Showing posts with label XYZ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label XYZ. Show all posts

2017-02-09

Verisign $VRSN Q4 2016 Earnings LIVE Webcast Feb 9, 4:30pm ET

$VRSN UP 13.70% Feb 9, 2016 - Feb 8, 2017
 $VRSN UP 13.70% Feb 9, 2016 - Feb 8, 2017
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN | verisign.com), earnings call for the fourth quarter and full year 2016: Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. ET (US): Listen to LIVE webcast.

The call will also be accessible by direct dial at (888) 676-VRSN (U.S.) or (913) 312-0944 (international), conference ID: Verisign. An audio archive of the call will be available at https://investor.verisign.com/events.cfm.

Q4 2016 Results  (pdf)(press release):  Q4 EPS of $0.92 beat estimates by $0.04. Revenue of $286.27 million (+5.0% Y/Y) beat estimates by $3.3 million (investor.verisign.com).

Financial Highlights
  • Verisign ended 2016 with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.8 billion, a decrease of $118 million from year-end 2015.
  • Cash flow from operations was $195 million for the fourth quarter of 2016 and $668 million for the full year 2016 compared with $189 million for the same quarter in 2015 and $651 million for the full year 2015.
  • Deferred revenues on Dec. 31, 2016, totaled $976 million, an increase of $14 million from year-end 2015.
  • During the fourth quarter, Verisign repurchased 2.0 million shares of its common stock for $160 million. During the full year 2016, Verisignrepurchased 7.8 million shares of its common stock for $637 million.
  • Effective Feb. 9, 2017, the Board of Directors approved an additional authorization for share repurchases of approximately $641 million of common stock, which brings the total amount to $1 billion authorized and available under Verisign's share repurchase program, which has no expiration.
  • For purposes of calculating diluted EPS, the fourth quarter diluted share count included 20.6 million shares related to subordinated convertible debentures, compared with 21.4 million shares for the same quarter in 2015. These represent diluted shares and not shares that have been issued.
Business Highlights
  • Verisign ended the fourth quarter with 142.2 million .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base, a 1.7 percent increase from the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, and a net decrease of 1.9 million during the fourth quarter of 2016.
  • In the fourth quarter, Verisign processed 8.8 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, as compared to 12.2 million for the same quarter in 2015.
  • The final .com and .net renewal rate for the third quarter of 2016 was 73.0 percent compared with 71.9 percent for the same quarter in 2015. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.
Notes:
"... as it relates to our becoming the registry operator for .web, on January 18, 2017, the company received a Civil Investigative Demand from the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting certain information related to VeriSign's potential operations of the .web TLD. The CID is not directed at VeriSign's existing registry agreements. As we said at the time of the auction last July, we strongly believe VeriSign is well-positioned to grow and widely distribute .web to provide an additional option to the marketplace, given our proven track record of reliability and stability, and we look forward to explaining our views as we respond to the CID and continue to cooperate with the DOJ."--D. James Bidzos, Verisign President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the Board
Earnings Presentation (pdf):

Verisign is the registry operator of the market dominant .COM generic top-level domain (gTLD) as well as gTLD .NET, and provider of other TLD registry services, internet Root Zone Maintainer pursuant to a contract with ICANN, and operates two (A and J) of the internet's 13 authoritative DNS root zone servers, as well as providing internet security services.

See also:
Also note that Verisign Inc, lost an appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday (Feb 8, 2017), of a case it brought against new gTLD registry operator XYZ.com LLC and its CEO Daniel Negari (see embed below, highlighting added), the Fourth Circuit affirming the District Court's dismissal of Verisign's claims:




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2016-12-11

News Review: ICANN's IANA Transition Costs Now Exceed $31 Million

News Review | ©2016 DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly review of internet domain news:

 Feature •  ICANN has spent over $31 million in IANA transition costs from inception (July 2014) to October, 2016:


Included as "costs" are the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) work, the Cross Community Working Group on Naming Related Stewardship Functions (CWG-Stewardship), the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) Work Stream 1 (WS1) and Work Stream 2 (WS2) still underway, and related implementation work.

Cost categories include cost of staff support, travel and meetings costs, professional services (legal advice), and administrative costs. According to ICANN, costs disclosed are exclusively direct costs and do not include any overhead allocation.

IANA Transition Cost Summary Reports – Inception to October 16, 2016:
Legal Advice Costs below are also included in the Costs Summary above, but deal solely with the three legal firms employed: Jones Day; Sidley & Austin; Adler & Colvin. According to ICANN, when monthly invoices have not yet been received, estimates are requested from the legal firms. If no estimates are received from the legal firms, ICANN Finance produces an estimated monthly total cost, mainly based on historical trend.

Other Internet Domain News:

•  ICYMI: IGF 2016, Internet Governance Forum, concluded its meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, this past week. For more: News Review: IGF 2016, Internet Governance Forum, Guadalajara, Dec. 5-9 and IGF 2016 Video: ICANN New gTLDs Program, Impact & Future Direction.

 •  GDD (ICANN Global Domains Division) Industry Summit Sponsorship Opportunities, Madrid, Spain, May 8-11, 2017 (ICANN.org pdf). Review GDD Industry Summit 2016 here.

•  New gTLDs .XYZ, .CLUB and .VIP have obtained official licenses from the Chinese government, joining legacy gTLDs .COM and .NET, in obtaining approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ("MIIT"), the domain name regulator in China. More at Overseas TLD Registries Licensed by Chinese Government | CircleID.com.

•  Wonder about that recent explosion in new gTLD .KIWI domain name registrations? Read Using digital fear to get more domain name registrations! | OnlineDomain.com and KIWI managing director Angus Richardson replies to fear tactics and inflated numbers accusations | OnlineDomain.com. One commenter wrote:
"After 2 years nobody wants them, provide them free, and hope for a renewal. The demand is not there, the domains are not needed."
•  So what's that domain name really worth? Investor portfolios of .COM domain names, sold in bulk wholesale? Maybe $500 per domain name, read: GoDaddy Likely Buys Traffic Names LTD Domain Portfolio | dotweekly.com.

•  Stock Ticker Symbols Matter: ‘When you pick out the name of your stock, you need to be really careful.’--Xuejing Xing, co-author of the study--"Stocks benefit from the “likability” and even the pronounceability of a ticker symbol ... A study published in the Journal of Financial Markets finds that the “likability” and even the pronounceability of a ticker symbol are positively related to a stock’s value. In other words, if your stock can’t have the symbol IBM or AAPL, at least pick a clever one ... the study says, is that a likable symbol is associated with greater liquidity, since investors also tend to trade stocks with more-likable symbols at a higher rate. Alternatively, the study suggests, a higher value could be the result of mispricing; investors might unconsciously assign a higher value to a symbol that is easier to pronounce .... Other studies have agreed that companies with easy-to-pronounce names have higher value and liquidity ... Mr. Xing says he is at work on a related paper looking at corporate names and their effect on profitability."--WSJ.com. See also Company Domain Names, IPOs, Simple Rules, Stupid Mistakes | DomainMondo.com (7 Oct 2014).

•   Language: China’s tyranny of characters | Economist.com: "... Like Latin, classical written Chinese was a dead language, spoken by no one. A century ago, when language reformers began to introduce a common nationwide spoken tongue of Mandarin, they also abandoned the classical written language and replaced it with one that mirrored the spoken form, thus trying to synchronise their speech and their script. Some revolutionaries, including Mao Zedong, initially wanted to scrap Chinese characters altogether and replace them with an alphabet. They settled instead for a simplification of the characters and a standardisation of how they are pronounced and written in Roman letters, known as pinyin. Yet despite major success in literacy programmes, there are still 400m people in China who do not speak Mandarin, and some 100m who the government says cannot read at all. The actual number is undoubtedly higher ..."

•  How to break the internet: "DNS servers are today’s biggest targets ... when the DNS server is unavailable nothing can work – without the DNS there is no connection, therefore no business – so hackers achieve their ultimate goal of causing downtime for a company.“--TechRadar.com

•  AWS Protection from DDoS attacks: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is trying to help protect its customers with a new service named Shield aimed at mitigating DDoS impacts, and the free entry-level tier is enabled by default for all web applications running on AWS--PCWorld.com.

•   How DNS Works In Six Steps | Verisign.com:
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2016-10-12

New gTLD Registry Service Providers, XYZ, CentralNic $CNIC & ICANN

"... downward pressure on prices due to competition among Registry Service Providers has drained capital from the marketplace that might otherwise be used to fund stable, resilient infrastructures ...  it is equally apparent that the downward spiral of Registry Service Provider pricing will lead to cut corners. The result will be a failure ..."--Kurt Pritz (former ICANN Chief Strategy Officer), Why Registry Service Providers Should be Accredited by ICANN | circleid.com.

 .XYZ Domain Helping To Drive Growth at CentralNic Says CEO:

The chief executive of  domain name registry services provider CentralNic Group PLC (LON:CNIC), Ben Crawford, in the above video tells ProactiveInvestors that the .XYZ* new gTLD (new generic top-level domain) has been a revelation and helped the company to drive up revenues and profits in the first half of 2016. “We have six of the top 25 [new gTLDS]. Number one is .xyz which is very well known because Google used it for Alphabet, the new parent company,” says Crawford. “Mark Zuckerberg’s used it, the founders of Skype are using it for one of their new companies and it’s the most popular [new gTLD] all around the world.” Crawford estimates that CentralNic has about a 34% market share, adding that other domain names such as .art, .am and .fm are also boosting the finances. He also touches on the company’s cash position, explaining that there is “never an issue” with that as all of the company’s divisions are cash-generative. *CentralNic is the "backend" registry services provider for new gTLD .XYZ (registry operator XYZ.COM LLC), and for other new gTLDs.

Video above published Oct 12, 2016, by ProActive Investors Stocktube [stocktube.com]. According to its website, "Stocktube is part of the Proactiveinvestors Group, a leading multi-media news organisation, investor portal and events management business with offices in New York, Sydney, Toronto, Frankfurt and London."

Centralnic Group PLC a/k/a CentralNic
Principal domain: centralnic.com
Stock exchange: symbol | LON: CNIC

Recent 5-year stock chart of Centralnic Group PLC (LON: CNIC) showing shares DOWN -41.81% since Sep 11, 2015. 
Note that $CNIC priced in GBX (pence sterling) on the London Stock Exchange. 43.50 pence sterling = US$0.53.

Also note that one of the larger domain name registrars, Namecheap, has experienced connectivity issues with CentralNic registry: 
"We are currently experiencing connectivity issues with CentralNic registry. As a result, recently registered .US.COM / .DE.COM / .PW / .WEBSITE / .HOST / .PRESS / .SPACE / .SITE / .XYZ / .TECH / .DESIGN / .ONLINE / .COLLEGE / .RENT / .BR.COM, .CN.COM / .EU.COM / .GB.COM / .GB.NET / .UK.COM / .UK.NET / .UY.COM / .HU.COM / .NO.COM / .QC.COM / .RU.COM / .SA.COM / .SE.COM / .SE.NET / .ZA.COM / .JPN.COM / .AE.ORG / .KR.COM / .LA / .AR.COM / .US.ORG / .GR.COM / .COM.DE / .JP.NET / .HU.NET / .WIKI / .IN.NET / .REST / .REIT / .FANS / .INK / .FEEDBACK / .MEX.COM / .CO.COM / .BAR / .COM.SE / .TICKETS / .LOVE / .PROTECTION / .SECURITY / .THEATRE domains may not resolve properly and DNS updates may not propagate as well. The case has been escalated to the Registry. They are aware of the issue and doing their best to resolve this. Kindly allow some time for the issue to get resolved and do not place new .US.COM / .DE.COM / .PW / .WEBSITE / .HOST / .PRESS / .SPACE / .SITE / .XYZ / .TECH / .DESIGN / .ONLINE / .COLLEGE / .RENT / .BR.COM, .CN.COM / .EU.COM / .GB.COM / .GB.NET / .UK.COM / .UK.NET / .UY.COM / .HU.COM / .NO.COM / .QC.COM / .RU.COM / .SA.COM / .SE.COM / .SE.NET / .ZA.COM / .JPN.COM / .AE.ORG / .KR.COM / .LA / .AR.COM / .US.ORG / .GR.COM / .COM.DE / .JP.NET / .HU.NET / .WIKI / .IN.NET / .REST / .REIT / .FANS / .INK / .FEEDBACK / .MEX.COM / .CO.COM / .BAR / .COM.SE / .TICKETS / .LOVE / .PROTECTION / .SECURITY / .THEATRE domain related orders for now. This status post will be updated once we have any news ... UPDATE @ 10:20 EDT | 14:20 UTC [Oct 12, 2016] We are glad to let you know that we received a confirmation from the Registry that the matter is resolved now ..."--Namecheap.com (emphasis added)
Caveat Emptor Domain Name Registrants: ICANN, the global monopoly authorizing new gTLDs, neither captures nor publishes information about registry service providers' failures. Instead, incompetent ICANN sees itself as a "marketing agency" for new gTLD domain names. To heck with consumer protection and the global public interest?

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2016-06-05

News Review: Internet Boom Is Over, New gTLD XYZ Domains $0.01 Each


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

 • For a moment, forget about the spin at ICANN (e.g., read this, then this), about the IANA stewardship transition, the BIG news this week came on two other fronts:

•  Growth rate of internet users worldwide is essentially flat, and smartphone growth is slowing. Those sobering insights were among the hundreds packed into the much-awaited Internet Trends report, an annual tech industry ritual led by Mary Meeker, a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (kpcb.com). Bloomberg's Lizette Chapman and Bloomberg Intelligence's John Butler discuss on "Bloomberg West" with Cory Johnson, in the video below, June 1, 2016:

Mary Meeker, KPCB: "Easy growth is behind us ... newest internet users are coming from less developed and less affluent countries ..." See: 2016 Internet Trends Report, Smartphone Growth Slowing, Video & Slides | DomainMondo.com. Related: Apple's iPhone had only 8.2% share of the China smartphone market in April 2016. In Greater China, Apple’s revenue is down by 26%. Leading Chinese manufacturers' shares were Xiaomi (26%), Huawei Honor (15.7%), Letv (10.5%), and Huawei (8.0%). South Korea's Samsung, which once led the Chinese domestic market, had only 3.2% share. Source: ChinaInternetWatch.com
• The headlines were screaming this week on the domaining blogs about Daniel Negari's new gTLD XYZ and its latest XYZ.COM LLC registry promotion with some registrars, offering .XYZ domain names for as little as $0.01 each (first year registration), which by the end of the week, had reportedly moved .XYZ ahead of .INFO as the fourth-largest generic top-level domain (gTLD) in total domain name registrations. In addition, a promotion of $0.22 per XYZ domain name continues at some registrars. If you have some loose change burning a hole in your pocket, and have a hankering for a XYZ domain name, here's your chance. How many of these millions of XYZ registrations will be renewed or dropped a year from now is unknown. In China, which has the majority (over 56%) of all registrations in the XYZ extension, the largest XYZ registrar West.cn announced a special subsidy for renewals at 18 yuan ($2.74). But some domainers maintain that aggressive promotions end up trashing the brand with many used by spammers and scammers. On the other hand, ICANN Global Domains Division President, Akram Atallah, who apparently just cares about the 'numbers', must be very happy receiving $0.25 for each XYZ domain name registered or renewed! Remember, for ICANN and its new gTLDs program, "it's all about the money."

• Whether these new gTLDs will ever be of practical use inside China is unknown right now: China might be inching closer to granting licenses for new TLDs | DomainNameWire.com: "This might be a sign that the licensing process is moving forward. A lot of people have their fingers crossed." And  "... a ray of hope emerged today in China ... "--allegravita.com. As they say, hope is NOT a strategy but it might bring in enough money for the hucksters to keep the creditors at bay.

• Speaking of new gTLDs and pricing, ICANN dropped a bombshell this week, opening for comment its Proposed Amendments to Base New gTLD Registry Agreement, which according to George Kirikos, would not be in the global public interest, and would be very bad for new gTLD domain name registrants, in particular, and further, calls into question ICANN's fitness as an organization to operate without governmental oversight:

"This proposed change (in both section 2.10(a) and 2.10(b) is perplexing and shocking. It would have the effect of registry fees being kept secret from the public (since agreements between registrars and registries typically contain confidentiality terms). This is unprecedented, and would be anti-competitive, and against ICANN's mission. Indeed, one of the ways ICANN is supposed to measure competitiveness is through things like wholesale pricing, yet now ICANN proposes to keep that valuable information from the public's eyes? Truly unbelievable, and unacceptable. TLDs are a public resource, not the private property of registry operators. They knew of the public notice requirements when they applied for new gTLDs. This is a one-sided change in favour of new gTLD operators, that does nothing for the public, and indeed will have harmful and anti-competitive impacts on consumers. And ICANN now proposes to deprive the public the ability to even measure that level of anti-competiveness, by removing the ability to see the true fees being charged to registrars (and the increase in those fees), which provide the baseline by which consumers ultimately get charged ... It is mind-boggling that ICANN would even propose such a "negotiated" change, when it is supposed to act in the public interest. This change alone provides strong evidence that ICANN has been captured by the "contracted parties" to the detriment of consumers (and registrants in particular) and the public. It violates all of the principles in the Affirmation of Commitments regarding transparency, competition and consumer trust. Given the "revolving door" between ICANN and its contracted parties, it really calls into question ICANN's independence and how hard it "negotiates" when it would think that such a change, making registry fees a secret unavailable to itself [and] the public, would be acceptable to anyone but a few ICANN insiders.

"(b) Section 6.7 (fee reduction waiver). Obviously this is a one-sided change that is unacceptable. New gTLD registries signed a contract. ICANN should not be granting any fee waivers whatsoever, especially ones that are at its discretion and on terms that it "negotiates." ICANN staff (see revolving door comment above) have long shown an inability to properly negotiate agreements in the public interest ....

"Combined, the proposed changes in Section 2.10 and Section 6.7 reinforce the view that the new gTLD experiment has failed, and that ICANN and its contracted parties know it. They are clear attempts to hide that failure from the public. Given that new gTLDs were the biggest decision ICANN has ever made, a decision that they got wrong, they should not be permitted to cover up that failure at this critical juncture, when the US government is assessing whether its oversight should continue in the future. Indeed, these proposed changes demonstrate that ICANN has not learned anything from past mistakes, and that they hope to continue with "business as usual" in a less transparent future where they can cover up mistakes and make new mistakes with impunity." (Emphasis added.) Read more here and here. ICANN has said it plans to hold a webinar in June 2016 (date and time not yet disclosed) on the proposed amendments. Comments close 13 Jul 2016 23:59 UTC.

• Pre-ICANN56 Policy Update Webinar | ICANN.org: The ICANN Policy Development Support Team will provide a Policy Update Webinar on Thursday, 16 June 2016 at 10:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC, in preparation for the upcoming ICANN Policy Forum in Helsinki. The purpose of the webinar is to summarize policy activities across the ICANN policy development community and briefing the community on the Cross-Community sessions taking place in Helsinki. RSVP via this form by 10 June 2016. Remote participation details will be sent the week of 13 June 2016.

• Via @EyeOnICANN: Is the ICANN Board too embarrassed to tell us they paid the former CEO [Fadi Chehade] a performance bonus for his last 4 months? https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2016-05-15-en#3, and ICANN bylaws state the Annual Report shall be delivered no later than 120 days after the close of the fiscal year. Today [June 3, 2016] is 339 days. Nearly a year since close of FY15 [June 30, 2015] for ICANN and still numerous financial reports are missing. https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/fiscal-2015-07-10-en

 UPDATE: ICANN (as of June 6, 2016): "Future reports to be posted for FY2015 (ending June 30, 2015):
  • Annual Report 
  • Federal and State Tax Filings 
  • Board Compensation Report 
  • ccTLD Contributions Report 
  • Financial Analysis: 1) Quarterly Reports (Unaudited); 2)Meetings Analysis"
•  Comments close this coming week at ICANN on Release of Country and Territory Names within the .HYUNDAI, .KIA and .GODADDY TLDs - ICANN: Close Date 9 Jun 2016 23:59 UTC.

•  DotConnectAfrica Trust vs ICANN and ZA Central Registry (ZACR) - Hearing on ZACR's Motion to Reconsider and Vacate Preliminary Injunction re new gTLD .AFRICA - Monday, June 6, 2016, 9:00 AM PDT, Courtroom 850, United States District Court at Los Angeles.

• CWG-Internet: Online Open Consultation (February- September 2016) | ITU.int: "Following the instructions of Council Resolution 1344 (Mod. 2015), the ITU Council Working Group on International Internet-related Public Policy Issues (CWG-Internet) decided on 18 February 2016 to hold an open consultation (online and physical) on the following topic:  ​ Building an enabling environment for access to the Internet - What are the elements of an enabling environment to promote Internet connectivity? What are the elements of an enabling environment to promote an affordable Internet? What are the elements of an enabling environment to promote the quality of access to the Internet? What are the elements of an enabling environment to build confidence and security in the use of the Internet? What is the role of Governments in building an enabling environment? Accordingly, all stakeholders are invited to provide their answers through the link provided [here] ..."

•  Internet Fragmentation via Taxation? India's `Google Tax' May Backfire | Bloomberg.com: "... Starting June 1, Indian advertisers must withhold the levy from the money they pay websites that aren't taxable entities in India, and hand it over to the government ... India's homespun solution to the problem of taxing cross-border online advertising risks clashing with a new OECD framework on base erosion and profit shifting, which urged countries to avoid working at cross purposes. To avoid artificially inflating the cost of doing business online, New Delhi should either press the OECD to accept the equalization levy as a global standard, or re-introduce the measure as a tax ..."

 •  Five most popular posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this week on DomainMondo.com:
• Other Reading Recommendations:
  1. Minimal Competition vs. Excessive Competition: How Miami's Condo Glut Differs From ICANN's New gTLDs Glut: Miami’s Condo Frenzy Ends With Inventory Piling Up in New Towers | Bloomberg.com: "“There’s always a glitzy selling process that happens, and they [buyers] believe it,” he said. “They don’t think about the economy -- they think about the building and how wonderful it will be.” Manageable Inventory --While some new towers have a large number of condos being flipped by their owners, an inventory glut will be mitigated by minimal competition from developers, who have a majority of their units under contract, data from Miami’s Downtown Development Authority show."
  2. When 'Expertise' Is Of Little Value: The Seersucker Theory | blogs.cfainstitute.org: "I have come up with what I call the seersucker theory: No matter how much evidence exists that seers do not exist, suckers will pay for the existence of seers. One would expect experts to have reliable information for predicting change and to be able to utilize the information effectively. However, expertise beyond a minimal level is of little value in forecasting change. This conclusion is both surprising and useful, and its implication is clear: Don’t hire the best expert, hire the cheapest expert.”"
  3. Dinosaur Watch: Microsoft sells patents to Xiaomi, builds 'long-term partnership' | Reuters.com. 
  4. Easy Come, Easy Go: From $4.5 Billion To Nothing: Forbes Revises Estimated Net Worth Of Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes | Forbes.com. See also: Who Gets Venture Capital Funding? | Bloomberg.com: "... more founders of companies on our list dropped out of school than graduated from top universities ..." and: No Venture Capital Needed, or Wanted | NYTimes.com. 
  5. The Structure of Collapse: 2016-2019 | charleshughsmith.blogspot.com: "... 2. Emergency measures [e.g., low (or even negative) interest rates] become permanent policies ... 6. Strapped for cash ... the state borrows more money and devalues its currency as a means of maintaining the illusion that it can fulfill all its promises..."
  6. DoubleLine’s Gundlach Says Chanos Is Greatest Hedge Fund Manager | Bloomberg.com: "''The greatest hedge fund manager in the world is Jim Chanos,' says Jeff Gundlach, chief executive officer of DoubleLine Capital ... 'Jim Chanos is a permanent bear. He’s dour, he’s curmudgeonly, he’s bearish as hell all the time.'"  And Chanos might be right about Alibaba: More Alarm Bells | SeekingAlpha.com: Is it $BABA or SoftBank or China or the SEC investigation? See also: DoubleLine's Gundlach calls May employment report 'real body blow' | Reuters.com.
  7. Pentagon: Special Ops Killing of Pregnant Afghan Women Was “Appropriate” Use of Force | theintercept.com: ".... The internal investigation ordered by Gen. McChrystal into the Gardez raid is an incomplete accounting of this horrifying incident. It is also based on the word of the force that carried out the killings, whose personnel could have faced serious charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice if investigators had taken seriously the survivors’ allegations."--Jeremy Scahill
  8. Amid a Growing Movement to Close Rikers, One Prisoner Approaches Six Years Without Trial | theintercept.com:  Alice Speri reports from New York City’s Rikers Island, where more than 300 prisoners have been detained without trial for more than two years."“When the National Institute of Corrections came to Rikers, they told them, ‘When are you going to get with the rest of the country?’” Greene recalled. “You guys are 50 years behind.”"
  9. Jeff Bezos on Peter Thiel Gawker revenge | BusinessInsider.com: "I would say that as a public figure, the best defense to speech that you don't like about yourself as a public figure is to develop a thick skin because you can’t stop criticism. You are going to get it. If you're doing anything interesting in the world, you are going to have critics. You can't stop it. Move forward. It's not worth losing any sleep over. This country has the best free-speech laws in the world, you don't want to erode those. You don't want to create fear or chill."
Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo

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2016-05-08

News Review: ICANN, IANA, AFRICA, WSIS, XYZ, Chinese Speculators

DomainMondoShiningLight ©2013domainmondo.com All Rights Reserved
Domain Mondo's review of the past week and look ahead [pdf here]:

 • At ICANN not much happened this week as all the head honchos were partying in Geneva, Switzerland, at WSIS Forum 2016 (see further below). Comments close this week on two issues:
•  In the IANA stewardship transition, there have been no new developments reported by ICANN or its "Community." The new ICANN bylaws posted for comment are the subject of considerable discussion on the various email lists of various stakeholder groups, CCWG-Accountability, CWG-Stewardship (Names), and ICG (IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group). One very important constituent body, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), has already filed its formal comment to the proposed bylaws:
".... It is the IAB's firm belief that given the time remaining to successfully conclude the transition process in 2016, the only option is for the implementation process to remain faithful to the ICG and CCWG-Accountability proposals. We reiterate our recommendation that sections 1.1(d)(ii)(B)-(E) be deleted from the final Bylaws, and that section 1.1(d)(ii)(F) be amended such that it applies only to renewals of agreements described in section 1.1(d)(ii)(A)."
From early indications, other constituent groups within ICANN may be filing comments as well. Note that anyone may file a comment. Comments close 21 May 2016 23:59 UTC. See also: ICANN Posts Draft of New Bylaws For Public Comment Until May 21 | DomainMondo.com.

•  Speaking of bylaws, ICANN is presenting an "ICANN's Bylaws Amendment Process Webinar" on 9 May 2016 at 23:00 UTC for 60 minutes. Details here (pdf).

•  In DotConnectAfrica [DCA] Trust vs ICANN and ZACR, ICANN has withdrawn its Motion to Dismiss (pdf) "in view of the Court's order on DCA's Motion for Preliminary Injuction" (which DCA won), and Defendant ZACR has now filed its own Motion to Dismiss (pdf) set for hearing on May 31, 2016, at 9:00 am in the U.S. District Court at Los Angeles. See also: News Review: dotAFRICA, Public Interest, Judge Holds ICANN Accountable | DomainMondo.com.

• WSIS Forum 2016 concluded Friday in Geneva, Switzerland. To view the archived videos visit this link: https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2016/Media/RP/Webcast/Archived/. If you ever try to remotely participate or observe any UN or UN agency "forum" like WSIS or other ITU events, you will likely find the official website is awkward to navigate and very difficult to find the sessions you are interested in viewing. WSIS Forum 2016 was no exception. Example: good luck trying to find the link above to the archived videos anywhere on the official WSIS website. The good news is that you missed nothing, nothing of substance happened at WSIS 2016. If still interested, you can find good summary reports of each session here: WSIS Forum 2016 | DigitalWatch.

•  Such a Deal! Namecheap.com is offering .XYZ domain names for only 44 cents through May 17, 2016. I once owned (as registrant) a .XYZ domain name. It was the only new gTLD domain name I have ever had in my portfolio. Network Solutions gave it to me for free (I didn't even ask for it, it was just added to my account). It was an exact match of a .COM domain name I then had at Network Solutions. I actually built a website on the .XYZ domain name as an 'experiment.' A year later (June, 2015), Network Solutions wanted almost $40 to renew the registration for 1 year. I called them up. At that point, everyone I talked to at Network Solutions had 'soured' on .XYZ, and wouldn't budge on the renewal fee. I actually would have renewed it had they been reasonable. I then contacted my two preferred reputable Domain Name Registars to see if I could transfer in the .XYZ domain name. One was neither offering .XYZ registrations nor accepting .XYZ transfers at that time. The other offered .XYZ registrations but was not accepting .XYZ transfers. I dropped the .XYZ domain name and have never looked back. My personal portfolio plan is to eventually eliminate everything but .COM domain names from the portfolio. Stick with the gold standard, it makes things so much easier.

• Speaking of domain names, it's no secret that Chinese speculators, Chinese cybersquatters (trademark infringers), and Chinese cybercriminals, have registered over 50% of all new gTLD domain names to date (note: more intelligent and wealthier Chinese have invested heavily in .COM domain names). So what does the future hold for all those Chinese new gTLD domain name registrations? One new gTLD domain industry insider says:
"As the number of new domains added to the pool keeps growing faster than the number of real people looking to create a website, it is only a matter of time before reality catches up with the Chinese investors and the bubble bursts."--Francesco Cetraro, Head of Registry Operations for .CLOUD, writing in DomainNameWire.com May 6, 2016.
•  Missed noting this last week--Wall Street Journal readers are still upset with ICANN Chairman Steve Crocker's op-ed: WSJ Letters to the Editor: Why Change an Internet Regime That Works? - WSJ: "The only “risk” Mr. Crocker cites from “maintaining the status quo” is that other governments “may try to move control to organizations like the United Nations.” Don’t they already? ... Nowhere does Mr. Crocker explain how ceding U.S. stewardship 'will allow online innovation and productivity to continue to thrive'—nowhere!"

•  This week in tech: 
  • Unicorn bubble bursts? Venture capitalist, Bill Gurley, in a 5,500-word essay on his blog, AboveTheCrowd.com, writes:“All Unicorn participants—founders, company employees, venture investors and their limited partners (LPs)—are seeing their fortunes put at risk from the very nature of the Unicorn phenomenon itself ...” What went wrong? Gurley identifies the following: 1. Emotional biases; 2. “Dirty deals;” 3. Inscrutable financials; and last, but not least, 4. Too much money - “The reason we are all in this mess is because of the excessive amounts of capital that have poured into the VC-backed startup market. More money will not solve any of these problems—it will only contribute to them.”
  • Don't Cry for Marissa--Yahoo's Marissa Mayer gets $55M to leave | CNBC.com: "The CEO of the embattled online news site, currently trying to sell itself, is entitled to severance benefits valued at $54.9 million in case she is terminated without cause"--not bad considering the stock lost a third of its value in 2015. See also Yahoo's $8 Billion Black Hole | Bloomberg.com: "Mayer’s struggles at Yahoo also underscore that in the Valley there are winners and smoking craters—but very few middle-of-the-road successes. Venture capitalists generally discourage their startups from becoming modestly profitable enterprises; they fund them until they blow up—one way or the other. The result of this system is a labor market that’s extremely fluid. As soon as a company’s growth slows, the best and brightest start looking for the exits."

•  Earnings Season ends this week on Domain Mondo's Earnings Calendar with Rightside $NAME reporting Tuesday, May 10, after market close. Thereafter, an upcoming post on Domain Mondo will include a scorecard on the Q1 2016 earnings season.

•  Five most popular posts this past week on DomainMondo.com (# of pageviews Sun-Sat):
• Other Reading Recommendations (some with a tease of content or my commentary):
  1. #Clueless in DC & NYC--The NYTimes.com mea culpa--The Republican Horse Race Is Over, and Journalism [Media, Establishment, Elitists from Wall Street to DC] Lost | NYTimes.com: "Wrong, wrong, wrong — to the very end, we got it wrong [about Trump]." And to add insult to injury, "more recently — as in Tuesday — the data journalist Nate Silver, who founded the FiveThirtyEight.com website, gave Hillary Clinton a 90 percent chance of beating Bernie Sanders in Indiana. Mr. Sanders won by a comfortable margin of about five percentage points ... Every election cycle brings questionable news coverage ... But this season has been truly spectacular in its failings ..." Domain Mondo's advice? Get out of your bubble--it's nothing but an echo chamber--and start really listening. See also Why the media will lift Trump up and tear Clinton down | Vox.com. Also note that at the Sohn Conference this past week, Jeff Gundlach, 'King' of the bond market, said "Trump's going to win in November." Gundlach also said a Trump administration would likely include more government spending [fiscal stimulus], which is exactly what most economists and financiers say is needed to get us out of our current slow-growth economy.
  2. Is the Art Market a Leading Indicator? Bloomberg.com: "...“It’s a contraction in every sense,” said Todd Levin, director of Levin Art Group, who advises collectors. “There’s a wait and see approach. No one wants to catch a falling knife.”... Global art sales fell 7 percent last year to $63.8 billion, led by a slowdown in Asia ... The auction houses are competing for consignments amid falling oil prices, underperforming hedge funds and greater scrutiny of the art market. Governments in China, Europe and the U.S. are looking into the ways major art collections are used to hide ill-gotten wealth and avoid taxes. “The art market follows the 1 percent,” said James Chanos, an art collector and founder of Kynikos Associates LP. “Whether it’s the 1 percent in Brazil, Russia, China or America. Let’s face it: It hasn’t been a good year for the 1 percent.”..."
  3. Warranties and Representations on Purchasing Domain Names: What are they Worth? | CircleID.com: "There is no algorithm to check the USPTO database for corresponding trademarks. Is this the kind of adequate search called for by mVisible Technologies or does it fall short, and falling short is evidence of bad faith registration and bad faith use?"
  4. Go long INTC? Intel Made A Tactical Retreat On Smartphones | SeekingAlpha.com: "Next-generation phones can work with laptop shells and standalone monitors. Intel's x86 processor IP is the only chip versatile enough to run any operating system ... ARM-based Android handsets that run Remix OS could become the next standard for productivity-focused phones ... SoFIA/Broxton were bad bets that needed to be folded. By doing so, Intel gets to use more money in defending its 90%-plus share in x86 server chips..." but also read Intel Starts To Face Reality | SeekingAlpha.com and Moore’s Law Running Out of Room, Tech Looks for a Successor | NYTimes.com.
  5. Google Winning the Old Fashioned Way: Inside Google's push to shape the rules of the driverless road | reuters.com: "Google has built a leading position - thanks not just to its tech expertise, but also its persistent lobbying."
  6. If Current Chatter About iPhone 7 Is True, Apple Shareholders Could Be In For A Lot More Pain | Forbes.com See also Apple’s Losing Streak Is Nearing Historic Levels - Bloomberg.com: "So far in 2016, Apple Inc. is the dog of the Dow." and Apple's Software Culture Is Hurting Its Future | SeekingAlpha.com: "Apple should make larger, more daring acquisitions here, e.g. Slack. Ideally, they should be device-independent, i.e., web-based services that can be used both from Apple devices, integrating into the ecosystem, as well as from non-device owners ..." and Why Apple Won't Give Us Real Numbers | SeekingAlpha.com: "Apple Pay introduced friction to a consumer who didn't have any problems paying for things in a store ..." More reason to worry if you are an $AAPL fan--see How Android gets to 100% market share | TechCrunch.com.
  7. China Freedom of the Press 2016 | freedomhouse.org See also Online censorship: A new flank in the US-China trade wars? | lowyinterpreter.org and WhatsApp, Used by 100 Million Brazilians, Was Shut Down Nationwide [Brazil] Today by a Single Judge | TheIntercept.com
  8. Less is More: Investors Join Buffett Slamming Hedge Fund Fees ... | Bloombeg.com: "Chris Ailman, chief investment officer for the $187 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System, told Bloomberg Television that the two-and-twenty fee model is "broken" and “off the table” ...“Reducing your fees is your best return on capital ... So we focus very much on costs in every single asset class" ... Warren Buffett said that investors would be better off backing U.S. businesses through low-cost funds and ditching expensive money managers. Consultants steer investors to these managers who together have underperformed what you could get “sitting on your rear end” in index funds, he said on Saturday at the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. annual meeting." See also Hedge Fund Managers Lose Their Swagger | Bloomberg.com and Fund Fees Predict Future Success or Failure | Morningstar.com.
  9. ICANN vs. the Federal Reserve | CircleID.com: "What's really going on here, is the powers that be are about to grant a perpetual franchise of control over who is who, and what is what, on the Internet. It's similar to the transfer of authority over the money supply by the U.S. Congress to the Federal Reserve. Except in ICANN's case, once the transfer is done, there will be no way to undo it." 
  10. Amen Brother!: “We’re saying what we actually think, not what we think people want to hear”--blogs.cfainstitute.org quoting Josh Brown, TheReformedBroker.com, a financial blog.
Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo



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2016-03-18

WIPO: Domain Cybersquatting Cases Up in 2015, Driven by New gTLDs


Cybersquatting and Internet Domain Names in 2015: WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and Director of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center Erik Wilbers discuss WIPO domain name dispute resolution cases in 2015. Published by WIPO on Mar 17, 2016


Trends in Cybersquatting and Internet Domain Names in 2015: WIPO Director General Francis Gurry shares his key takeaways from WIPO domain name dispute resolution cases in 2015. Published on Mar 17, 2016

WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) issued a press release today, stating that amid ICANN's roll-out of hundreds of new generic Top-Level Domains (new gTLDs) such as .GURU, .NINJA and .NYC, trademark owners filed 2,754 cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) with WIPO in 2015, an increase of 4.6 % over the previous year. According to WIPO, cybersquatting disputes relating to new gTLDs accounted for 10.5% of WIPO’s UDRP caseload in 2015, which covered a total of 4,364 domain names, and "among these names, .XYZ, .CLUB and .EMAIL were the most common new gTLDs." Since new gTLDs comprised only about 3% of all domain names registered globally at the end of 2015, the amount of cybersquatting cases in new gTLDs is more than triple that percentage, based on the WIPO report. WIPO also noted:
"The increase in new gTLD registrations in WIPO’s caseload is anticipated to continue, in particular as new gTLDs contested at Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) auction, such as “.SHOP”, are yet to launch.  Meanwhile, calls are being made for a next round of new gTLDs, particularly by brand owners, such as Twitter.  At the same time, ICANN has commenced a process to review Rights Protection Mechanisms such as the URS (Uniform Rapid Suspension system) and the UDRP.  As the UDRP initiator and leading administrator, WIPO takes a strong interest in these ICANN processes."
Annexes to the release:
WIPO infographic:


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2016-01-12

China, ICANN, Domain Names, Lies, Facts, Hype, Truth (video)

3 TRUE or FALSE Questions:

1. Is China's .CN the world's largest ccTLD (country code top-level domain) bypassing Germany's .DE, as recently claimed by the government of China and its official press agency?

2. Is it really true that new gTLD .XYZ "is now the 6th most registered Top Level Domain name" as recently claimed by one domaining blogger?

3. Is it true that ICANN adding hundreds of unwanted, unneeded new gTLDs to the global DNS actually reduces cybersquatting as claimed by ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade?

The answers:
1. FALSE -- see Domain Tools: .CN is the 4th largest ccTLD in the world (after .TK, .DE, .UK)
2. FALSE -- see Domain Tools:  .XYZ is the 22nd most registered "Top Level Domain name."
3. FALSE -- see ....There Is A Lot Of Cybersquatting Going On In The New gTLDs ...

Conclusion? There is a lot of lying or "hype" going on when it comes to domain names--in the domain name industry, at ICANN, and elsewhere. That is one reason (of many) why the editor of Domain Mondo recently urged ICANN (pdf) to stop being in denial and start publishing daily accurate statistics so stakeholders and the general public can make informed decisions about domain names and what is going on in the global domain name marketplace. Apparently ICANN didn't like the comment of Domain Mondo since it unilaterally decided to extend the comment period from January 8th to January 22nd. That's typical ICANN dysfunction--when ICANN gets answers it doesn't like, it moves the goal posts. ICANN needs to stop serving just the "new gTLD domain name industry" and start serving the "global public interest."

Here's something else that may be another embarrassment to ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade and his pandering to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government of China--



Missing Booksellers Mystery Rattles Hong Kong, China Involved? (video above)| Financial Times - FT World - "The widely held suspicion is that the five publishers have been taken to China by security forces. The FT's Ben Bland says the lack of clarity about what happened is stoking fears about increased interference in Hong Kong affairs." (FT.com, 10 Jan 2016)





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2015-12-11

XYZ's Gateway, Supplementary Registration Proxy Service for its gTLDs

Effective 10 Dec 2015 23:59 UTC, the proposed launch of supplementary registration proxy service for gTLDs operated by XYZ.COM LLC is OPEN for Public Comment until 19 Jan 2016 23:59 UTC:

From the ICANN website:

 "Purpose: This public comment period is to gather community input on the proposed amendments to .XYZ, .COLLEGE, .RENT, .THEATRE, .PROTECTION, and .SECURITY Registry Agreements to allow XYZ.COM LLC, the Registry Operator of these six TLDs, to offer a new registry service, which is a proxy service that will provide secondary gateway access toSRS/EPP, RDDS (via Whois – port 43 –, web-based Directory Service, RDAP, or any combination of the three), or both for the purposes of operating these TLDs in local domain name markets.

"These Registry Agreement amendments are intended to implement the proposed new registry service for XYZ, .COLLEGE, .RENT, .THEATRE, .PROTECTION, and .SECURITY TLDs, which was submitted and evaluated through the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) process.

"Current Status: As required by the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP), ICANN has undertaken a preliminary determination on whether this RSEP proposal might raise significant competition, security or stability issues. ICANN's preliminary review (based on the information provided) did not identify any such issues.

"ICANN is seeking public comments on the proposed Registry Agreement amendments that will allow XYZ.COM LLC to implement a Supplementary Registration Proxy service for .XYZ, .COLLEGE, .RENT, .THEATRE, .PROTECTION, and .SECURITY TLDs."

 According to ICANN, "XYZ.COM LLC submitted an RSEP request to offer a similar service initially on 26 August 2015 and then on 9 October 2015, respectively, however the Registry Operator withdrew these requests to clarify the description of the service."


See also:
RSEP Webpage: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/rsep-2014-02-19-en
RSEP Policy: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/registries/rsep/policy-en
XYZ.COM LLC RSEP Request: https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/rsep-2014159-xyz-et-al-request-02dec15-en.pdf [PDF, 23 KB]

Although not mentioned by ICANN in its public comment notice, the purpose of the proposed service is to meet requirements of Chinese law, for domain name registrants, registrars, and the registry operator (XYZ) in China:
"4. Chinese Gateway. Subject to all of the terms of this Agreement, Registry Operator may offer to Chinese registrars an EPP gateway to be used by ICANN-accredited registrars located in China so that Registry Operator and the Chinese registrars may comply with applicable local Chinese laws." Source (pdf)

 

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2015-10-31

Global Domain News Digest for Week Ending October 30, 2015

Global Domain News Digest: a selection of domain name news from around the world for the week ending October 30, 2015:

Facebook [facebook.com] reveals why it's forcing workers to swap iPhones for Android | ZDNet:  "... The move, according to Wired, is an entirely pragmatic decision that stems from the company's ambitions to grow its user base of 1.5 billion people. While smartphone penetration in the US and Europe has reached saturation point, handset adoption is accelerating in places like India, where users prefer low-cost Android devices..."

London, England, UK:
Roll Up Your Sleeves at a Finance Magnates London Summit Workshop | Finance Magnates: "In today’s technology driven world, one’s domain name is an increasingly significant factor in the success of their business. Sedo is a domain marketplace, one of the largest in the world. Solomon Amoako, an executive of this company [Sedo] that has over $6 million of transaction volume a month, will run the workshop called ‘Choosing A High-Impact Domain – Key to Success’. He will discuss just how important domains are, and how to find one that is appropriate for your business."

New Zealand:
Matt Huisman: How to have your own domain name with emails and a blog for $13 a year! "... Our DNS will be provided by CloudFlare. Our emails will be routed using MailGun to a free Gmail account; Our blog will be provided by Blogger..."

India:
GoDaddy launches web program for small businesses - Firstpost: "...“The launch of the program allows the company to build an ecosystem of web developers and designers to serve the needs of the SMB market in India,” said Rajiv Sodhi, vice president and managing director at GoDaddy India and Australia."

USA:
Chief Counsel Advice Discusses Acquired Domain Names - Forbes: "A recently released Chief Counsel Advice memorandum (“CCA”) discusses the tax consequences of acquired internet domain names from the secondary market. The CCA references “non-generic domain names” and “generic domain names.” ..."

IT Business Edge -The Web's Shadiest Neighborhoods: What You Need to Know: (slides) "... To avoid getting slimed, businesses and consumers need guidance to understand how safe, or how shady, these new TLDs may be considered for web security purposes..."

XYZ wins Verisign false-advertising lawsuit - L.A. Biz: "... XYZ claims legal bills in the seven-figure range and disclosed that Negari is short-selling Verisign stock in a bid to pay down some of those expenses."

Verisign Rating Increased to Buy at Zacks (VRSN): "Verisign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was upgraded by Zacks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $91.00 target price on the stock. Zacks‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.48% from the company’s current price..."

Caveat Emptor! 

Enjoy Your Weekend!




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