very little time if the RDS Working Group more or less formerly - formally assessed how it failed ..."

UPDATE re: RDS Working Group a/k/a Next-Generation gTLD Registration Directory Services to Replace Whois see Wiki and WG email archive - RDS WG Chair resigns and recent excerpts below:

3) Other ICANN news

a. 22 May 2018 Letter from Farzaneh Badiei to Cherine Chalaby [Published 22 May 2018] Chair | Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group Statement of concern for At-Large Review Implementation Overview Proposal (embed below), [Editor's note: At-Large, another aspect of the dysfunctional "ICANN community"]:

See also Contracted Party House (CPH) (Registrars & Registry Operators) Statement of concern for At-Large Review Implementation Overview Proposal bunton-to-chalaby-07may18-en.pdf [59.5 KB].

b. ICANN's Dysfunctional GNSO Wants To Be Functional? This Is No Joke: GNSO Policy Development Process 3.0: How to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the GNSO Policy Development Process (pdf) embed below:

See also GNSO Active Projects List May 16, 2018 (pdf)

c. Final Proposed ICANN FY19 Operating Plan and Budget | ICANN.org: "... and submitted it to the ICANN Board for consideration at the meeting on 30 May 2018 ..." (more info at link above)

d. ICANN Public Comment Periods Closing in June 2018 at 23:59 UTC on each date indicated below [close dates subject to arbitrary changes (extensions) by ICANN at any time]:

• Initial Report on Review of the Customer Standing Committee (CSC) Charter: Close Date 1 Jun 2018
• Draft Final Report of the RSSAC2 Review: Close Date 10 Jun 2018

• Release for Registration one .COM Domain Name with a Single-Character Label: O.COM: Close Date 20 Jun 2018

4) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. Domains: GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY) Announces Proposed Sale of Shares of Common Stock by Selling Stockholders | godaddy.net May 20, 2018: "... an underwritten public offering of 11,625,000 shares of its Class A common stock by certain of its stockholders pursuant to an effective Registration Statement on Form S-3 previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  GoDaddy will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares in this offering.  Citigroup and UBS Investment Bank are acting as bookrunners for this offering ... Selling stockholders participating in the offering consist of entities affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., Silver Lake Partners and YAM Special Holdings, Inc., an entity owned by GoDaddy founder, Bob Parsons. Additionally, GoDaddy's chief executive officer is offering 125,000 shares of GoDaddy's Class A common stock in the offering ..." (more info at link above)

$GDDY

b.  Infringement: The Real Pirate Bay "operates from an .org domain name, which happens to be managed by the US-based Public Interest Registry (PIR) ..."--TorrentFreak.com.

c. FBI seizes domain behind VPNFilter botnet | scmagazine.com: "evidence exists showing the domain toknowall.com was to be used as part of an attack."

5) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

a. UK To Tackle 'Wild West' Internet--the UK government will publish a policy 'white paper' later this year setting out proposals for future legislation, aiming to enact new laws “in the next couple of years” said digital minister Matt Hancock May 20, 2018.

b. US Net Neutrality Is Just a Gateway to the Real Issue: Internet Freedom | WIRED.com May 18, 2018.

c.  The Path to Victory on Net Neutrality in the House of Representatives and How You Can Help | Electronic Frontier Foundation | EFF.org May 18, 2018.

d. IGF 2018 Call for Workshop Proposals | Internet Governance Forum | intgovforum.org: The deadline for workshop submissions is 27 May 2018, 23:59 UTC. The final selection of workshops will take place during the IGF 2018 Second Open Consultations and MAG Meeting, scheduled on 11-13 July 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland.

e. EU & GDPR:

• Yelp asks Europe to take new antitrust action against Google | SearchEngineLand.com May 22, 2018: "Complaint to European Commission applies the logic of the Shopping Search case to local search." See also How to survive Google’s new local search world | SearchEngineLand.com May 21, 2018: "We are seeing result pages where Google features occupied virtually the entire page and organic web page results were barely visible" and How did Google get so big? 60 Minutes | CBSnews.com.
• EU officials are encouraging countries like Brazil, Japan, and South Korea to adopt laws similar to  the GDPR by tying data protection to trade deals--NYTimes.com.
• South Africa Domain Admin Lauds GDPR, POPI | allAfrica.com: "The ZACR wholeheartedly supports the objectives of both the EU's data protection regulations and South Africa's very own POPI,"  said Lucky Masilela, ZACR CEO [ZACR is registry operator of South Africa's ccTLD .ZA and gTLD .AFRICA].
• GDPR: US news sites unavailable to EU users under new rules | BBC.com May 25, 2018: Some US news sites like the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune restrict access from EU as GDPR goes into effect.
• GDPR mayhem: Programmatic ad buying plummets in Europe | Digiday.com.

6) Most read posts this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

1. News Review | ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck 25 May 2018 & Beyond

2. Tech Review | Tesla $TSLA May Need A Takeover, Will Apple $AAPL Bite?

3. Amazon AWS & ConsenSys New Blockchain Partnership Kaleido (video)

4. European Union GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation, 25 May 2018

5. Is Mark Zuckerberg The 'Most Dangerous Person’ In The World? (video)

6. Indonesia's Startup Boom, Venture Capitalists Go For Go-Jek & More

7. GDPR: What Is It and How Might It Affect You? (video and podcast)

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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DISCLAIMER

Hearing April 17, From Core to Edge: Perspective on Internet Prioritization

From Core to Edge: Perspective on Internet Prioritization

Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, starting at 10:15 a.m. EDT, entitled “From Core to Edge: Perspective on Internet Prioritization.” #netneutrality #fastlanes #internet #openinternet #SubCommTech

WITNESSES:

Mr. Richard Bennett
Founder, High Tech Forum
Witness Statement and Truth in Testimony and CV

Mr. Peter Rysavy
President, Rysavy Research, LLC
Witness Statement and Truth in Testimony and CV

Mr. Paul W. Schroeder
Director, Public Policy and Strategic Alliances, Aira Tech Corporation
Witness Statement and Truth in Testimony and CV

Mr. Matt Wood
Policy Director, Free Press
Witness Statement (embed below) and Truth in Testimony and CV

Committee Majority Staff Background Memo (embed below)

See also: Busting Two Myths About Paid Prioritization | Electronic Frontier Foundation | eff.org

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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Tech Review | Is Google Done? 'Can No Longer Innovate' Says Ex-Googler

Tech Review (TR 2018-01-27)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Is Google Done? 'Can No Longer Innovate' Says Ex-Googler, 2) Big Tech vs. Antitrust & Unfair Competition Laws, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes, 4) ICYMI Tech News.

1)  Is Google Done? Google 'Can No Longer Innovate' Says Ex-Googler (Former Engineer)

Error message on Jan 25, 2018, to users of Google's Blogger platform worldwide 

Engineer Steve Yegge leaves Google after 13 years, saying Google has lost its way due to risk aversion, politics, arrogance, and a focus on competitors over customers--Why I left Google to join Grab – Steve Yegge | Medium.com: "The main reason I left Google is that they can no longer innovate. They’ve pretty much lost that ability. I believe there are several contributing factors, of which I’ll list four here. First, they’re conservative ... Gatekeeping and risk aversion at Google are the norm rather the exception. Second, they are mired in politics ... Third, Google is arrogant ... the company strategy is a mess ... But fourth, last, and probably worst of all, Google has become 100% competitor-focused rather than customer focused ...." (Read more at the link above. The post is insider confirmation of what most of us had already sensed or experienced about Google in recent years.)

Alphabet Inc. (Google) $GOOG $GOOGL. Q4 2017 results will be released Feb 1, 2018, after market close.

2) Big Tech vs. Antitrust & Unfair Competition Laws

EU Fines Qualcomm, Are Facebook and Amazon Next?

EU fines Qualcomm €997M for abusing market dominance, says $QCOM paid Apple to buy LTE baseband chipsets from Qualcomm exclusively; Qualcomm appeals.

.@Qualcomm to pay fine of €997 mio. They illegally shut out rivals from market of LTE baseband chipsets for over 5 years. Misuse of dominant position. Don’t.

— Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) January 24, 2018

See also HQ2 Much - Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) | SeekingAlpha.com by Scott Galloway: "I'm announcing a contest to decide which big tech firm should be broken up first. The finalists are Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Amazon [NASDAQ: AMZN], who both prioritize shareholders over the condition of our souls, or the country's prosperity."

3) Investing

The Week: Major U.S. stock indexes close at records as economy remains in growth mode | MarketWatch.com

Melt-Up? "Well, if there is such a thing as a "melt-up" then I suppose $58 billion in inflows over four weeks counts. One fund manager who spoke to Bloomberg this week described the mood over the past month as "totally insane" ..."--SeekingAlpha.com

Editor's note: The U.S. economy, stimulated by Trump's tax reforms, deregulation, and emphasis on U.S. domestic investment, could, in sum, easily handle an increase in Fed rates of 200 basis points or more. Ray Dalio says this "short-term stimulus" is producing a “12-to-18-month spurt, ... [during which] people feel stupid about holding cash," but instead, could we be looking at a 18-36 month "sprint"? Remember, Draghi and the ECB are dragging their heels, so that puts a brake on how fast the Fed will tighten, and at the same time, Draghi is scared of Mnuchin's cheap dollar. Read Steven Mnuchin vs. Mario Draghi: The ECB Loses | WSJ.com.

Why Didn't The Market React To The Government Shutdown Threat? | SeekingAlpha.com: "going to take more than yet another example of legislative ineptitude to do any lasting damage to this rally."

Investing Notes:

• Another Good Year Ahead | Blackstone.com: "In my view, we have at least a year or two before the next major downturn in either the market or the economy, barring a major geopolitical conflict ... A 10%+ correction could occur at any time because sentiment is so optimistic, but the signals that usually warn of a recession, like a loss of economic momentum or an inverted yield curve, are not in place."--Byron Wien
• U.S. government forecasts U.S. oil production will climb to 11 million barrels a day by late 2019, rivaling Russia, the world’s top producer.
• How to Fix the Euro Zone Without Setting Off Alarms | Bloomberg.com

• Senate Confirms Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chairman | WSJ.com: confirmed by a 84-13 vote, new Chairman's term effective when Janet Yellen's 4-year term expires Feb 3, 2018.
• Central Banks: From Coordination to Competition | charleshughsmith.blogspot.com

• Immigration in the Trump Era: Senator Hatch's bill would dramatically increase H-1B visas | TheHill.com: "the bill would make sure that holders of U.S. master’s degrees or higher, foreign Ph.D.’s and U.S. STEM bachelor degrees are prioritized ..."

• “Blockchain” Stocks Collapse by 40% to 90% | WolfStreet.com.

Q4 2017 Earnings Season on DomainMondo.com

• Facebook | NASDAQ: FB Jan 31, 5:00pm ET

• Alphabet | NASDAQ: GOOG / NASDAQ: GOOGL Feb 1, 4:30pm

• Apple | NASDAQ: AAPL Feb 1, 5:00pm ET

• Amazon | NASDAQ: AMZN Feb 1, 5:30pm ET

• Twitter | NYSE: TWTR Feb 8, 8:00am ET

• Verisign | NASDAQ: VRSN  Feb 8, 4:30pm ET

• GoDaddy | NYSE: GDDY Feb 22, 2018 5:00pm ET

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• Easy Come, Easy Go?  Apple discontinuing iPhone X in 2018?--mashable.com. See also:"disinterest in China is the main reason"--forbes.com

• What If Children Should Be Spending More Time With Screens? | WSJ.com: "New guidance on children and technology makes the distinction between passive exposure and active play and learning with screens"

• Coming soon: 3 Mega Video Platforms: Disney vs Netflix vs Amazon? But what about Google Play/YouTube and Apple?

• Whoops! Intel tells users to stop deploying buggy Spectre patch--TheVerge.com

• Leaving Windows: How the Pixelbook replaced my Surface Pro 4, no regrets | ZDNet.com: "I went all in with a Chromebook."

• Security fears spark [U.S.] crackdown on Chinese tech | TheHill.com

• Google and Coursera launch program to train more IT support specialists | TechCrunch.com

• India puts up tariffs on Chinese solar panels | Financial Times | YouTube.com (video)

• GE Requiem? General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) | SeekingAlpha.com 

• Help Me Mama! Deutsche Telekom Calls on Merkel to Counter U.S., China Tech Threats | Bloomberg.com

• China’s JD.com Prepares to Take on Amazon on Its Home Turf | Bloomberg.com: JD.com is in talks to sell 15% of its logistics unit to Tencent, others, as it prepares to launch in Los Angeles in 2018.

• China: Ken Rogoff Warns "China Will Be At The Center Of The Next Global Financial Crisis" | ZeroHedge.com: "China is probably the place most at risk of having a significant downturn in the near term. It’s certainly the leading candidate for being at the center of the next big financial crisis."

Crypto Watch:

• Scammers getting rich using social media, scam news sites, and private pump and dump group chats to spread false information about cryptocurrencies--buzzfeed.com

• Stripe ends support for bitcoin payments April 23, citing volatility and long transaction times. Bitcoin had been supported since 2014--TechCrunch.com.

From the Reuters.com feed:

• More than 10 percent of $3.7 billion raised in ICOs has been stolen: Ernst & Young

• Top Swiss cryptocurrency lawyer questions 'stupid' ICO structure

• Amazon Go: Amazon's automated grocery store of the future

• Qualcomm signs $2 billion sales MOUs with Lenovo, Xiaomi, vivo and OPPO

• FTC makes second request on Broadcom's bid for Qualcomm: anti-competitive merger?

• Exclusive: U.S. sanctions curb Microsoft sales to hundreds of Russian firms

• SAP, Symantec, McAfee let Russia probe software widely used by U.S. government

• AT&T urges Congress to rewrite net neutrality rules

One Last Thing: 

The End of Blogs? "In 2015, Grantland, an ESPN venture with bloggy intimacy, was shuttered. In 2016, the indie women’s blog the Toast folded for lack of a financial future ... the beloved, uncategorizable blog TheAwl.com announced that it, along with its sister site, TheHairpin.com, would cease operations at the end of the month"--The New Yorker

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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