News Review: ICANN63 Meeting Oct 20-25, ICANN's Tipping Point?

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-10-21 with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) ICANN63 Meeting, Barcelona, Spain, 20-25 Oct 2018,  2) Other ICANN news, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks, 4) ICYMI Internet Domain News: GDPR & Internet Freedom, 5) Most Read.

ICANN63 UPDATES

EPDP Team Meeting Thursday 25 Oct 2018 8:30 - 10:15 CEST agenda:

1. Data redaction (pdf)
2. Review updated timeline (pdf) to produce Initial Report 
3. Review Working methods going forward
4. Outstanding action items / charter questions

Public Forum 2 Thursday, Oct 25 13:30 - 16:45 CEST (starts 7:30am EDT)

EPDP Team Meeting Wednesday 24 October 2018 17.00 – 18.30 CEST agenda:
1. Small team #1 output – Review proposed responses to charter questions and preliminary recommendations (15 min)--see small team outputs #1, #2, #3 (pdf)
2. Small team #2 output – Review proposed responses to charter questions (15 min)
3. Small team #3 output – Review proposed preliminary recommendations (15 min)
4. Review updated timeline to produce Initial Report (pdf) (15 min)
5. Review working methods going forward (15 min)
6. AOB

Cross-Community Session: GDPR 9:45 - 12:00 CEST, Wed, Oct 24, 2018

Monday Oct 22: An Internet Root With One Million TLDs? Paul Foody at Public Forum I--see transcript (pdf), pp.50-54. Replay the Public Forum video further below.

ICANN CEO Goran Marby calls everyone "Brian" at the Public Forum I on Monday, attributes the "condition" to having "ICANN brain":

ICANN CEO Goran Marby at ICANN63 Public Forum I on Oct 22.

Sunday Oct 21: NCSG tells GAC it has been misled by ICANN org's UAM (Unified Access Model)--livestream 2:50:06 -- 3:15:27 video (video lacks 'voice sync' but is listenable).

Letter to ICANN from Registrar Tucows 21 Oct 2018 (pdf) strongly disputes AppDetex's claims (pdf), excerpt (highlighting added):

Also a similar letter from Registrar Blacknight (pdf): "... We believe, therefore, that the requests for data are not sincere but are designed to create a particular narrative to reinforce AppDetex and Facebook’s particular views ..." (emphasis added)

Original Post:
“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push, in just the right place, it can be tipped.”--Malcolm Gladwell.

"... [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."

1) ICANN63 | Barcelona | 20th Annual General Meeting  20-25 Oct 2018.

• #ICANN63  |  Time in Barcelona: 

• ICANN63 Full Schedule [times shown are local Barcelona CEST (UTC+2)]

ICANN63 Highlights:
Saturday Oct 20

• GNSO - EPDP Team F2F Meeting (1 of 4)  8:30 - 18:30, Sat, Oct 20

Sunday Oct 21

• GAC: WHOIS & GDPR & Report of EPDP Progress 10:45 - 11:30, Sun, Oct 21

• GAC: WHOIS & GDPR with IPC and NCSG  11:30 - 12:15, Sun, Oct 21

Editor's note: GNSO Council meeting agenda for Sunday, October 21, at 13:55 to 14:10 contains the following item: Update on RPM PDP Complaint/RPM Co-Chairs--link is to GNSO mail list item from RPM co-chairs Phil Corwin and Kathy Kleiman--the other RPM co-chair is Brian Beckham:

"... 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 ..."

• GNSO - EPDP Team F2F Meeting (2 of 4)  17:00 - 18:30, Sun, Oct 21

Monday Oct 22

• GNSO - new gTLD Auction Proceeds - Initial Report 13:30 - 15:00, Mon, Oct 22

• High-Interest Topic: EPDP Draft Report 15:15 - 16:45, Mon, Oct 22 [slides (pdf) and
  Purpose "A" Workbook (pdf)].

• Public Forum 1 17:00 - 18:30, Mon, Oct 22

Tuesday Oct 23

• Joint Meeting: ICANN Board and NCSG 9:45 - 10:45, Tue, Oct 23, 2018

• UASG Report to the ICANN Community 13:30 - 15:00, Tue, Oct 23

• GNSO - NCSG Open Meeting (1/2) 15:15 - 16:45, Tue, Oct 23

• GNSO - NCSG Open Meeting (2/2) 17:00 - 18:30, Tue, Oct 23

Wednesday Oct 24

• Cross-Community Session: GDPR 9:45 - 12:00, Wed, Oct 24

• ICANN GDD: RDS/WHOIS Update 13:30 - 15:00, Wed, Oct 24

• Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) 15:15 - 16:45, Wed, Oct 24

• GNSO - EPDP Team F2F Meeting (3 of 4) 17:00 - 18:30, Wed, Oct 24

Thursday Oct 25

• GNSO - EPDP Team F2F Meeting (4 of 4) 8:30 - 10:15, Thu, Oct 25

• Public Forum 2 13:30 - 16:45, Thu, Oct 25

• GNSO Council Wrap-Up 17:00 - 18:30, Thu, Oct 25

Editor's note: readers will note I have made no other mention of the RPM working group (RPM WG) other than the Sunday GNSO agenda item above. The RPM WG has been working on the URS (UDRP to come in a later phase), which only applies to new gTLDs and a few other gTLDs but not .COM. Registrants are fortunate that among the active members of the RPM working group are  EFF's Mitch Stoltz, as well as Harvard Law Professor Rebecca Tushnet who posted to the RPM mail list Oct 19:

"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."

ICANN Meeting & Media Resources:

• Remote Participation (Adobe Connect links on each scheduled session's webpage, e.g., at links above.)

• High-Level Government Meeting at ICANN63 Oct 22

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

• GNSO Policy Briefing ICANN63 Edition (pdf) and here.

• On Twitter: Samantha Dickinson @sgdickinson 

• ICANN Meeting Sessions on Livestream.com

• ICANNnews | YouTube.com

• GAC Advice Process (pdf) [Feb2018].

2) Other ICANN News

a. The ICANN GNSO EPDP Working Group has a busy week at ICANN63 with four face-to-face (F2F) meetings and a special high interest topic Monday session (links to all above). Links to all EPDP meetings' transcripts and recordings are on the GNSO calendar. Other EPDP links: wiki, mail list, action items, Temp Spec, EPDP Charter (pdf), GNSO's EPDP page and updates. Info on last week's Oct 16 meeting on last week's News Review. 

GDPR & EPDP related:

• Comments of the NCSG (pdf) (Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group) re: ICANN org's Unified Access Model.
• 17 Oct 2018 Letter (pdf) embed below, from NCSG (Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group), Dr. Farzaneh Badiei, and Dr. Stephanie Perrin to ICANN Board of Directors re: "ICANN org violates data protection laws and principles to advance the interests of certain parts of the community"  [Domain Name Registrants Data Protection (GDPR)]:

• ICANN Board's response 20 Oct 2018 (pdf) to the above embed letter from NCSG re: "ICANN org violates data protection laws and principles to advance the interests of certain parts of the community." 
• Governmental Advisory Committee’s (GAC) Initial Comments (pdf) on the Draft Framework for a Possible Unified Access Model (UAM) for Continued Access to Full WHOIS Data.
• 16 Oct 2018 Letter from ICANN Compliance (pdf) to "Independent Compliance Working Party" re: GDPR etc.
• ICANN Registry Request Service | Proposal 2018067 | .cloud | Complying with Local Law (Domain Name Registration Validation) 18 Oct 2018 rsep-2018067-cloud-request-18oct18-en.pdf (pdf).
• First Semiannual Report To Congress (pdf) on NTIA’s ICANN Activities (FY2018) excerpt: "... In addition to the EPDP, NTIA is also pursuing avenues for specifically addressing the development and implementation of a unified access mechanism to permit access to non-public WHOIS information ..."
• The FY19 ICANN Board Activities & Priorities: ".... European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ... Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) - We are closely monitoring these discussions, with two Board members serving as liaisons to the EPDP. We acknowledge the progress that has been made so far and look forward to the group reaching timely consensus on a new policy to replace the Temporary Specification ..."

b. EBERO: Request for Proposal: EBERO Services | ICANN.org--EBERO in ICANNspeak is "Emergency Back-End Registry Operator" services--"For a complete overview and timeline for the RFP, please click here (pdf) ... Indications of interest must be emailed to: EBEROServices-rfp @ icann.org by 23:59 UTC on 05 November 2018. Complete proposals must be electronically submitted by 16:00 UTC on 3 December 2018 using the ICANN org sourcing (RFP) tool, access to which will be granted after receipt of an indication of interest to the email address above." More info at link above.

c. ICANN Revised Community Travel Support Guidelines--Travel the World on "ICANN's dime."

d. New gTLD .AMAZON: objecting correspondence (pdf), more info here (pdf).

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. New Domains: A Wide-Open Playing Field for Cybercrime--DarkReading.com.

b. Intellectual Property And Public Disclosure--jdsupra.com: all companies, particularly startups, should adequately protect any IP before there are any public disclosures.

c. Google's Google+ Branding and Domain Name #FAIL--MorganLinton.com.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

• GDPR: GDPR DPAs have been deluged with complaints about violations and queries. European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Giovanni Buttarelli: "I expect first GDPR fines for some cases by the end of the year."

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."

• US: Telling Congress How to Protect Consumer Data Privacy--eff.org.

• EGYPT: Facebook drove Egypt's revolution. Now it's being used as a weapon to oppress women--wired.co.uk: Egyptian law enforcement is using the country's new law against “fake news” to imprison women who share their sexual harassment experiences on social platforms.

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

1. News Review | Fadi, Akram & Donuts, ICANN Conflicts of Interest

2. BlackRock’s Rick Rieder: Technology Stocks Are Not Overvalued (video)

3. Tech Review: When Amazon $AMZN Comes For Your Startup (video)

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
Follow @DomainMondo

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News Review | ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck, A Day Late And A Dollar Short

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-04-01) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck, A Day Late And A Dollar Short, 2) Other ICANN news: a. New gTLD .WEB: ICANN & Afilias, b. New gTLD .AFRICA Litigation Update, c. ICANN Senior VP Sally Costerton's Secret Contract, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: a. Verisign $VRSN, b. GoDaddy $GDDY, c. .EU & Brexit, 4) ICYMI, 5) Most Read.

ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck UPDATE April 4, 2018:
a) ICANN's Next-Generation gTLD Registration Directory Services to Replace WHOIS Working Group SUSPENDS All Working Group Meetings until further notice:

[gnso-rds-pdp-wg] WG Meeting Suspension | icann.org: "The RDS PDP WG leadership team has decided to suspend WG meetings until further notice while we await guidance from the [ICANN] Board regarding how this WG will be affected by the GDPR compliance efforts."

b) The world's second-largest TLD (Top-Level Domain) registry operator, Afilias, has reportedly given notice to its registrars that effective May 25, 2018, it will no longer show WHOIS registrant contact data on millions of domain names.

Original Post:
1) ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck, A Day Late And A Dollar Short

EU GDPR & ICANN WHOIS--ICANN a day late and a dollar short, now in full panic, pleading for help from the European Data Protection Authorities (DPAs)--ICANN Correspondence | ICANN.org 26 Mar 2018: 29 letters sent by Goran Marby, ICANN President & CEO, to European authorities requesting "Guidance: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Impact on the Domain Name System and WHOIS"--excerpts:

"We request you to help ICANN and the domain name registries and registrars to maintain the global WHOIS in its current form, through either clarification of the GDPR, a moratorium on enforcement or other relevant actions, until a revised WHOIS policy that balances these critical public interest perspectives may be developed and implemented." [p.2] (emphasis added)

"Guidance from DPAs on ICANN’s plan of action as presented in the Cookbook, and in particular, the areas where there are competing views, is critical as soon as possible, but particularly during the next few weeks. We understand from comments from some DPAs that there is an opportunity for DPAs to continue to provide support to companies along the path to compliance beyond the GDPR effective date if the company has an established plan of action. In addition to the information in the Cookbook, we stand ready to provide any additional information about our plan of action (e.g. timelines, milestones, etc.) that you may need to facilitate your consideration of our requests."[p.5]

One of the 29 letters (which all appear to be alike)--embedded below:

Hope Is Not A Strategy:

Data Protection/Privacy Issues Update: Discussion with Article 29 Working Party | ICANN.org 29 Mar 2018, Goran Maby: "...We heard clearly from the representatives that they understood the issues relating to the ICANN/WHOIS space and are evaluating how to provide advice from the Article 29 Working Party ... we anticipate that ICANN and the WHOIS system will be on the upcoming Article 29 plenary's agenda for 10-11 April 2018. ... We look forward to receiving advice following the plenary, which we may rely on to complete the [ICANN] model [pdf], and are hopeful that we will also be provided with a moratorium on enforcement that would allow sufficient time to implement the model and build the appropriate accreditation system ..." [emphasis and links added].

Editor's note: It is now abundantly clear that ICANN's overpaid and incompetent management team completely bungled GDPR preparations. ICANN has had two years to get ready for the GDPR effective date of May 25, 2018, but did not even start serious preparatory work beyond "discussions," until late in 2017, and by that time had already driven the ICANN train "off the track" as duly noted by Professor Milton Mueller.

How long has #ICANN had a Brussels office? The delay on #GDPR is on staff as much as anyone. Can't fire the community but....

— thereforeICANN (@thereforeICANN) March 15, 2018

ICANN's "contracted parties" (registrars and registry operators) weighed in 26 Mar 2018 on ICANN's Timeline for ICANN-Proposed Compliance Models--ICANN.org: gdpr-comments-contracted-parties-cph-timeline-icann-proposed-compliance-models-26mar18-en.pdf [46.6 KB]--refusing to be the fall guys for ICANN's ineptitude, excerpt below (full embed follows):

Meanwhile trademark interests have been beside themselves, submitting multiple proposals for "accreditation" to gain access to WHOIS data after May 25, 2018, see: Sound the alarm bells: WHOIS blackout “likely” following GDPR enforcement date in May | WorldTrademarkReview.com:

"... Substantial gaps in ICANN’s legal rationale for proposed interim model ... contracted parties and third-party WHOIS users, including brand owners, both levied criticisms against ICANN’s ‘cookbook’ intended to provide its legal rationale for the elements of its proposed interim GDPR compliance model. Contracted parties’ primary criticism is that the cookbook contains too many gaps, failing to give registries and registrars sufficient comfort that the interim model is justifiable in the eyes of European data protection authorities (DPAs) ..."

And Article 19 (domain: article19.org), a British human rights organization with a focus on the defense and promotion of freedom of expression has entered the fray:

Editor's note: This "train wreck" brought to you by ICANN, is just beginning, follow updates at ICANN.org, and meanwhile, send in the clowns:

"I think if we get rid of that [IANA] contract we will be free of the pressures."--ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehade, February 10, 2015.

Dawn of a New Internet Era | ICANN.org: "... we welcome your participation in this next era of the Internet ..."--Akram Atallah, ICANN Global Domains Division President.

Why I Love the International Office Strategy | ICANN.org: "I think this strategy will take ICANN to the next level. We are stable and mature. We have global standards and processes in place."--Goran Marby, ICANN President and CEO, 13 Mar 2018. 

Judy Collins - Send In The Clowns - Album: Judith (1975) (domain: judycollins.com)

2) Other ICANN news

a. New gTLD .WEB: Afilias vs ICANN, Verisign $VRSN & Nu Dot Co? UPDATE: See the March 24, 2018, response from ICANN to Afilias's request for documents at the link above.

b. New gTLD .AFRICA Litigation Update:  

FUTURE HEARINGS:

• April 17, 2018 at 08:30 am in Department 53 at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Oral Argument
• August 14, 2018 at 08:30 am in Department 53 at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Final Status Conference (PHASE II)
• August 22, 2018 at 09:30 am in Department 53 at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Trial (PHASE II: ON REMAINING ISSUES).

See also DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN (Trial Court Proceeding) | ICANN.org:

• ICANN's Judicial Estoppel Trial Brief [PDF, 1.42 MB] 9 February 2018

• Plaintiff's Judicial Estoppel Trial Brief [PDF, 113 KB] 9 February 2018

c. ICANN Senior VP Sally Costerton's Secret Contract: 23 March 2018 Letter from ICANN Chief Financial Officer Xavier Calvez to John Poole [Published 27 March 2018] re ICANN FY16 IRS Form 990. [Editor's note: I will have more to say on this after ICANN responds to the pending Complaint against ICANN, ICANN CEO Goran Marby and ICANN CFO Xavier Calvez (pdf)].

For more background information, see on DomainMondo.com: News Review | ICANN Pays Senior VP Sally Costerton Secret Contract $$$ Oct 15, 2017.

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. Verisign, Inc. (verisign.com): Wall Street analysts are sour on telecoms and utilities, and 33% say sell VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN). See those recommendations here.

b. GoDaddy Inc. (godaddy.com): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage in March on domain name registrar GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) with a Buy rating and $81 price target. Analyst Mark Grant favors GoDaddy over peers due to brand strength, scale, cash flow generation, and financial flexibility. See also GoDaddy migrates to Amazon Web Services in multiyear partnership | SeekingAlpha.com: As part of the deal, AWS will sell some GoDaddy products like Managed WordPress and GoCentral for domain and website management. GoDaddy will not migrate the 75 million domain names it manages to AWS. For more information see GoDaddy 2018 Investor Day presentation (pdf).

c.  .EU & Brexit Headlines This Week:

• UK companies and residents will be stripped of .EU domains after Brexit | TheVerge.com

• Europe dumps 300,000 UK-owned .EU domains into the Brexit bin | theregister.co.uk

The EU notice (pdf): "... the following persons are eligible to register .eu domain names: (i) undertakings having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the EU; (ii) organisations established within the EU (without prejudice to the application of national law); and (iii) natural persons resident within the EU ..." See Article 4 Obligations of the Registry.

Reality check: (1) Registering .EU Domain Names Article | networksolutions.com--a 3rd party (e.g., in Dublin, Ireland) can serve as "registrant of record"; (2) the United Kingdom (UK) doesn't leave the European Union (EU) until March 29, 2019. The EU and UK are still negotiating several issues including how EU members and the UK can continue to have access to each other's markets (free trade), as well as continue to have an open border between Ireland (a member of the EU) and Northern Ireland (part of the UK).

Editor's note: likely impact of EU notice: (1) a drop in .EU registrations (currently 3,815,055); (2) an increase in .UK registrations (currently 10,457,0140). The ccTLDs .UK (United Kingdom), .DE (Germany) and .NL (Netherlands) have always been more popular than .EU. But the EU notice reminded everyone once again of the arrogant EU bureaucracy in Brussels which was a factor in the "Leave" victory on 23 June 2016.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

• Privacy: Apple CEO Tim Cook slams Facebook: Privacy 'is a human right, it's a civil liberty' | nbcnews.com: "Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday slammed Facebook for profiting from its users' data — and called for the social media giant to be more tightly regulated. Such detailed profiles of people, with "incredibly deep personal information that is patched together from several sources" like Facebook has compiled, shouldn't be allowed to exist, Cook said."

• “Fake News” Offers Latin American Consolidated Powers An Opportunity to Censor Opponents | Electronic Frontier Foundation | eff.org: "Fake News” as a pretext for curbing free expression in Latin America.

• Turkey: New Internet censorship legislation passed in Turkish Parliament | Stockholm Center for Freedom | stockholmcf.org

• Internet censorship in Kazakhstan: more pervasive than you may think | openDemocracy.net.

• Unexplained internet blackout in Ethiopia's Oromia region | Africanews.com

• China: China’s Cyberspace Authorities Set to Gain Clout in Reorganization | newamerica.org

• U.S. Section 230: A Key Legal Shield For Facebook, Google Is About To Change : All Tech Considered : NPR.org

• U.S. The Roots of Section 230 Show Why We Shouldn’t Abandon Intermediary Liability Protection | R Street Institute | RStreet.org

• U.S. Senate Passes SESTA, Controversial 'Anti-Sex Trafficking' Bill That Could Ruin the Internet and Harm Sex Workers | gizmodo.com

• Misleading headline: Google defeats lawsuit claiming YouTube censors conservatives | Reuters.com,  Prager University v Google LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-06064. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh granted Plaintiff leave to amend its complaint, but also dismissed various claims of the Plaintiff, holding that Google and YouTube are not “state actors” subject to the First Amendment by creating a “public forum” for speech, further stating, “Defendants are private entities who created their own video-sharing social media website and make decisions about whether and how to regulate content that has been uploaded on that website.”

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

1. News Review | EU's GDPR Causing Slower Growth at Facebook $FB

2. Tech Review | Nvidia CEO On The Future of Autonomous Vehicles (video)

3. Qualcomm $QCOM, NXP, Apple $AAPL, Trump & China: The Path Forward

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
Follow @DomainMondo

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Tech Review | Big Tech vs Competition, Innovation, Opportunity (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-02-24)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Big Tech vs Competition, Innovation, Opportunity? (video), 2) Peter Thiel vs Silicon Valley's Suffocating Group Think (video), 3) Investing: This Week, Investing Notes, 4) ICYMI.

1) Big Tech vs Competition, Innovation, Opportunity? (video)

Markets Are No Longer Competitive says Scott Galloway:  Scott Galloway, NYU Stern professor, and Roger McNamee, Elevation Partners (domain: elevation.com) co-founder, discuss the need to break up big tech to create more innovation and opportunity in the market. CNBC.com video above published Feb 15, 2018. See also The Case Against Google | The New York Times | nytimes.com: Foundem's case against Google exposes flawed arguments of a self-correcting internet economy and why antitrust laws are essential for tech growth.

New York Times Magazine's Charles Duhigg: The Case Against Google

CNBC.com video published Feb 21, 2018: Charles Duhigg, New York Times Magazine, discusses his article about concern over Google allegedly halting other innovation.

2) Peter Thiel vs Silicon Valley's Suffocating Groupthink (video)

Why Peter Thiel Is Backing Away From Silicon Valley: Bloomberg's Ellen Huet and Mark Milian discuss why Peter Thiel is relocating his home and personal investment firms to Los Angeles. They speak on "Bloomberg Technology" on Feb 15, 2018. See also: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’ | WSJ.com.: "... Several tech workers and entrepreneurs also have said they left or plan to leave the San Francisco Bay Area because they feel people there are resistant to different social values and political ideologies. Groupthink and homogeneity are making it a worse place to live and work, these workers said ..."

3) Investing

This Week The Index: S&P 500

S&P 500 Index UP almost 3% since the end of trading in 2017

Volatility Jumps, But It’s Still a Bull Market | MorganStanley.com

Wall Street's Charging Bull

Investing Notes:

• Fiscal Stimulus: The Cost of  Acceleration To Reach "Escape Velocity" from the Fed's historically unprecedented 9 years of QE & ZIRP--US Treasury Posts Gigantic $1.16 Trillion Shortfall in Fiscal 2017, Hilariously Points out “Where We Are Headed” | WolfStreet.com. 

• Too many stock-market pundits are wrongly freaking out about inflation | MarketWatch.com: "Inflation may pick up a bit, but it won’t be for a while and it won’t be as bad as doom and gloomers expect. Investors should stop acting as if this is the end of the world." 
• Jobless claims plunge to 222,000, second-lowest mark in decades

• BlackRock Says Buy U.S. Stocks as Tax Plan Supercharges Earnings | Bloomberg.com: "world’s largest money manager says impending fiscal stimulus will boost already strong momentum for earnings growth."

• Deficits? $1.2 Trillion Asset Manager: Forget Volatility, The Real Financial Timebomb Is Public Pensions | Zero Hedge.com: "the question is what happens when the music stops, liquidity dries up, and economic contraction besets (or catch up to) the markets?"--Editor's note: Answer--That's easy, just ask The Donald--"The Art of the Deal."

• 'Crumbs' Crushed - Soaring Economic Optimism Could Ruin Dems' "Blue Wave" Midterms | Zero Hedge.com

• China: Idle and abandoned: the hidden truth of China’s economic ambitions | South China Morning Post | scmp.com

• EU: Don't Be Complacent About Italy's Elections | Bloomberg.com: "The country's public debt is a threat to global financial stability ... the European Central Bank's policy of quantitative easing [QE] has helped mask Italy's fragility. But the ECB is likely to stop buying new bonds in the fall. When that happens, Italy's deep-seated problems will return to the fore ..." Editor's note: 4 March 2018 is the date of the Italian general election. 
• But is the Eurozone in a QE Trap? Reuters poll: ECB rate rise? You have a very long wait, say economists.
• Too Big To Fail? RBS Forgery Scandal Metastasizes Days before Crucial Earnings Report | WolfStreet.com: "bailed-out megabank hasn’t had a year in the black since 2007."
• Walmart [NYSE:WMT] posts worst day since January 1988 | cnbc.com Feb 20, 2018: shares of Walmart shed 10.2 percent. [Editor's note: In 2017, Walmart U.S. eCommerce sales rose 44% and same-store sales increased 2.1% vs. 2016's 1.4% growth rate. But those results and the 2018 forecast fell short of estimates. Oh well, progress not perfection.] See Walmart sets full-year profit guidance below expectations | SeekingAlpha.com. "Your margin is my opportunity"--Jeff Bezos.

4) ICYMI Tech News:

• Amazon’s Latest Ambition: To Be a Major Hospital Supplier | WSJ.com: Amazon is expanding its business-to-business marketplace, Amazon Business, into the medical supply industry, plotting to become major supplier to US hospitals. Jeff Bezos: "Your margin is my opportunity."
• Baidu: The Value Of Being The Gatekeeper - Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) | SeekingAlpha.com
• Google Assistant multilingual support for English, French, and German and will be available in 30+ languages including Hindi and Thai this year--9to5Google.com.

• The SEC says companies must disclose more information about cybersecurity risks | TechCrunch.com

• Tesla Model S outsells German luxury flagships in Europe | europe.autonews.com. Tesla Semi Trucks: the difference between the purchase price of a Tesla Semi and a traditional diesel truck could be paid off in less than two years due to savings on maintenance and fuel, says DHL executive which has ordered 10 of the Tesla Semi trucks scheduled to roll out in 2019. 

• With $9 billion stake, China's Li Shufu, Chairman and principal owner of Geely in China, is now the largest shareholder (10%) of Germany's Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE), manufacturer of Mercedes Benz cars, trucks and vans. Chinese car manufactuer Geely owns Volvo cars and the maker of London’s black cabs. Next largest Daimler shareholder is Kuwait Investment Authority (7%).

• Gartner reports first ever global decline in smartphone sales | TechCrunch.com

• Why the iPhone Is Losing Out to Chinese Devices in Asia | WSJ.com: Apple’s market share is stagnant or declining in Asia.
• Google launches Android phone recommendation program for businesses | TheVerge.com

• AT&T will launch mobile 5G in Atlanta, Dallas and Waco in 2018--engadget.com. See also SeekingAlpha.com.
• Scammers use Zelle (domain: zellepay.com), a P2P payments service, to defraud online buyers who trust the service because it is backed by US banks--Techcrunch.com

• Say goodbye to Android Pay and hello to Google Pay | TechCrunch.com

• Another reason to get a nice Chromebook and dump Microsoft--Running Windows 10? Here's how Microsoft plans to milk more profits out of its cash cow | ZDNet.com: "PC sales are down. Windows licensing revenue is flat. In its financial disclosures, Microsoft says it's actively looking for new monetization opportunities."

• Google I/O 2018: May 8-10, 2018, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA--apply to purchase a ticket by 2/27 5pm PST.

• Uber Express Pool offers the cheapest fares yet in exchange for a little walking | TheVerge.com: Uber launches Express Pool, which gives cheaper fares to those willing to walk to shared rides, in SF, DC, LA, Miami, Philadelphia, San Diego, Denver, Boston.

• Brand: Supreme Helps Bring Logos Back, And Retailers Must Respond | Bloomberg.com

• Richard Branson's Virgin Voyages to create hundreds of jobs in Plantation, Florida | South Florida Business Journal | bizjournals.com: "Virgin Voyages' first ship is expected to sail in 2020 from PortMiami with 2,700 passengers and 1,150 crew members. It will be one of the few cruise lines for adults only."

• Nokia-branded Android phones reportedly outsold Google, HTC, and OnePlus over the holidays | TheVerge.com

• Terrible people have learned to exploit the internet. Yasmin Green is fighting back. | MIT  |TechnologyReview.com

• After Florida School Shooting, Russian ‘Bot’ Army Pounced | The New York Times | nytimes.com: "One hour after news broke about the Florida school shooting, hundreds of suspected Russian-linked Twitter bots released divisive posts on the gun control debate."
• Fake News CNN & MSNBC: Flashback: CNN and MSNBC Helped Russia Sow Discord by Promoting Fake Anti-Trump Rally: "A check of their November 12 [2016] coverage showed both CNN and MSNBC gave enthusiastic coverage to the Russian-organized anti-Trump rally that day, with live reports every hour. Correspondents celebrated the idea that it was “a love rally,” and repeated the marchers’ anti-Trump mantras, such as: “We reject the President-elect.”"

From the Reuters.com feed:

• WhatsApp to go ahead with 'full feature' money transfer service in India

• Alibaba, Tencent rally troops amid $10 billion retail battle

• Snap chief earns $638 million in 2017, third-highest CEO payout ever

• Hyperinflation meets tech: Cash-scarce Venezuela sees boom in payment apps

• Qualcomm gets hedge fund nod with raised offer for NXP

• Hackers stole $6 million from Russian bank via SWIFT system: central bank

• BoE's Carney says Bitcoin has 'pretty much failed' as currency

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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