News Review: FCC & Net Neutrality, What's Next? (video) | NR 2017-04-30

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2017-04-30):

Features •  1) FCC & Net Neutrality, What's Next?  2) Names, Domains & Trademarks: UDRP Filing Triggers RDNH Federal Lawsuit, and a .COM domain name sells for $2.89 million, 3) ICYMI: Google LIVE in Cuba, 4) Earnings Season: Apple $AAPL, GoDaddy $GDDY, Facebook $FB, 5) ICANN News: ICANN's International Office Strategy,  6) Most Popular.

1) FCC & Net Neutrality, What's Next?  

FCC chair Ajit Pai explains why he wants to scrap the FCC's net neutrality rules:

Video above published Apr 27, 2017,  by PBS News Hour: Ajit Pai, FCC chairman, has plans to do away with net neutrality rules that have been in place for the last three years. Pai argues the rules are too burdensome and that they stifle innovation and competition. William Brangham discusses the changes in oversight with Pai.

See also:

• Restoring Internet Freedom--Notice of Proposed Rulemaking – WC Docket No. 17-108 (pdf) April 27, 2017, and related documents.

• Joint Statement of FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny on Leaving Broadband Consumers and Competition Unprotected (pdf): April 27, 2017 – “Today Chairman Pai released a plan that, if implemented, will hand over control of the open internet to the powerful gatekeepers of our connections to the modern world. Despite the Chairman’s description of the proposal as a way to reduce onerous regulation, stimulate investment, and protect consumer privacy, the proposal would do otherwise. If adopted, Chairman Pai’s proposal will harm competition and innovation and will leave consumers without any real protection or oversight by either the FTC or FCC for broadband services..."

• Previewing the (Net Neutrality) Road Ahead: Chairman Pai Announces a Plan to Reverse the 2015 Open Internet Order | Kelley Drye & Warren LLP | JDSupra.com

• WC Docket No. 17-108) | Federal Communications Commission | fcc.gov a) Comments -- b) file a comment --  c) submit Bulk Comments

2) Names, Domains & Trademarks

• UDRP Filing Triggers RDNH Federal Lawsuit--Web Developer Sues UDRP Complainant Over Internet Domain Name: In U.S. District Court (Middle District of Florida), Plaintiff VirtualPoint Inc., the domain name registrant of fasttrak.com, sued FastTrak--copy of Plaintiff's complaint (pdf)--after FastTrak filed what plaintiff termed a “baseless and factually erroneous UDRP complaint." (See Plaintiff's complaint, supra, at ¶15.) Plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, punitive damages, and damages of not less than $100,000 for reverse domain name hijacking, as first reported in Bloomberg | BNA.com. 

[Editor's note: The UDRP is a flawed ICANN policy long known (since 2001) to be abused by wrongful Complainants in other cases who have used it in various attempts to "steal" valuable .COM domain names. ICANN and its GNSO have delayed considering reforms of the UDRP until after the review of all other Rights Protections Mechanisms (RPMs) used in connection with ICANN's failing new gTLDs program, none of which apply to .COM domain names. Dysfunctional and incompetent ICANN often "puts the cart before the horse"--as of April 29, 2017, there are over 128 million registered domain names under the gTLD (generic top-level domain) .COM, whereas ICANN's 1250+ new gTLDs have a total of only somewhere between 24 and 28 million domain names registered, depending on whether you believe namestat.org or ntldstats.com--ICANN doesn't maintain any data itself though it could and should--and those new gTLD registrations are declining as consumers (registrants) discover the unregulated monopoly pricing model used by ICANN (against the advice (pdf) of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division) and the new gTLDs' defects known as "universal acceptance issues" which ICANN knew about before even launching the new gTLDs program. Caveat Emptor!]

• Why Start-Ups Should Consider Trademark Registration (and what is the difference between TM and ®) | Bryan Cave | JDSupra.com
• The Limits of Notice and Takedown | circleid.com
• No Bull: Acquired Distinctiveness Is Not a Given | BakerHostetler | JDSupra.com
• Non-Trademark Use is a Non-Infringing Use | Harness, Dickey & Pierce, PLC | JDSupra.com: "... Because this was a non-trademark use of plaintiffs’ trademarks, the Sixth Circuit did not have to reach the question whether the fair-use defense applied.  As the Supreme Court said in Prestonettes, Inc. v. Coty, 264 U.S. 359, 368 (1924), “When the mark is used in a way that does not deceive the public we see no such sanctity in the word as to prevent its being used to tell the truth.”"
• The domain name Fly.com sold for $2.89 million according to the seller's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 27, 2017 (excerpt below):
  

Seller Travelzoo Inc., continues to do business under its domain name travelzoo.com. Sale first reported by OnlineDomain.com via George Kirikos.

3) ICYMI Internet Domain News Quick Takes 

• Google Servers Go LIVE in Cuba | cnbc.com: "Google's servers in Cuba went live on Wednesday [April 26, 2017], making the internet giant the first foreign internet company to host content within the long cut-off country."
• Trend Micro report (pdf) details political-influence activities of cyber espionage group Pawn Storm, a/k/a APT28, Fancy Bear, Sednit, over past 2 years. "... Pawn Storm uses mainstream media to publicize their attacks and influence public opinion ..."
• Wikipedia gears up for global conversation | theaustralian.com.au: “The internet is more commercial, information is more consolidated and it’s also a lot more fragmented. People are increasingly unsure about what they can trust and what they know on the internet.”--Wikimedia Foundation executive director Katherine Maher
• Chinese Government Releases Draft Regulations on Cross-Border Data Transfer | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP | JDSupra.com
• Net Neutrality: Vodafone (India) wants right to manipulate Internet videos | UltraNews.com: "India does not have any specific guidelines on these matters and the telecom regulator is creating new laws via its consultation on net neutrality."
• YouTube starts training young commenters to be kinder to each other | TechRadar.com
• There Is More To Come In Europe: The Draft Of The ePrivacy Regulation | King & Spalding | JDSupra.com: "The ePrivacy Proposal includes, inter alia, rules on the confidentiality of electronic communication data, on the use of cookies on websites, and on direct marketing practices."
• German cyber crime rose 80 percent in 2016: report | Reuters.com
• A generation of children is learning about sex through porn, and we have no way to stop it | Quartz | qz.com
• DOJ Antitrust Nominee Makan Delrahim's Hearing on Hold | broadcastingcable.com: Committee chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said that a piece of paperwork was missing, which prevented Delrahim from being considered at the Wednesday hearing, and once the paperwork is filed, Delrahim will appear at "our next hearing."

4) Q1 2017 Earnings Season

This coming week on Domain Mondo:

• Apple AAPL May 2 at 5:00 pm EDT
• GoDaddy GDDY May 2 at 5:00 pm EDT--world's largest domain name registrar
• Facebook FB May 3 at 5:00 pm EDT

• This past week: Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Verisign, Twitter, and T-Mobile.

5) ICANN News:

ICANN's International Office Strategy:

ICANN CEO Goran Marby presented the above slide at the ICANN  FY17 Q3 Stakeholder Call, April 27, 2017

•  ICANN Board to Hold Two Open Sessions During Geneva [Switzerland] May 5-7 Workshop | ICANN.org: The ICANN Board of Directors invites all interested individuals to join two sessions (via Adobe Connect or telephone): 1) Marketplace Dynamics Session I: Registries and Registrars
Saturday, 6 May, 11:15 – 12:00 UTC; and 2) Internet Governance Engagement Strategy with a Focus on the Internet Governance Forums (IGFs): Proposal to the Board, Sunday, 7 May, 09:00 – 10:00 UTC (more info at the link above). If you cannot attend the sessions LIVE, both sessions will be recorded and available according to ICANN staff (see chat transcript below from the ICANN FY17 Q3 Quarterly Stakeholder call on April 27, 2017):

•  ICANN Public Comment Periods that close in May 2017 (dates subject to change, closing time on all closing dates below is 23:59 UTC): [Editor's note: I have flagged <<< those issues of most importance to most registrants.]

• Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Implementation Guidelines 2 May 2017 
• Draft 2016 African Domain Name System Market Study 5 May 2017
• Proposal for Ethiopic Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules (LGR) 5 May 2017
• Proposed Fundamentals Bylaws Changes to Move the Board Governance Committee's Reconsideration Process Responsibilities to Another Board Committee 10 May 2017
• Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice Review Team Draft Report of Recommendations for New gTLDs 19 May 2017<<<
• Deferral of Country Code Names Supporting OrganizationReview 19 May 2017
• GNSO Community Comment 2 (CC2) on New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process 22 May 2017<
• Recommendations to Improve SO/AC Accountability 26 May 2017<<<
• Proposed Renewal of .NET Registry Agreement 30 May 2017<<<

•  ccNSO Strategic and Operational Planning Working Group (SOP WG) comment on ICANN's FY18 Operating Plan and Budget--https://ccnso.icann.org/about/ccnso-sop-wg-comments-24apr17-en.pdf--excerpt (highlighting added):

•  ICANN Complaints Office | ICANN.org: "The Complaints Office handles complaints regarding the ICANN Organization that don't fall into an existing complaints mechanism." The full complaints process is targeted for launch in mid-July 2017. More info at link above.

•  Göran Marby's First Visit to China as ICANN President, Named 马跃然 by China Internet Community | circleid.com

6) Most popular post (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

• The Global Splinternet: Digital Borders, TLD Filters & Tolls? | NR 2017-04-23

-- John Poole, Editor* of Domain Mondo 

*Note: all references to Editor's Note herein are to the above.

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Tech Review: How To Detox From Your Smartphone (video) | TR 2017-04-29

Tech Review (TR 2017-04-29)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news:

Features • 1) How To Detox From Your Smartphone, 2) Easy Come, Easy Go: Alphabet's "Other Bets" $855M Operating Loss, 3) Q1 2017 Earnings This Coming Week: $AAPL, $GDDY, $FB, 4) Drones a $100B Opportunity, 5) Game Industry’s Digital Revolution, 6) Global Accountability Index, 7) Don't use Apps? 8) ICYMI.

1) How to detox from your smartphone

Video above published Apr 26, 2017: Six out of 10 adults in the UK told Ofcom last year that they felt 'hooked' on their smartphones. Emma Jacobs, FT.com work and careers columnist, shares her digital detox tips.

2) Easy Come, Easy Go: Alphabet's "Other Bets" Revenue $244M, $855M Operating Loss  

See also on Domain Mondo: Q1 2017 Earnings Webcast Apr 27 Replay: Google (Alphabet)

3)  Q1 2017 Earnings This Coming Week on Domain Mondo:

• Apple AAPL May 2 at 5:00 pm EDT -- Tech Giant (Smartphones & Computing)
• GoDaddy GDDY May 2 at 5:00 pm EDT -- World's Largest Domain Name Registrar
• Facebook FB May 3 at 5:00 pm EDT -- Tech Giant (Social Media Digital Advertising)

This past week: Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Verisign, Twitter, and T-Mobile.

4)  Drones: Reporting for Work| goldmansachs.com: "Between now and 2020, we forecast a $100 billion market opportunity for drones—helped by growing demand from the commercial and civil government sectors."

5)  Game Industry’s Digital Revolution | ArsTechnica.com: "... the game industry at large has transitioned from a business based on physical goods to one dominated by digital downloads and online purchases."

6)  Global accountability index | Hong Kong Free Press | hongkongfp.com: "Chinese internet companies Baidu and Tencent have ranked poorly in a global corporate accountability index. Their performance reflects a restrictive environment which makes it difficult for them to respect freedom of expression and privacy, non-profit research initiative Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) said." See also: Ranking Digital Rights - 2017 Corporate Accountability Index | rankingdigitalrights.org.

7)  Don't use Apps? (unless you absolutely have to)--FalseGuide Malware in Play Store Infects 2M Users, Forces Phones to Join Botnet | softpedia.com: "about 2 million Android users have mistakenly installed malware on their devices straight from Google Play, the company's official app store."

8) ICYMI Tech News -- 10 Quick Takes:

1. Google Maps now makes it easier to remember where you parked your car | VentureBeat.com
2. Didi seeks $6 billion funding, to become China's second-most valuable private firm | Reuters.com
3. Marissa Mayer Will Make $186 Million on Yahoo’s Sale to Verizon | NYTimes.com
4. Chris Sacca retires from VC investing... and Shark Tank | Axios.com
5. The Guardian pulls out of Facebook’s Instant Articles and Apple News | Digiday.com
6. Amazon rolls out chatbot tools in race to dominate voice-powered tech | Reuters.com
7. Stay Safe with Our Complete Guide to Android Security | DigitalTrends.com
8. Digital ad spend jumps 22 percent to $72.5 billion in 2016: report | Reuters.com
9. Facebook and the Cost of Monopoly | Stratechery.com by Ben Thompson: "Facebook intended to not simply adopt one of Snapchat’s headline features but its entire vision" and Instagram is growing faster than ever and now has 700 million users | Recode.net: "It took the company just four months to add 100 million new accounts."
10. In 30 years, the best CEO could be a robot? "In the next three decades, the world will experience far more pain than happiness ... education systems must raise children to be more creative and curious or they will be ill-prepared for the future. Robots are quicker and more rational than humans, and they don't get bogged down in emotions -- like getting angry at competitors."--Jack Ma as reported by cnn.com.

Have a great weekend! -- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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Scott Galloway: Teens as a Forward-Looking Indicator (video)

Scott Galloway: Teens as a Forward-Looking Indicator

Published Apr 27, 2017 by L2inc.com: The best forward-looking indicator for brands? What teens are into this year? Chick-fil-A, Nike, and Snapchat.

Loser: Apple, which convinced 90 million Americans to buy iPhones but can't make them use those phones to pay for products.

Winner: road safety as ride-hailing apps prevent deaths from drunk driving.

Sources:
(0:07) “Teens Throw It Back To The ‘90s With Their Stan Smiths; Spending Shifting To Starbucks, Video Games And Amazon,” Piper Jaffray, April 2017. http://bit.ly/2p9LHxv
(0:24) “Teens Throw It Back To The ‘90s With Their Stan Smiths; Spending Shifting To Starbucks, Video Games And Amazon,” Piper Jaffray, April 2017.http://bit.ly/2p9LHxv
(0:45) “Number of iPhone Users in the United States from 2012 to 2016 (in Millions),” Statista, 2015. http://bit.ly/2pDB8U6
(0:48) “U.S. iPhone Ownership Reaches All-Time High on Strength of iPhone 7,” comScore, April 2017. http://bit.ly/2pDHcM7
(0:52) “An Inconvenient Apple Pay Truth” PYMNTS.com, April 2017. http://bit.ly/2oZ2mkp
(1:02) “Apple Pay Promised to Make Plastic Obsolete. Then Came Wary Shoppers, Confused Clerks,” The Wall Street Journal, April 2017. http://on.wsj.com/2oB9tT7
(1:14) L2 Analysis of Apple App Store data.
(1:19) “An Inconvenient Apple Pay Truth” PYMNTS.com, April 2017. http://bit.ly/2oZ2mkp
(1:28) “New York City Drunk Driving After Uber,” Jessica Lynn Peck, 2017. http://bit.ly/2oDpK9I
(1:35) “Impaired Driving: Get the Facts,” CDC, 2015. http://bit.ly/2j3EUBH
(1:43) “NONE FOR THE ROAD,” The Economist, January 2017. http://bit.ly/2qcq2oT
(1:52) “Uber Basks in Phenomenal SA Growth,” memeburn, February 2016. http://bit.ly/2p7ZlR4
Music: Say My Name (feat. Zyra) - Hayden James Remix http://bit.ly/1lgAHbQ

YouTube.com auto-generated transcript:
0:02  The best forward-looking indicator for brands?
0:03  What teens are into.
0:05  Teens spend more money on food than anything else,
0:08  including apparel.
0:10  Their favorite restaurant? Chick-fil-A.
0:12  Chick-fil-A? Really?
0:13  Taco Cabana or Cinnabon - that's a real fast food chain.
0:17  Athleisure is still in.
0:19  41% of teens cite an athletic brand
0:21  as their favorite clothing label,
0:23  up from 26% last year.
0:25  And their favorite social platform?
0:27  Snapchat.
0:28  I've been told in our comments, no joke,
0:30  that I look like Ryan Reynolds
0:31  when you sort of flick in and out
0:33  of a filter on Snapchat
0:35  and if you're on meth.
0:40  A loser: Apple.
0:41  The most valuable company in the world
0:43  convinced 90 million Americans to buy iPhones
0:45  but it's struggling to get them to use those iPhones to pay for products.
0:49  Just a third of Americans with Apple Pay-enabled devices have tried the service
0:53  and few ever use it again.
0:54  The number of people who used Apple Pay
0:56  more than once in a month
0:58  peaked in March of 2015.
1:00  Apple blames the poor adoption on retailers.
1:03  Let me get this.
1:04  Your PR executives went to the same graduate school as the executives at Pepsi and United.
1:09  It's your fault, retailers.
1:11  Anyways, only five of the 100 brands in our Specialty Retail study
1:15  accept Apple Pay.
1:16  But the real reason the service hasn't taken off?
1:18  Consumers prefer credit cards.
1:21  A winner?
1:22  Road safety,
1:23  as ride-hailing apps prevent deaths from drunk driving.
1:25  After Uber launched in New York in 2011,
1:28  alcohol-related traffic accidents fell by 25 to 35%.
1:32  Every day 28 people in the US die in alcohol-related crashes,
1:37  which account for a third of traffic-related deaths.
1:40  Uber's arrival could be even more meaningful in South Africa
1:44  where almost two-thirds of road deaths are alcohol-related,
1:48  the highest proportion in the world.
1:49  The company grew faster during its first year in Johannesburg and Cape Town
1:53  than London or San Francisco.
1:56  We leave you this week
1:57  with this stunning visualization of New York City commuter trips
2:00  created by Will Geary
2:02  set to my favorite DJ.

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Q1 2017 Results & Webcasts April 27: $GOOG $GOOGL, $AMZN, $VRSN

Q1 2017 Earnings Releases and LIVE Webcasts on Thursday, April 27, 2017, by 3 outstanding tech companies: 

• 4:30 pm EDT: Alphabet (Google) and Verisign (see below);
• 5:30 pm EDT: Amazon.com Inc. (see below).

One-year returns of: $GOOG +23.5%; $AMZN +49.9%; $VRSN -0.64% (as of Apr 26)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) will hold its quarterly conference call (video above) to discuss first quarter 2017 financial results on Thursday, April 27, at 4:30 p.m. EDT  (1:30 p.m. Pacific Time) (Eastern Time (EDT).

LIVE webcast of the earnings conference call can be accessed above and here. A replay of the webcast will be available through the same link following the conference call. Visit the Investor Relations website at abc.xyz/investor on April 27, 2017 to view the earnings release prior to the conference call. UPDATE: Alphabet (GOOG) Q1 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com

Alphabet Announces First Quarter 2017 Results - Investor Relations - Alphabet: "Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. "Our excellent results represent a terrific start to 2017, with revenues up 22% versus the first quarter of 2016 and 24% on a constant currency basis. We clearly continue to benefit from our ongoing investments in product innovation and have great momentum in our new businesses across Alphabet," said Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet." (read more at link above)

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google (principal domain: google.com) in September 1998. The company now has more than 70,000 employees worldwide, with a wide range of popular products, services, and platforms. In October 2015, Alphabet became the parent holding company of Google.
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Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2017 financial results on April 27, 2017, at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. PDT).

The event will be webcast LIVE, and the audio and associated slides will be available for at least three months thereafter at www.amazon.com/ir (investor relations)

Q1 2017 Summary: Q1 EPS of $1.48 beat analysts' estimates by $0.35. Revenue $35.7B (+22.5% Y/Y) beat by $400M. UPDATE: Amazon.com (AMZN) Q1 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com.

Amazon - Investor Relations - Press Release: "Amazon.com Announces First Quarter Sales up 23% to $35.7 Billion--financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2017: Operating cash flow increased 53% to $17.6 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $11.6 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2016. Free cash flow increased to $10.2 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $6.7 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2016. Free cash flow less lease principal repayments increased to $6.2 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $3.8 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2016. Free cash flow less finance lease principal repayments and assets acquired under capital leases increased to $3.3 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.9 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2016. Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 497 million on March 31, 2017, compared with 490 million one year ago. Net sales increased 23% to $35.7 billion in the first quarter, compared with $29.1 billion in first quarter 2016. Excluding the $492 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 24% compared with first quarter 2016. Operating income decreased 6% to $1.0 billion in the first quarter, compared with operating income of $1.1 billion in first quarter 2016." (read more at link above)

Amazon.com, also called just "Amazon," is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company (AWS / Amazon Web Services) founded on July 5, 1994, by Jeff Bezos and based in Seattle, Washington. See also: Amazon Form 10-K Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016--Jeff Bezos' Annual Letter, Still 'Day 1' excerpt below:

Amazon.com Inc.EX-99.1 | sec.gov: "... True Customer Obsession - There are many ways to center a business. You can be competitor focused, you can be product focused, you can be technology focused, you can be business model focused, and there are more. But in my view, obsessive customer focus is by far the most protective of Day 1 vitality. Why? There are many advantages to a customer-centric approach, but here’s the big one: customers are always beautifully, wonderfully dissatisfied, even when they report being happy and business is great. Even when they don’t yet know it, customers want something better, and your desire to delight customers will drive you to invent on their behalf. No customer ever asked Amazon to create the Prime membership program, but it sure turns out they wanted it, and I could give you many such examples. Staying in Day 1 requires you to experiment patiently, accept failures, plant seeds, protect saplings, and double down when you see customer delight. A customer-obsessed culture best creates the conditions where all of that can happen. Resist Proxies - As companies get larger and more complex, there’s a tendency to manage to proxies. This comes in many shapes and sizes, and it’s dangerous, subtle, and very Day 2 ..."

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Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) Q1 2017 Earnings, LIVE Webcast April 27, 4:30pm EDT

Verisign's first quarter 2017 earnings news release will be distributed to the wire services at approximately 4:05 p.m. (EDT) April 27, 2017, and will also be available directly from the company's website at investor.verisign.com.

Listen to webcast
Summary of Q1 2017: Q1 EPS of $0.96 beat estimates by $0.02.
Revenue $288.61M (+2.4% Y/Y) beat by $3.9M

• Earnings Results and Earnings Presentation

• Quarterly VRSN Convertible Debenture Dilution Q1- 2017

VeriSign (VRSN) Q1 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com: "Gray W. Powell - Wells Fargo Securities LLC: Great. And then last one, if I may. Just any update on the .web antitrust investigation? D. James Bidzos - VeriSign, Inc.: No substantive update. We continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice relative to the CID that we discussed last quarter. Those interactions and dialogues have been constructive. We're producing documents and information and answering their questions as needed. So it's an ongoing process. Nothing substantive to update now. But, of course, as soon as there is, we'll share it with you."

Verisign Reports First Quarter 2017 Results (NASDAQ:VRSN): "VeriSign, Inc. and subsidiaries ("Verisign") reported revenue of $289 million for the first quarter of 2017, up 2.4 percent from the same quarter in 2016. Verisign reported net income of $116 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted "EPS") of $0.94 for the first quarter of 2017, compared to net income of $107 million and diluted EPS of $0.82 for the same quarter in 2016. The operating margin was 60.7 percent for the first quarter of 2017 compared to 59.2 percent for the same quarter in 2016 ... Verisign ended the first quarter with 143.6 million .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base, a 1.0 percent increase from the end of the first quarter of 2016, and a net increase of 1.4 million during the first quarter of 2017. In the first quarter, Verisign processed 9.5 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, as compared to 10.0 million for the same quarter in 2016." (read more at the link above)

Form 10-Q / Quarterly Report  and View all SEC Filings

LIVE Webcast and teleconference info: Verisign will host a live teleconference call on April 27, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. (EDT), which will be accessible by direct dial at (888) 676-VRSN (U.S.) or (913) 312-1504 (international), conference ID: Verisign. A listen-only live webcast of the earnings conference call will also be available at https://investor.verisign.com. An audio archive of the call will be available at investor.verisign.com/events.cfm.

Verisign is a domain names registry operator and internet security services provider. Verisign ensures the security, stability and resiliency of key internet infrastructure and services, and two of the internet's 13 root servers, and performs the root zone maintainer function for the core of the internet's Domain Name System (DNS) pursuant to an agreement with ICANN. Verisign's Security Services include intelligence-driven Distributed Denial of Service Protection and Managed DNS.

Verisign is the exclusive (monopoly) registry operator of the .COM and .NET TLDs (top-level domains), for which it collects annual registration fees for each of the 143+ million .com and .net registered domain names. "Margin on this recurring revenue is extraordinarily high and minimal need for cash in the business. Bought back stock aggressively in the last ten years (diluted shares shrunk from around 250 million to 125 million)"--Verisign | investoralmanac.com. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the second-largest institutional owner of Verisign shares.

See also: VeriSign Stock Repurchase Capacity | SeekingAlpha.com: "... The company's stock buybacks should retire 25-28% of the shares outstanding in the next 5 years.With the buybacks and slow growth, investors should be rewarded generously over the next few years compared to the overall market ..."
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Twitter $TWTR Q1 2017 Results, LIVE Webcast April 26 Replay

Twitter $TWTR Q1 2017 Results, LIVE Webcast, April 26, 8am EDT

• Stock Exchange: Symbol  |  NYSE: TWTR 
• Principal domain: twitter.com
• Investor relations | investor.twitterinc.com

Twitter beat Q1 2017 estimates with $548M revenue and 328M MAUs, up 9M Q/Q and 7M more than expected, DAUs up 14% YoY--UPDATE: Twitter (TWTR) Q1 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com.

• Twitter First Quarter 2017 Earnings Conference Call
• Q1' 2017 Shareholder Letter
• Earnings Press Release
• Slide Presentation
• Selected Company Metrics and Financials

Twitter has used, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website and the Twitter accounts of @jack, @twitter and @TwitterIR as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. (source: Twitter press release)
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T-Mobile $TMUS Q1 2017 Earnings, April 24 LIVE Webcast REPLAY

T-Mobile Q1 2017 Earnings Call: Behind-the-Scenes Livestream:

Apr 24, 2017: Watch the LIVE REPLAY of @JohnLegere and the @TMobile senior leadership team as they deliver Q1 2017 results.

T-Mobile $TMUS Q1 2017 Financial Results, LIVE Webcast April 24, 4:30pm EDT--special Domain Mondo  coverage due to T-Mobile recent acquisition of wireless spectrum (see on Domain Mondo: Tech Review | Disruption: T-Mobile Big Winner of FCC's Spectrum Auction).

UPDATE: T-Mobile US (TMUS) Q1 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com

T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) (domain: t-mobile.com) will discuss its first quarter 2017 financial and operational results as well as the results of the recent 600 MHz FCC spectrum auction on Monday, April 24, 2017 at 4:30 p.m. EDT--Q1 2017 Earnings Call LIVE Webcast. 

T-Mobile US - Q1 2017 results:  Q1 EPS of $0.80, Revenue $9.62B (+11.9% Y/Y). 1.1 Million Customer Net Additions, Record-Low Churn of 1.18%.

• Webcast
• Earnings Release
• Investor Factbook
• Financial Results, Supplementary Data, and Non-GAAP Reconciliations - PDF
• Financial Results, Supplementary Data, and Non-GAAP Reconciliations - Excel
• FORM 10-Q Document for quarter ending March 31, 2017 see also exhibits

Other ways to access the Earnings Call:

Access via Phone (audio only):
Call-in Numbers: 800-432-9830
International: 719-234-7318
Participant Passcode: 4867010

Access via Social Media:
The @TMobileIR Twitter account (embed below) will live-tweet the earnings call.

Participants have multiple ways to submit questions including via phone, Twitter (tweet using $TMUS) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/JohnJLegere via post comment). T-Mobile will also take questions via text and respond to some of them on the call (send a text message to 313131, enter the keyword TMUS followed by a space). Similar to past quarters, prepared remarks will be kept to a minimum in order to provide more time for free-flowing dialogue with analysts, investors, media and consumers.

Submit Questions via Text, Twitter or Facebook:

Text: Send a text message to 313131, enter the keyword TMUS followed by a space
Twitter: Send a tweet to @TMobileIR or @JohnLegere using $TMUS
Facebook: Post a comment to John Legere’s Facebook Earnings post

Replay of the earnings call will be available for two weeks starting shortly after the call concludes and can be accessed by dialing 888-203-1112 (toll free) or 719-457-0820 (international). The passcode required to listen to the replay is 4867010.

The Q1 2017 earnings release and call will also be available via the Company's Investor Relations website: http://investor.t-mobile.com/.
Tweets by TMobileIR Tweets about $TMUS
T-Mobile US, Inc. will issue a press release and Investor Factbook reporting its results at approximately 4:05 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 24, 2017. The press release and Investor Factbook will be posted at the same time on the Investor Relations website.

T-Mobile Social Media: Investors and others should note that the Company announces material financial and operational information to its investors using its investor relations website, press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. The Company also intends to use the @TMobileIR Twitter account (https://twitter.com/TMobileIR) and the @JohnLegere Twitter (https://twitter.com/JohnLegere), Facebook and Periscope accounts, which Mr. Legere also uses as means for personal communications and observations, as means of disclosing information about the Company and its services and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. The information we post through these social media channels may be deemed material. Accordingly, investors should monitor these social media channels in addition to following the Company’s press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. The social media channels that the Company intends to use as a means of disclosing the information described above may be updated from time to time as listed on the Company’s investor relations website.

About T-Mobile US, Inc.
"America's Un-carrier"-- T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS)--provides wireless services through its advanced nationwide 4G LTE network to 71.5 million customers. Based in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile US provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile and MetroPCS. For more information, visit t-mobile.com or join the conversation on Twitter using $TMUS.--source: Press Release | T-Mobile.com

Note also that on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. EDT, AT&T (NYSE: T) will host a conference call to discuss its Q1 2017 results. The company’s earnings release, Investor Briefing and related materials will be available at AT&T Investor Relations. A live webcast of the call will also be available at AT&T Investor Relations, and the webcast replay will be available until June 30, 2017.


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Broken Public Equity Markets, Cannabis Real Estate & Waste-to-Energy

In this recent Bloomberg Markets P&L podcast:

1) Convergex's Colas Says Public Equity Market May Be a Broken Concept: Nick Colas, chief market strategist at Convergex [domain: convergex.com], says David Einhorn's General Motors plan exposes broken public equity markets.

2) Dawn Sandoval, COO at Kalyx Development [domain: kalyxdevelopment.com], discusses the current outlook for the cannabis real estate market and the impact of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' anti-drug stance.

3) Stephen Jones, CEO at Covanta [domain: covanta.com], talks about the waste-to-energy process.

4) Finally, Bloomberg's Laura Keller discusses her article, "Wall Street's WhatsApp Secret: Illegal Texting Is Out of Control." See also: Wall Street's WhatsApp Secret: Illegal Texting Is Out of Control | Hacker News | news.ycombinator.com.

Trader to me just now: "Great article, ppl talking about it. ... Probably shouldn't be texting, lol"

Read why! https://t.co/fn5LOK5tes

— Laura J. Keller (@LauraJKeller) March 31, 2017

ETF Direct sets monthly records for notional value, shares traded and notional trade size. Read more here: https://t.co/d3LnOJfdNi pic.twitter.com/9da729IohJ

— CONVERGEX (@Convergex) April 6, 2017

We've just launched a Corporate Guide to Responsible Waste Management w/ @TriplePundit https://t.co/M18zQwMB3x #ZeroWaste #sustainability

— Covanta (CVA) (@Covanta) March 28, 2017

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The Global Splinternet: Digital Borders, TLD Filters & Tolls? | NR 2017-04-23

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2017-04-23):

Features •  1) The Global Splinternet, 2) ICANN news: .NET Registry Agreement and Domain Transfers & Changes, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: WIPO IP Day, 4) ICYMI Internet Domain News, 5) Q1 2017 Earnings This Coming Week: TWTR, GOOG, AMZN, VRSN, 6) Most Popular.

 1)  The Global Splinternet: Digital Borders, TLD Filters & Tolls?

"China’s internet policy may be a forerunner of a federated, loosely connected set of national internets called “the splinternet.” This future potential state of affairs would be characterized by digital borders that are meant to protect both real and cognitive sovereignty while keeping out unwanted foreign competition or influence. In this way, rather than the global village envisaged by the 20th-century counterculture, the mid-21st century internet might actually turn out to be a federation of loosely connected national platforms closely aligned with state power. On its surface, the splinternet may resemble today’s open internet, and would probably run on the same technologies and protocols. But the access and trade policies of individual states will combine to create wildly different experiences for users across different countries, with less exchange between regional internets."--"former open web booster" Ben Moskowitz, in Quartz (qz.com), infra (emphasis and first link added)

[Domain Mondo Editor's note (hereinafter Editor's note): We live in strange times. Unlike most in the U.S. financial and technology sectors who have largely adjusted and adapted to the Trump Presidency, many Hillary Clinton supporters in the media and political spheres are still in a funk over last year's Presidential election results, perhaps consumed by their Trump Derangement Syndrome fed by "false news" spread by mainstream media, and are now attacking the free and open internet like Mr. Moskowitz--The reasons why a free and open internet could spell the web’s downfall | Internet freedom may not be the safest future: Instead, nations could consider "the splinternet" to protect their digital borders | Quartz | qz.com--apparently, the price of an open, free-flow-of-information internet now strikes certain American political and media elites on the left as "too high." Facebook, Twitter, and Google appear willing to "fall in line." Should anyone be surprised if ICANN follows behind? If so, pity the multitudes of struggling new gTLD registry operators who all thought they were going to get filthy rich off ICANN's new gTLDs program--optimism bias knows no bounds--and all those suckers who bought new gTLD domain names, or even worse, bought and are using their own .BRAND new gTLDs, when they get hit by the "Chinese internet governance model" in multiple countries, each with their own laws, rules, TLD filtering, taxes, fees, and tolls. Only the strong will survive.]

See also:  

• G7 Declaration on Responsible States Behavior In Cyberspace (pdf)
• Now it's the Left that's descending into fascism | charleshughsmith.blogspot.com: "... the Left must mask its own corruption and role in the Corporatocracy structure. The Left accomplishes this by imposing a virtue-signaling conformity on corporate media, social media, and the state institutions under its control-- higher education, government agencies, etc. Dissent is by definition fake news or hate speech--Orwell would be so proud of the Left's deft doublespeak. The suppression of skeptical inquiry and alternative narratives is fascism. There is no way to sugar-coat this ..."
• Camille Paglia: Trump Already Headed Towards Reelection, Democrats Have Overplayed Their Hand | Video | RealClearPolitics.com

2) ICANN news

• Public Comment Period Now Open on Proposed Renewal of .NET Registry Agreement | ICANN.org: Close Date 30 May 2017 23:59 UTC. [Editor's note: The disclosures provided by ICANN in its Public Comment posting (link above) are grossly inadequate and I will attempt to address this with ICANN staff and management and provide a later posting of what I find out.]

In the meantime, one comment has already been received from George Kirikos and published by ICANN, which provides detailed pricing information undisclosed by ICANN--excerpt:

[Comments-net-renewal-20apr17] Prices could be $14.52/yr in 2023! Opposed to .NET renewal with 10% annual price increases. Contract should be tendered, to foster competition | mm.icann.org:

".... After 6 more years of 10% annual price increases, [.NET]consumers could be facing registry fees of:
2018: $9.02/yr
2019: $9.92/yr
2020: $10.91/yr
2021: $12.00/yr
2022: $13.20/yr
2023: $14.52/yr  (of course, those are the fees to registrars, who would then pass them along to consumers with an additional margin; registrars face competition amongst other registrars). Compared to $2/yr, a $14.52/yr fee on 15 million domains represents a loss to consumers of $187.8 million PER YEAR ($12.52/yr x 15 million).Obviously these allowed price increases are untenable. Compared to the $4.95/yr starting point 6 years ago, in 6 years consumers could be facing prices that are 193% higher (i.e. comparing $14.52/yr to $4.95/yr), when all other technology costs (hosting, bandwidth, storage costs, computing) have been decreasing. All other technology costs face competition, whereas ICANN protects Verisign from competition, harming consumers in the process. As ICANN appears incapable of negotiating in the public interest, it is time for this anti-competitive and anti-consumer contract to be set aside on anti-trust grounds by the relevant national authorities." (emphasis added)

[Editor's note: also note that ICANN receives a $0.75 fee which must be added to the pricing of each .NET domain name provided above. Compared solely to the unfettered pricing, "rape and pillaging" of domain name registrants and the global domain name marketplace that ICANN enables and permits of its new gTLDs' registry operators, the proposed .NET contract is an improvement when it comes to consumer (registrant) protection. Just think if ICANN had extended the new gTLDs' pricing policies to .NET? Of course most of us know ICANN is incompetent (at best), as ICANN has never instituted competitive bidding with maximum fee schedules for renewal of any gTLD registry agreement even though that is exactly what the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recommended in 2008 (and ICANN rejected) for ICANN's new gTLDs program. As I have noted before, ICANN is a global public interest #FAIL, and does not operate gTLDs in the interests of registrants (consumers) even though the US DOJ told ICANN it was ICANN's obligation to do so. Domain name registrants (consumers) would be better served if ICANN were abolished and all gTLDs transitioned to ccTLDs with each government providing consumer protections pursuant to a new international treaty on TLDs.  The uncomfortable truth is that we're all screwed if the Cooperative Agreement between the U.S. government and Verisign on .COM pricing is not extended beyond November 30, 2018. .COM is the global gold standard among all TLDs (top-level domains), in part because it is the world's only open* gTLD that comes with a pricing guarantee backed by the U.S. government. Verisign would be stupid to let go of that "competitive advantage." *Anyone, anywhere in the world, can register a .COM domain name, and is protected by the .COM pricing guarantee in Amendment 32 and Amendment 34. As noted by George Kirikos in his .NET comment above, ICANN management and staff are"incapable of negotiating in the public interest" which means ICANN should never be allowed to replace the U.S. government role in .COM pricing. Final caveat: this proposed .NET Registry Agreement demands close scrutiny by not only .NET registrants, but also .COM registrants. As I already noted above, I will have more to say in a future posting.]

•  Elise Gerich to Leave ICANN After Seven Years of Service | ICANN.org: "Elise Gerich has decided to step down from her role at ICANN as Vice President, IANA Services and President, Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) in October 2017." [Editor's note: good move Elise, get off that sinking ship while you still can!  And since ICANN got rid of Fadi last year, I guess the "ICANN community" won't have to worry about the current ICANN CEO appointing one of his neighbors or friends, or an inept former co-worker (or spouse), as Gerich's replacement.]

• Contractual Compliance Update (Jan-Mar 2017)(pdf) excerpt below re: Domain Name Transfers and Change of Registrant Information:

For more background on the above: GNSO Admits Domain Name Transfer Policy Flawed, Blames ICANN Staff | DomainMondo.com.

• GNSO Webinar on the Geographic Names at the Top-Level on Tuesday, 25 April | ICANN.org
• GDD Industry Summit, Madrid, May 8-11 | Preliminary Agenda | ICANN.org (pdf)
• Revised ICANN Procedure For Handling WHOIS Conflicts with Privacy Law | ICANN.org: Effective Date 18 April 2017 - View the Redline Version of the Revised Whois Procedure (pdf).
• Q&A: What the Retirement of Google Site Search Means for ICANN | ICANN.org
• GNSO Projects List - 17 April 2017 | gnso.icann.org (pdf)
• ICANN gTLD contractual compliance guidelines (pdf)

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

• World Intellectual Property Day – April 26, 2017 | wipo.int: Every April 26, we celebrate World Intellectual Property Day to learn about the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity ...
• What's in a Name? For a Business . . . Oh, Everything | entrepreneur.com: "Be careful with geographic names"
• How to share access to your organization's domain, email, and passwords | TechRepublic.com
• Domain redirects: 1,000 ways to redirect | searchengineland.com
• Court Dismisses Suit Against Coach and Its Counsel for Wrongful Seizure of Website Due to Lack of Personal Jurisdiction | BakerHostetler | JDSupra.com
• Policing the Trademark Playground and Calling Out Bullies | Harness, Dickey & Pierce, PLC | JDSupra.com

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News Quick Takes 

• President Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
• China says Cyberspace governance leads to more freedom | China.org.cn: "... Most countries applauded President Xi's proposal for building a community of shared future in cyberspace. "The proposal features the greatest common divisor. It is inclusive enough so that no one stands out to oppose it," said Prof. Shen Yi, director of the Research Center of Cyberspace Governance at Fudan University in Shanghai, adding that many countries hoped that "community of shared future" be more tangible and practical ..."  See also CAICT Holds ICANN 58 China Internet Community Readout Session | circleid.com.
• Homograph Attacks: Google Fixes Unicode Phishing Vulnerability in Chrome 58, Firefox Stands Pat | Threatpost.com
• Mossberg: A plan to preserve the internet | TheVerge.com: "It should be protected for all, not sold off in pieces."
• Scams & Malware: A study (pdf) conducted by PhD candidates at Stony Brook University identifies malvertising as a major culprit for exposing users to technical support scams.
• Ransomware: Banks’ Boards of Directors Face New Cybersecurity Challenges | BakerHostetler | JDSupra.com: "ransomware attacks against businesses in the U.S. quadrupled in 2016 ... intensity of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks has also increased"
• Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices [domain: berkshirehathawayhs.com] announced a marketing agreement with Juwai.com to syndicate all of its franchisees’ residential listings to the China-based international property portal that attracts roughly two million visitors monthly.--BusinessWire.com

5) Q1 2017 Earnings Season

This coming week on Domain Mondo:

• Twitter TWTR April 26 at 7:00 am EDT
• Verisign VRSN Apr 27 at 4:30 pm EDT
• Alphabet GOOG / GOOGL Apr 27 4:30 pm EDT
• Amazon AMZN Apr 27 at 5:30pm EDT

6) Most popular post (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com: News Review | Caveat Emptor: ICANN & New gTLD Domain Names

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo (note our new digital ISO 8601 compliant format)

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