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| $AMZN |
Editor's note: the markets appear to be "spooked." U.S. consumer sentiment remains at record favorable highs:
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| source: University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey. |
"Consumer confidence remained in December at the same record favorable levels as it has throughout the year. The Sentiment Index averaged 98.4 in 2018, the best year since 107.6 in 2000 ... Over the past half century, sentiment was higher in only two other time periods: 1964-65 and 1997-2000. These periods correspond to the two longest prior expansions since the mid 1800's. If the current expansion lasts past mid-2019, as is likely based on current data, it will become the longest expansion ever recorded."--University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey.
"If you look at consumer adoption curves of major new technologies in the U.S. over the past 100 years, you'll see interesting patterns in both growth and behavior change. Some took longer, some came faster (especially lately, as we reach new heights of software eating the world) -- but one thing is for sure: Technology changes, but people stay the same.
"Even if in some cases new technology requires people to learn new behaviors, the underlying motivations behind those behaviors are the same... not just across people and places, but across history and time. So what does this mean for the next wave of consumer startups?
"As new tech platforms -- such as video, mapping APIs, mobile AR, and more -- hit scale, a the next big wave of consumer products and startups are coming into the ecosystem. But finding and nurturing these startups requires a special combination of understanding the fundamental platform shift; underlying consumer motivations/needs; and key growth insights that enable them to breakout from the fray. Whether they're old "growth hacks" reinvented for the modern era -- from reviews to coupons to chain letters to viral sharing -- or new behaviors only now possible in an offline-to-online world (note the inversion!), such as visible offline experiences that drive further growth online -- the more things change, the more they stay the same."Auto-generated transcript:
👇Thread.— Andrew Chen (@andrewchen) November 1, 2018
Published a new essay: The red flags and magic numbers that investors look for in your startup’s metrics – 80 slide deck included! pic.twitter.com/w6HRD4o22f
An international team of almost 200 psychologists has been trying to repeat a set of previously published experiments from its field, to see if it can get the same results. Despite its best efforts, the project has only succeeded in 14 out of 28 cases. https://t.co/TZuHJYt2Af— Andrew Chen (@andrewchen) December 2, 2018
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| ICANN CEO Goran Marby at ICANN63 Public Forum I on Oct 22. |
"... [EPDP] working group was due to make its interim recommendations by an ICANN meeting [ICANN63] in Barcelona in October, but the meeting approaches, there is no sign of consensus ... The current temporary policy was only possible because the ICANN board imposed it, in an unprecedented break from tradition. So, what will happen next? As is often the case with ICANN, the organization and its multi-stakeholder process is facing an existential crisis. Unable to solve this thorny policy issue for 20 years, ICANN’s latest group is unlikely to find consensus in the following days. ICANN has lost in the German courts and the European Data Protection Board (pdf) views with skepticism ICANN's claims that the interest of 'third parties' can justify continued collection and publication of WHOIS data ..."--Emily Taylor (EPDP RrSG member), ChathamHouse.org (emphasis added)."... ICANN has consistently asserted that it is not a government regulator and it is readily apparent that it cannot be relied upon to fill that role. To the extent that ICANN has historically involved itself in pricing, it has been to increase pricing for the mutual benefit of itself and Verisign, at the expense of the American consumer [domain name registrants] ..."-- 18 Oct 2018 Letter (pdf) from Internet Commerce Association (ICA) to David Redl, NTIA, US Dept of Commerce re: Expiry of NTIA-Verisign Cooperative Agreement Nov 30, 2018 (pdf) (emphasis added).
Civil society groups blast ICANN Org’s push for a “Unified Access Model”--internetgovernance.org Oct 19, 2018: "... some participants in the [EPDP] group are becoming uneasy about ICANN CEO Goran Marby’s relentless promotion of a “Unified Access Model” [UAM]. They fear that the CEO’s “discussion papers” and calls for public comment are turning into a parallel policy development process that will pre-empt or circumvent the decisions made by the EPDP and other normal ICANN processes. Yesterday the Noncommercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG) published a blistering set of comments (pdf) on Marby’s UAM ..."Editor's note: for further background read last week's News Review | Fadi, Akram & Donuts, ICANN Conflicts of Interest and "ICANN: incompetent, corrupt, unfit."
"... as members of the ICANN community are not presently aware that this situation exists, and as a 15-minute session cannot be expected to lay out the facts in a completely clear and comprehensive fashion, we wonder what follow-up explanation will be provided to the community as well as interested media if follow-up questions are subsequently raised. We look forward to Sunday’s discussion so that the Council and community can start to learn as much as possible from this situation and take responsive steps ..."
"URS levels of support for public comments ... I don't think the staff categorizations have worked. If the ultimate point is to get feedback on potential fixes that have been raised, and we don't want to spend a lot more time on this, then I would say we may need to pass on the proposals as non-consensus proposals for community feedback. As Greg Shatan [IPC] did, I supported proposals for comment that I am presently unlikely to support for adoption; based on other comments, I suspect many of us did so--which means that any staff-prepared summary of objections received is also going to be unrepresentative of the full range of arguments against a particular proposal unless we spend a lot more time on it. One specific thing: the charter asks if the URS is fit for purpose. If you agree that the charge allows the answer "no," then one recommendation for a fix is "make it the UDRP," if you think the game isn't worth the candle. That proposal is thus clearly within scope."
At the crossroads: China, Europe & the US offer different 'internet freedom' models | TheDrum.com: "Europe, the crucible for democracy and capitalism, seems more aware than the US and China of the need to set the boundaries for how institutions and businesses can use the data of its citizens. With GDPR, there is an explicit recognition that power needs to be given back to the citizen to offer checks and balances against a non-transparent world of internet disruption that has recently shown the limitations of self-regulation."
“Consumers deserve clear answers and standards on data privacy protection. This hearing will provide leading technology companies and internet service providers an opportunity to explain their approaches to privacy, how they plan to address new requirements from the European Union and California, and what Congress can do to promote clear privacy expectations without hurting innovation”--Senator Thune.Witnesses:
EFF.org: "The Senate Commerce Committee is getting ready to host a much-anticipated hearing on consumer privacy—and consumer privacy groups don’t get a seat at the table. Instead, the Committee is seeking only the testimony of big tech and Internet access corporations: Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Charter Communications, Google, and Twitter. Some of these companies have spent heavily to oppose consumer privacy legislation and have never supported consumer privacy laws. They know policymakers are considering new privacy protections, and are likely to view this hearing as a chance to encourage Congress to adopt the weakest privacy protections possible—and eviscerate stronger state protections at the same time. It is no coincidence that, in the past week, two leading industry groups (the Chamber of Commerceand the Internet Association) have called for federal preemption of state data privacy laws in exchange for weaker federal protections. For example, laws in California and Illinois require companies to have user consent to certain uses of their personal information (Nevada and Minnesota have these requirements for Internet access providers), while the industry proposals would only require transparency. That means that companies would be allowed to collect information without your permission as long as they tell you they’re doing it. The upcoming hearing at the Senate Commerce Committee may be the launch pad for this strategy of undoing stronger state laws ..."See also:
"The goal of data brokers, such as Experian (domain: experian.com) or Acxiom (domain: acxiom.com), is to siphon up as much personal data as possible and apply it to profiles. This data comes from a wide variety of sources. Your purchases, financial history, internet activity, and even psychographic attributes are mixed with information from public records to create a robust dossier. Digital profiles are then sorted into one of thousands of categories to help optimize advertising efforts ... companies are increasingly moving beyond advertising to extract value from their growing data pipeline. Amalgamated data is increasingly being viewed as a clever way to assess risk in the decision-making process (e.g. hiring, insurance, loan or housing applications), and the stakes for consumers are going up in the process ... In 2015, Facebook filed a patent for a service that would help insurance companies vet people based on the credit ratings of their social network."Selected tweets: Acxiom, GDPR, data, privacy, consumer, Facebook, Google, AppNexus, advertising online:
GDPR is being rolled out in one month from now—be sure your company and clients have established ethical data practices. https://t.co/AAvbw0gbQ6— Acxiom (@Acxiom) April 25, 2018
GDPR is a continuous process, not just a “one and done” fix. Do you know about the changes that will come with GDPR in May?https://t.co/7MPqB0dtlE— Acxiom (@Acxiom) April 17, 2018
GDPR is only two months away—learn the truth behind the legislation's most common misconceptions. https://t.co/rpzceH5spf— Acxiom (@Acxiom) April 13, 2018
#Acxiom CEO Scott Howe: Five key principles for data accountability and governance our nation’s policy makers should consider. https://t.co/2ccHDm0ows— Acxiom (@Acxiom) April 23, 2018
The big money of online advertising https://t.co/VVIioudNJM— Mornings with Maria (@MorningsMaria) April 26, 2018
source: Statista.com 
source: Statista.com
source: Statista.com
source: Statista.com
