Update on the Restoration of Puerto Rico’s Electric Infrastructure (video)

Update on the Restoration of Puerto Rico’s Electric Infrastructure

The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS), announced April 4, that the previously postponed hearing entitled, “Update on the Restoration of Puerto Rico’s Electric Infrastructure,” would be held Wednesday, April 11, 2018, at 2 p.m. EDT in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building. More information on the hearing can be found here.

Congressional Committee Background Memo (pdf) (embed below):

WITNESSES:

Mr. Charles R. Alexander
Director, Contingency Operations and Homeland Security Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Witness Statement (pdf); Witness Invitation (pdf); Truth in Testimony and CV (pdf).

Mr. Jeffrey Byard
Associate Administrator, Office of Response and Recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Witness Statement (pdf); Witness Invitation (pdf); Truth in Testimony and CV (pdf).

Mr. Gene Shlatz
Director, Navigant Consulting
Witness Statement (pdf); Witness Invitation (pdf); Truth in Testimony and CV (pdf).

Mr. Carols D. Torres
Power Restoration Coordinator, Edison Electric Institute
Witness Statement (pdf); Witness Invitation (pdf); Truth in Testimony and CV (pdf).

The Honorable Bruce J. Walker
Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of Energy
Witness Statement (pdf); Witness Invitation (pdf); Truth in Testimony and CV (pdf).

The Energy and Commerce Committee has held three prior hearings on the series of hurricanes:

• #SubOversight held a hearing on October 24, 2017, examining the public health response and preparedness efforts related to the hurricanes.
• #SubEnergy held a hearing on November 2, 2017, examining the federal and state response and recovery efforts.
• #SubEnvironment held a hearing on November 14, 2017, examining the federal, state, and local response to the environmental damage.

A bipartisan delegation of committee members toured Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in early December of last year. On Tuesday, April 10, 2018, President Donald Trump's homeland security advisor, Tom Bossert, resigned.

USACE currently has 997 personnel on the ground, including 819 contractors, working to restore power to the people of #PuertoRico. (as of April 9)

— USACE HQ (@USACEHQ) April 10, 2018

Latest facts and figures on our activities in #PuertoRico and #USVirginIslands (As of April 9). pic.twitter.com/ChFzh2M2nO

— USACE HQ (@USACEHQ) April 10, 2018

NHC has released its Tropical Cyclone Report on 2017's Hurricane #Maria, which ravaged the island of Dominica at category 5 intensity & devastated Puerto Rico as a high-end category 4 hurricane. The full report is linked at https://t.co/zHusHPGcuH @NWS pic.twitter.com/950ATB5zkc

— Natl Hurricane Ctr (@NWSNHC) April 9, 2018

.@FEMA_Brock is wrapping up his visit to Puerto Rico today after meeting with local officials, discussing long term recovery efforts, and supporting progress after #HurricaneMaria. pic.twitter.com/eyjPeeP4qw

— FEMA (@fema) April 6, 2018

Using cement, divers reattached coral fragments along the coasts of #PuertoRico recently. The reefs, damaged by #HurricaneMaria, are critical because they help protect the shores. We partnered with Sea Ventures, the government of Puerto Rico, non-profits, & @NOAA on this effort. pic.twitter.com/VB106urIjL

— FEMA (@fema) April 5, 2018

We gathered input from disaster survivors, government, non-profit, and private sector partners, and our own employees to create a new Strategic Plan to help build a better FEMA. Read more about our vision here: https://t.co/cvY2gAlFrQ. pic.twitter.com/hfrZstaSGr

— FEMA (@fema) March 15, 2018

2018 Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour (CHAT) set for April 23-28 across Mexico & Caribbean. NOAA & U.S. Air Force Reserve will host a series of events, including tours aboard a hurricane hunter aircraft.https://t.co/hnrwQjzA3k #Hurricaneprep #hurricanestrong pic.twitter.com/MJIZdUcpnq

— Natl Hurricane Ctr (@NWSNHC) April 10, 2018

See previously on DomainMondo.com:

• Hearing Update on the Restoration of Puerto Rico’s Electric Infrastructure Feb 28, 2018 (postponed).
• Tech Review | Blockchain Unbound, San Juan, Puerto Rico (video) March 17, 2018

• News Review | ICANN61 & Puerto Crypto, San Juan, Puerto Rico Feb 11, 2018

• FEMA: Puerto Rico, USVI, Areas Affected by Hurricane Maria Sep 27, 2017

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News Review | EU GDPR & ICANN WHOIS, What's Next? Timeline

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-03-18) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) EU GDPR & ICANN WHOIS, What's Next? Timeline, 2) Other ICANN news: ICANN 61, ICANN62, 2018 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference,  and more, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: Starting A Business, Logo, Name & Brand, 4) ICYMI: United Internet, Malware, Human Rights Online, 5) Most Read.

1) EU GDPR & ICANN WHOIS, What's Next? "Timeline needed by March 23, 2018"

source: ICANN.org presentation March 15, 2018, at ICANN61 (see embed below)

Editor's note: The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted on 27 April 2016, and after the two-year period allowed for transition, will become enforceable 25 May 2018. Sanctions for violations include substantial penalties. In my 12 Questions for 2018 (published 31 Dec 2017) I asked:

"6.  Will ICANN be ready for EU GDPR compliance on 25 May 2018?"

 Short answer: "No," based on ICANN's 15 March 2018 presentation referenced above and below.

Who Is Afraid of More Spams and Scams? | KrebsOnSecurity.com March 18, 2018: “Asked for his take on the chances that ICANN and the registrar community might still be designing the [WHOIS] vetting system this time next year, [ICANN SSAC Chair Rod] Rasmussen said '100 percent'."

From ICANN61 session ICANN GDD: Registry & Registrar GDPR Compliance Model Thursday, March 15, 2018, 12:30-1:30 pm EDT:

More information:

• Data Protection/Privacy Issues Update: ICANN-proposed Interim Model | ICANN.org 

• GDPR Models/Analyses | Purpose Statement | ICANN-Proposed Compliance Models 15 Mar 2018: gdpr-purpose-statement-appdetex-et-al-icann-proposed-compliance-models-15mar18-en.pdf [pdf 522 KB]

• Data Protection/Privacy Issues | ICANN.org

• Data Protection/Privacy – Latest Announcements, Updates & Blogs | ICANN.org

• Legal Analyses, Proposed Compliance Models, & Community Feedback | ICANN.org

• Statement of the Noncommercial Stakeholders Group on the 8 March 2018 Model for GDPR Compliance (pdf) 11 March 2018: "... It is critical that the entire system of WHOIS – if it should exist at all – is redesigned to protect domain name registrants. The privacy and protection of registrants, the customers who fund ICANN’s activities, must be of primary importance. ICANN has a duty of care to protect its registrants ..." (emphasis added)

• ICANN's Whois reforms are on a path to failure | Internet Governance Project | internetgovernance.org March 13, 2018 by Milton Mueller: "ICANN’s community, in short, is asking for lawsuits and fines."

• News Review | ICANN WHOIS & EU GDPR: Points of View (video) | DomainMondo.com: "Editor's note: ... On Thursday, Feb 22, 2018, I asked ICANN CEO Goran Marby (who is a citizen of Sweden and the EU): '1) When did you first become aware of the ramifications of the EU GDPR for ICANN, and 2) what caused ICANN to be so late in preparing for the May 25, 2018 effective date?'..."

Lastly, the ICANN61 GAC advice was not what ICANN wanted to hear--excerpt:

2) Other ICANN news

a. ICANN61 | San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 10-15, final wrap-up:

• ICANN61 San Juan, Puerto Rico: GAC Communique & ICANN61 Tweets

• ICANN61 pre- and post-meeting reports | ICANN.org

• News Review | ICANN61, ICANN's FY19 Budget, Extortion Racket, [Consumer] Fraud

• Editor's note: I had to ask my question more than once (via two different ICANN61 sessions), but it was finally answered by ICANN GDD President Akram Atallah: 

Question to ICANN: Where's the ICANN data showing geographic distribution, by country and ICANN region, of (a) domain name registrations, and (b) domain name registrants? Where are you publishing this data specifically on your website?

Answer (paraphrased): ICANN doesn't have or collect this data, although it could.

In other words, ICANN is clueless when it comes to the geographic distribution of domain name registrations and registrants, ICANN's true "customers" who directly, and indirectly, fund ICANN. Next time ICANN says some area is "underserved,"  ask, "where's the data" that supports that statement. Because ICANN does not have the data, it often confuses "lack of demand" with "underserved." Many areas have little demand, in total or per capita, for gTLD domain names, for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with ICANN's remit, including economic, cultural, government censorship and internet shutdowns, unaffordable or unavailable internet connectivity, etc. The data in the Domain Mondo post Domain Name Registrations and the Global Internet Population is dated 2011-2013, but even then was enlightening: "The majority of domain names (78%) are registered in Europe or North America (US alone has about 33% of all registrations); Asia has 13%, Latin America 4%, Oceania 3%, and the Middle East and Africa combined 2%." ICANN is willfully data ignorant for a reason--incompetent ICANN management mostly hired or promoted by the former ICANN CEO whose primary criterion was cronyism (see "Now hiring"). Without the accountability of data, it is easy to become an empire-builder and justify all kinds of wasteful spending while rationalizing cuts to the organization's core mission, particularly when you are a new CEO:

• Whatever Happened to SSR2? See 13 Mar 2018 Letter from SO/ACChairs to Khaled Koubaa,  SO/AC Chairs SSR2 Facilitator, excerpt: "We ask further that this be prioritised by the OEC so that the facilitator's appointment - and thus the re-start of SSR2-RT - can take place as soon as possible, and no later than 1 May for scheduling to take full advantage of face to face time at ICANN62."  [Editor's note: Follow-up on SSR2 maillist and SSR2 wiki.]

Finally, as a follow-up to my previous (Feb 11) post, News Review | ICANN61 & Puerto Crypto, San Juan, Puerto Rico, not everyone packed up and left San Juan after ICANN61 ended--here's a video of Damaris Rivera, Puerto Rico Advantage, at Blockchain Unbound 2018 this past week in San Juan:

SiliconANGLE.com video  published Mar 17, 2018: Damaris Rivera, Puerto Rico Advantage (domain: PRAdvantage.com), talks with John Furrier at Blockchain Unbound 2018 held at San Juan, Puerto Rico March 14-16  (Blockchain Unbound was formerly called Puerto Crypto). More info: Puerto Rico lures blockchain industry to help fund its comeback | cnbc.com 16 March 2018.

b. Next up: 

ICANN62 | Panama City | Policy Forum 25-28 Jun 2018.

c. 11 March 2018 Letter from ICANN CEO Göran Marby to ITU's  Houlin Zhao re 2018 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference:

d. 10 March 2018 Letter from Brian Winterfeldt to Cherine Chalaby, Manal Ismail, Göran Marby, and Rod Rasmussen re: "Critical RAA Violation; GoDaddy Port 43 Whois Masking & Throttling Programs."

e. Webinar on ccNSO Rejection Action Guideline: Recordings and Slide Deck | Country Code Names Supporting Organisation (ccNSO) | ICANN.org: ccNSO Procedure for the Exercise of the Empowered Community's rights to Reject Specified Actions explained and discussed, to ensure ccTLDs are aware of their own roles and responsibilities, those of the ccNSO as a whole and of the ccNSO Council. See the recording and the slide deck used during the webinar.

f. New gTLDs .LLC, .INC, .LLP, .GAY, .MUSIC, .CPA, .HOTEL, .MERCK: Roadmap for Consideration of Pending Reconsideration Requests Relating to Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) Process That Were Placed On Hold Pending Completion of the CPE Process Review 15 Mar 2018: roadmap-reconsideration-requests-cpe-15feb18-en.pdf [pdf 30 KB]

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. How to Start Your Own Small Business - Women Small Business Owners | cosmopolitan.com: "... And lock down a URL [domain name]. Typically, [brand name]+[industry] setups work well (for example, MILKmakeup.com) ..." [Editor's note: I generally recommend getting a .COM domain name and do this before registering your name with a government office or making public your name, and by all means, do your 'due diligence' before registering the domain, avoid trademark infringement, etc.]. See also: Branding and Trademark Series: Building a Brand | Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP | JDSupra.com.

b.  Is the logo still the most important part of a brand's image? | designweek.co.uk: "... Perhaps the name now has a bigger role in defining a brand. It’s not just how a brand looks but also how it sounds ... Market research company ComScore estimates that 50% of all searches will be completed by speaking by 2020. If people can’t pronounce the name, then how can they possibly request it from a voice assistant like Alexa or Siri?"

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

a. United Internet AG ETR: UTDI: Ralph Dommermuth, billionaire founder and CEO of United Internet (subsidiaries include 1and1.com, uniteddomains.com, internetx.com, sedo.com), challenging Deutsche Telekom to team up on German fiber broadband reports Reuters.com.

United Internet AG brands

Sedo | United Internet AG | united-internet.de: "Sedo operates in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States with its own branches and serves around 2 million customers from these locations."

b. Malware: Potent malware that hid for six years spread through routers | ArsTechnica.com: "Nation-sponsored Slingshot is one of the most advanced attack platforms ever."

c. Protecting human rights online: new guidelines on internet intermediaries | coe.int: "The Council of Europe today adopted policy guidelines addressed to its 47 member states on the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries such as search engines and social media."

d. Sri Lanka communal clashes: US urges Colombo to unblock internet services; China calls Emergency 'internal matter' | Firstpost.com

5) Four most read posts this past week (Sun-Sat) on DomainMondo.com: 

1. News Review | ICANN61, ICANN's FY19 Budget, Extortion Racket, Fraud

2. Benchmark VC Bill Gurley on the VC Landscape and Uber (video)

3. New gTLD .WEB: Afilias vs ICANN, Verisign $VRSN & Nu Dot Co?

4. How a Steel Box Changed the World: A Brief History of Shipping (video)

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

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Tech Review | Blockchain Unbound, San Juan, Puerto Rico (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-03-17)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Blockchain Unbound, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2) Google Bans Crypto Ads, Bitcoin Prices Slammed, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes, 4) ICYMI Tech News.

1) Blockchain Unbound, San Juan, Puerto Rico (video)

Miko Matsumura, Evercoin | Blockchain Unbound 2018

Miko Matsumura, Founder Evercoin (domain: evercoin.com); Venture Partner BitBull Capital (domain: bitbullcapital.com), interviewed by John Furrier at Blockchain Unbound 2018 (domain: blockchainunbound.com) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 14-16. SiliconANGLE.com video published Mar 15, 2018.

Fred Krueger, WorkCoin | Blockchain Unbound 2018

SiliconANGLE.com video published Mar 15, 2018: Fred Krueger, Founder & CEO, WorkCoin, interviewed by John Furrier at Blockchain Unbound 2018.

• Playlist of Blockchain Unbound videos

• Restart Week: Blockchain Community Converges on Puerto Rico for Learning and Service |.blockchainbeach.com

2) Google Bans Crypto Ads, Bitcoin Prices Slammed

CNBC.com’s Seema Mody reports on the drop of many cryptocurrencies and highlights from a cryptocurrency investor conference, Blockchain Unbound, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 15, 2018. See Financial Services: New restricted financial products policy (June 2018) | google.com: "Cryptocurrencies and related content."

Note also: IMF head Christine Lagarde shares a plan to regulate cryptocurrencies through "Know Your Customer" requirements that combine biometrics and machine learning--Addressing the Dark Side of the Crypto World | IMF.org.

3) Investing

The Week: S&P 500 closed up Friday--U.S. February industrial production jumped 1.1 percent, the largest increase in four months--Ignore the Noise, this bull market is showing a lot resilience in the face of so much DC drama accentuated by a click-hungry mainstream media circus:

S&P 500: UP almost 3% in 2018 (as of market close March 16. 2018)

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of CFRA (domain: cfraresearch.com), revealed this week "the investment research firm just voted to lift its 12-month target for the S&P 500  to 3,000, from 2,800."--MarketWatch.com March 15, 2018. 

"[T]he biggest surprise - for the second month in a row - was the surge in US stock purchases by public and private foreign entities, which in January amounted to a whopping $34.5 billion (of which official entities bought $952MM while private entities bought $33.5BN), the second highest monthly total on record, and smaller only compared to the record foreign buying in May 2007, when offshore entities bought a record $42 billion"-- ZeroHedge.com March 15, 2018.

Wall Street's Charging Bull

Investing Notes:

• (Mis)leading Indicators | ForeignAffairs.com--Why Our Economic Numbers Distort Reality--"If trade numbers more accurately accounted for how products are made, it is possible that the United States would not have any trade deficit at all with China." See also Forget "Free Trade"--It's All About Capital Flows | blogspot.com.

• China: Why are Investors in China so Eager to Buy US Homes? | WolfStreet.com

• China Investment Corp (CIC): China sovereign fund exits Blackstone investment after 11 years | Reuters.com

• Global Debt: The $233 Trillion Dollar Dark Cloud Of Global Debt | ZeroHedge.com: "Immediate consumption with the promise of repayment sometime in the future has consequences."--most at risk: China, Belgium, South Korea, Australia, and Canada. See also: Despite Years of ECB’s QE (Ending Soon), Italy’s “Doom Loop” Still Threatens Eurozone Financial System | WolfStreet.com.

• ECB: Still ‘excessively’ accommodative, strategist warns | CNBC.com  See also Toxic Debt Still Plagues Spanish Banks (and Taxpayers Will End Up Paying for It)--WolfStreet.com.

• EU: Merkel, Macron delay plan to present euro zone reforms: Spiegel | Reuters.com: “There’s simply nothing that could be announced.” See also Eurozone beyond euphoria: "This ‘grand reform’ reaffirms the status quo. The widening gap within the Eurozone is the shaky foundation of this new architecture. For the moment the loud cheers overshadow concerns: however, this is a pyrrhic victory."--openDemocracy.net.

• Peter Thiel’s Money Talks, in Contentious Ways. But What Does He Say? | NYTimes.com: "The news last month that Mr. Thiel is moving from San Francisco to Los Angeles reflects a shift that is as much mental as literal. Getting out of the tech bubble, he figures, will give him more clarity about his investments. “Network effects are very positive things, but there’s a tipping point where they fall over into the madness of crowds,” he said."
• Illinois' Regressive Pension-Funding Scheme Exposed | ZeroHedge.com: "It’s this kind of arrangement, where one unit of government doles out the benefits while another one pays for them, which makes Illinois so dysfunctional."
• Hedge Funds That Use AI Just Had Their Worst Month Ever | Bloomberg.com.

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• Broadcom Post-Qualcomm: some analysts say San Jose-based Xilinx Inc (XLNX.O) and Israel’s Mellanox Technologies Ltd (MLNX.O) may be Broadcom's next takeover targets.

• Facebook Sees 24% Drop In Average Time Spent On Site | ZeroHedge.com: "the problem only seems to be getting worse."
• Should Facebook, Google and Twitter Be Public Utilities? | blogspot.com

• Motorola lays off up to half of Chicago engineering team, says Moto Z line will 'continue' | androidpolice.com--Editor's note: saw this coming when Google sold off Moto to Lenovo.

• AI: Here's An Easy Way To Play Artificial Intelligence - Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Thematic ETF (NASDAQ:BOTZ) | SeekingAlpha.com

• US Court rules data breach victims can sue Yahoo: 3 billion users--US District Judge Lucy Koh rejected Verizon's motion to dismiss many of the claims filed against Yahoo, which is now owned by Verizon.
• Donald Trump was the toast of Nordic boardrooms on Tuesday morning, after he blocked Broadcom Ltd.'s proposed acquisition of Qualcomm Inc. Telecom equipment giants Nokia Oyj and Ericsson AB depend on Qualcomm for crucial chipsets used in their networks--Bloomberg.com.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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ICANN61 San Juan, Puerto Rico: GAC Communique & ICANN61 Tweets

Editor's note: ICANN61 ended in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday, March 15. Below is the GAC Communique issued March 15 by the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), as well as a selection of tweets courtesy of @sgdickinson.

1) ICANN 61 GAC Communique:

2) ICANN61 Report via Tweets

#ICANN61 Welcome Ceremony, Cherine Chalaby: the #ICANN Board is committed to acting, at all times, in the collective interest of all stakeholders and not in the single interest of a single stakeholder.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 12, 2018

#ICANN61 PublicForum 1, @icann_president: I have a lot of ideas, but I believe that as #ICANN CEO, the multistakeholder model isn’t something I should participate in. You, the community decide. I’m here to serve you.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 12, 2018

#ICANN61 Public Forum, Cherine Chalaby: there’s no way to completely de-risk the KSK rollover. Things will always break when you have a KSK rollover. But sometimes the risk of *not* doing the rollover is higher than the risk of doing it.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 15, 2018

#ICANN61 PublicForum 1, @JamilZahid: as chair of the NomCom, proposes that the currently non-voting, term-unlimited RSSAC and SSAC liaisons to the NomCom become full voting members of the NomCom and be term-limited.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 12, 2018

#ICANN61 Public Forum: the #metoo movement comes to #ICANN. A group of women from the community have documented experiences of harassment at ICANN meetings & will send the compilation to ICANN Board today (nobody called out by name in compilation).

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 15, 2018

GDPR / WHOIS:

#ICANN61 Cross-Community on #GDPR, Cathrin Bauer-Bulst of @EU_Commission: the accreditation system for accessing non-public Whois remains the biggest missing piece of the puzzle. We need a temporary solution to go live in May while we work towards a permanent solution.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 12, 2018

#ICANN61 Cross-Community on #GDPR, @NickWenbanSmith: @Nominet hasn’t published email addresses for .uk domains for decades, and it’s not been a problem. There are 12 million .uk domains. Nominet only receives ~10 queries a month for non-public data on domains.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 12, 2018

#ICANN61 Cross-Community on #GDPR, @NickWenbanSmith: a reform of the basic principle of blanket worldwide publication of registrant data, with no checks and balances, was well overdue.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 12, 2018

FY19 ICANN Budget:

#ICANN61 @icann_president: The draft FY19 budget is a starting point that we expect the community to criticise. And we will take your criticisms into account. Ultimately, it’s the community that makes the final decisions about #ICANN’s budget.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 12, 2018

#ICANN61 Welcome Ceremony, Cherine Chalaby: #ICANN Board will consider ALL comments made to the public comment period on the draft FY19 budget.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 12, 2018

#ICANN61 Public Forum, Cherine Chalaby: #ICANN's funding levelling off doesn’t mean we should panic or worry. The question is how we can be effective in our spending. We need to strike a balance between fiscal responsibility & the ability for community to participate effectively.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 15, 2018

#ICANN61 GAC: Peru insists Communique not only document no. of GAC members present in San Juan but also total no. of GAC members, to show how participation is dropping & to send a message to the budget process about need for (more) funding for travel assistance.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 14, 2018

CCWG-Accountability WS2 jurisdiction report:

#ICANN61 GAC, France: report of CCWG-Accountability’s Sub-Group on Jurisdiction took some viewpoints into consideration more than others. Feel the recommendations have not taken all positions into account. Therefore France also couldn’t approve the Jurisdiction recommendations.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 11, 2018

#ICANN61 GAC, Argentina & Portugal: like Brazil, also see the lack of anything addressing #ICANN’s jurisdiction in California as problematic, so also objected formally to the recommendations of the CCWG-Accountability’s Sub-Group on Jurisdiction.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 11, 2018

New gTLD .AMAZON:

#ICANN61 GAC, Brazil: after discussions at #ICANN60 on .amazon #newgTLD, Amazon sent a revised proposal to the govts concerned about their application. The govts r discussing it, haven’t yet reached conclusion, meet again on 27 March, with report planned by mid-April at latest.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 10, 2018

GAC vs ICANN Board re 2-letter country codes at second level:

#ICANN61 GAC, Brazil: Board’s 2016 decision to allow 2-letter registrations at 2nd level was a major change to previously existing way 2-letter country codes were managed at 2nd level. Board has not responded to procedural or substantive issues that GAC has raised about this.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 10, 2018

#ICANN61 GAC: Portugal, Argentina, China and France support Brazil’s intervention expressing dissatisfaction
with the way the #ICANN Board handled their decision to allow 2-letter registrations in 2nd level domains.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 10, 2018

#ICANN61 GAC, Singapore: supports Brazil’s intervention about the lack of due process regarding Board’s decision on 2-letter codes at 2nd level. Need to address this or similar incident could happen again.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 10, 2018

#ICANN61 GAC, Belgium: the Board’s decision to allow 2-letter registrations at the 2nd level has set a precedent - it set aside an established, agreed, procedure and has reduced trust in ICANN process.

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 10, 2018

See also on Domain Mondo: News Review: ICANN61 March 10-15, San Juan, Puerto Rico (video of Public Forums, Board Meeting, ICANN Org Executive Team, and session on GDPR)

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News Review | ICANN61, ICANN's FY19 Budget, Extortion Racket, Fraud

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-03-11) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) ICANN61, March 10-15, San Juan, Puerto Rico,  2)Other ICANN news a. .WEB & Afilias, b. ICANN's FY19 Budget, Reserve Fund, Extortion Racket & Consumer Fraud, and more, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks, 4) ICYMI Internet Domain News: Censorship, Privacy, 5) Most Read.

UPDATE March 15: ICANN61 San Juan, Puerto Rico: GAC Communique & ICANN61 Tweets

UPDATE from ICANN March 14, 2018:

* ALERT: ADOBE CONNECT SERVICE *

"Yesterday we were notified by a member of the Security and Stability Advisory Committee of what appears to be a potentially serious security issue affecting our use of Adobe Connect. In order to protect the members of the multistakeholder community, and out of an abundance of caution, we have suspended our Adobe Connect services. This means that Adobe Connect services will not be available for the rest of ICANN61. Some remote participation will continue to be available this week including Livestream video [see below], multilingual audio, and live scribe feeds will be available in the main meeting rooms. Other rooms will be limited to listen-only audio streams ... Questions and comments from remote participants will also be accommodated via email as best as possible." (emphasis added)

1)  ICANN61 | San Juan | Community Forum 10-15 Mar 2018 San Juan, Puerto Rico

#ICANN61 | Local Time San Juan 

ICANN61 Meeting & Media Resources:

• ICANN61 meeting schedule 

Highlighted sessions Thursday March 15:

• ICANN GDD: Registry Operator Roundtable  8:30 - 9:45

• Q&A with ICANN Organization Executive Team 9:00 - 10:15 video below

• ICANN GDD: Registrants: Understanding the issues facing them and helping them navigate ICANN’s policies  9:15 - 10:15
• GNSO Council Wrap-Up  10:30 - 12:00

• Joint Meeting: ICANN Board and RSSAC 10:30 - 11:30

• ICANN GDD: Registry & Registrar GDPR Compliance Model 12:30-13:30 video below

• Public Forum 2 13:30 - 16:45 video below

• ICANN Board Meeting 17:00 - 18:00 video below

Q&A with ICANN Organization Executive Team 9:00 - 10:15 am EDT, Thu, Mar 15, 2018 

ICANN GDD: Registry & Registrar GDPR Compliance Model Thursday 12:30-1:30 pm EDT

Public Forum 2  13:30 - 16:45, Thu, Mar 15, 2018 1:30 - 4:45 pm EDT

ICANN Board Meeting  17:00 - 18:00 Thu, Mar 15, 2018 5:00-6:00 pm EDT

Public Forum 1 17:00 - 18:30, Monday, Mar 12, 2018

• Remote Participation info

• ICANN61 GNSO Remote Participation Details Open and Public Meetings

• Pre-ICANN61 Policy Report | ICANN.org 26 February 2018

• GNSO Policy Briefing ICANN61 Edition (pdf)

• Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)--icann.org: Pre-ICANN61 Policy Open House Presentation | 1900 UTC (pdf)

• Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Advice Consideration Process (pdf) [GAC HANDBOOK English_FEB2018].
• Report to the ICANN & UASG (Universal Acceptance Steering Group) Community on Recent Activities (pdf).

• On Twitter: Samantha Dickinson @sgdickinson 

#ICANN61 GAC PSWG lists the many sessions that will discuss ICANN’s compliance with #GDPR this week. It’s a very full dance card, with many GDPR-related sessions by specific communities happening in parallel. pic.twitter.com/56jYeHqTvf

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) March 11, 2018

• ICANN Live Event Stream on Livestream.com

• ICANNnews | YouTube.com

See also on Domain Mondo: 

• News Review | ICANN61 & Puerto Crypto [n/k/a Blockchain Unbound], San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Hearing Update on the Restoration of Puerto Rico’s Electric Infrastructure

And also: 

• FCC proposes nearly $1 billion toward recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands | TheHill.com Mar 6, 2018: "The proposal would allocate $64 million immediately to efforts to restore the existing networks in the territories. The rest of the $954 million would go toward medium- and long-term projects to expand mobile and fixed broadband networks."

2) Other ICANN news

a. New gTLD .WEB: Afilias vs ICANN, Verisign $VRSN & Nu Dot Co? | DomainMondo.com: New gTLD .WEB Applicant (and second-highest bidder) Afilias (domain: afilias.info) Requests Update on ICANN’s Investigation of .WEB Contention Set, and Further, Requests Documents under ICANN’s Documentary Information Disclosure Policy.

b. ICANN's FY19 Budget, Reserve Fund, Extortion Racket & Consumer Fraud--Read the Comments submitted on ICANN Draft FY19 Operating Plan and Budget and Five-Year Operating Plan Update | ICANN.org (Close Date 8 Mar 2018) and ICANN Reserve Fund: Proposed Replenishment Strategy | ICANN.org: (Close Date 25 Apr 2018 23:59 UTC). Editor's note: my comments are here (pdf) and here (pdf), and embedded below.

ICANN FY19 Budget -- ICANN's Extortion Racket & Consumer Fraud:

Editor's note: re ICANN's "extortion racket" .BRAND new gTLDs -- see testimony of Dawn Grove (pdf), Corporate Counsel for Karsten Manufacturing (.PING), September 14, 2016 hearing before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts.

ICANN Reserve Fund:

c. GDPR & WHOIS | ICANN.org updates here and here. See also: Interim Model for Compliance with ICANN Agreements and Policies in Relation to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation–Working Draft for Continued Discussion--ICANN.org: 08 Mar 2018 gdpr-compliance-interim-model-08mar18-en.pdf [922 KB]

d. ICANN Correspondence | ICANN.org:

• 21 February 2018 Letter from Mike Rodenbaugh of Rodenbaugh Law, to ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby [Published 6 March 2018] re: Asia Green IT Systems’ applications to operate the .Islam and .halal new gTLDs.
• Letter from Giacomo Mazzone to Jamie Baxter | ICANN.org: European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Issue: European Broadcasting Union Analysis of .radio CPE Process & FTI Reports--excerpt:

"We find it shocking that the FTI Consulting investigation has ignored these inconsistencies and incoherencies, in spite of ICANN’s responsibility as an organization to adhere to its nondiscriminatory commitments in carrying out CPE and to ensure that all community applicants are treated equally and fairly. We hope that the ICANN Board will achieve enough clarity to set aside the FTI reports when addressing the case of DOT.gay."

• 7 March 2018 Letter from Arif Ali to Kate Wallace[Published 9 March 2018] Dechert LLP counsel for new gTLD .GAY applicant re CPE Review and .MUSIC applicant letter embedded below, replying to Kate Wallace's (lawyer with Jones Day) previous letters [here (pdf) and here (pdf)] sent on behalf of ICANN Board:

e. Internet Root Name Servers: RSSAC FAQ | ICANN.org excerpt: 7. "In 2016 there was a large attack on Dyn. Could the same thing happen to all the root server Anycast instances?" Answer: "Yes, at least in theory. That is one of the reasons that the Root Server System (RSS) has many operators and many root server instances. The large number of Anycast instances increases the capacity of the RSS and certainly helps in attack situations." ....14. "Can DNSSEC protect us from fast flux and super fast flux attacks?" Answer: "No, not really. DNSSEC is designed to protect against data tampering, but not fast-flux attacks."

f. ICANN Complaints Office Semi-Annual Report--ICANN.org: 07 Mar 2018 complaints-office-semi-annual-report-07mar18-en.pdf [317 KB].

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. Move Your Domain Day - Transfer Issues With GoDaddy | Namecheap.com: "... GoDaddy appears to be returning incomplete WHOIS information to Namecheap, delaying the transfer process. This is not the first time something like this has happened. First and foremost this practice is against ICANN rules and regulations. Secondly, we believe it violates “unfair competition” laws."..."

b. Evidence of Decreasing Internet Entropy: The Lack of Redundancy in DNS Resolution by Major Websites and Services | Harvard Business School | hbs.edu: "Stabilizing the domain name resolution (DNS) infrastructure is critical to the operation of the internet. Single points of failure become more consequential as a larger proportion of the internet's biggest sites are managed by a small number of externally hosted DNS providers. Providers could encourage diversification by requiring domain owners to select a secondary DNS provider."

c. What’s In a Name? | Burns & Levinson LLP | JDSupra.com

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

Censorship:

China Presses Its Internet Censorship Efforts Across the Globe | NYTimes.com

What’s Going Down in China is Very Dangerous – Part 1 | washingtonsblog.com

China’s Internet Underground Fights for Its Life | Bloomberg.com: "The government wants to shut down private operators that offer access to Facebook, YouTube, and other services." 

Conservatives to Facebook, Google and Twitter: Stop censoring our posts | tennessean.com 

New Foils for the Right: Google and Facebook | NYTimes.com: journalist Peter Schweizer plans to release a documentary on tech companies' role in filtering the news, casting them as censorious and oppressive. See also: Should Facebook, Google and Twitter Be Public Utilities? | blogspot.com .

Privacy: Your Location Data Is Being Sold—Often Without Your Knowledge | WSJ.com: "Location-based ads are growing, which means the industry has more ways than ever to track you"

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

1, News Review | Privacy & Cyber Sovereignty: US vs. Microsoft (video)

2. $SBUX Starbucks Reserve First Store, Could Expand to 1000 Locations

3. New gTLD .WEB: Afilias vs ICANN, Verisign $VRSN & Nu Dot Co?

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

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