Year 2018 in Review & Fall of the FAANGs $AAPL $FB (video)

2018: Year in Review

Among the key events of the year; Donald Trump met Kim Jong Un, Facebook's growth slowed as Apple's market cap hit $1 trillion, and a trade war between the US and China weakened the global economy. Videos above and below published by the Financial Times (ft.com).

A Tale of Two Stocks: Apple $AAPL and Facebook $FB:

$AAPL

$FB

Techlash: the fall of the FAANGs

FT.com's Rana Foroohar explains what happened this year to the FAANGs (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, et al) in the tech sector, and what may further impact the sector in 2019.

Inflation, 2018

Venezuela: 12615%
Turkey: 12%
Pakistan: 5%
India: 4.7%
Mexico: 4.4%
Saudi: 4.4%
Indonesia: 3.5%
Brazil: 3.5%
Russia: 2.9%
US: 2.5%
UK: 2.4%
Canada: 2.2%
China: 2.2%
Malaysia: 1.9%
France: 1.9%
Germany: 1.8%
Israel: 1.7%
S Korea: 1.7%
Italy: 1.2%
Japan: 1%

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) December 17, 2018

Currency against US Dollar, past year.

Japan: +2.6%
Mexico: 0%

Nigeria: -0.2%
Egypt: -0.4%
Euro: -4%
UK: -5%
China: -5%
Indonesia: -7%
Canada: -7%
Australia: -9%
India: -10%
Iran: -17%
Brazil: -18%
Russia: -19%
Pakistan: -26%
Turkey: -39%
Argentina: -107%
Venezuela: -2,400,000%

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) December 26, 2018

Imprisoned journalists, 2018

Turkey: 68
China: 47
Egypt: 25
Saudi Arabia: 16
Eritrea: 16
Vietnam: 11
Azerbaijan: 10
Iran: 8
Cameroon: 8

(Committee to Protect Journalists)

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) December 25, 2018

Middle East nominal GDP, 2018. ($ billion)

Saudi: 769
Turkey: 713
UAE: 432
Iran: 430
Israel: 365
Egypt: 249
Iraq: 230
Qatar: 188
Kuwait: 144
Oman: 81
Lebanon: 56
Libya: 43
Jordan: 41
Bahrain: 39
Yemen: 28

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) December 25, 2018

Meat consumption per year. (kilograms per person)

US: 120
Australia: 111
Spain: 97
Israel: 96
Canada: 94
Italy: 90
Germany: 88
France: 87
Brazil: 85
UK: 84
Russia: 69
South Africa: 58
China: 58
Saudi: 54
Japan: 45
Turkey: 25
Pakistan: 14
Indonesia: 11
Nigeria: 8
India: 4

(FAO)

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) December 23, 2018

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News Review | Six Questions for 2019 & Twelve for 2018 Answered

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-12-30 with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) Six Questions for 2019 & Twelve for 2018 Answered,  2)ICANN news: a. EPDP Meeting Jan 3, b. Public Comment Periods Closing in January, 3) GoDaddy $GDDY and more, 4) 2018 in Review, 5) Most Read.

1)  Six Questions for 2019 & Twelve for 2018 Answered

Six Questions for 2019:

1. New gTLD .WEB 

Will Verisign $VRSN + ICANN Crush Afilias?

Editor's note: For $135 million, ICANN will do whatever you want.

2. New gTLD .AMAZON: Bezos vs Brazil et al

Bezos Has $$, BUT Brazil et al Have Power, Who Wins?

Editor's note: when ICANN's current CEO was caught in his own lies, things went south.

3. New gTLD .AFRICA Litigation

Will DCA Trust Finally Get Its 'Day in Court'?
Editor's note: another mess Fadi Chehade & Akram Atallah left behind.

4. GDPR, ICANN Temp Spec & EPDP, WHOIS Access

Standardized Access, Unified Access?
Editor's note: the dysfunctional EPDP grinds on, but ICANN Org has a different agenda.

5. ICANN New gTLD Auction Proceeds

Who Will Be the Big 'Money Grab' Winners?
Editor's note: At ICANN, "It's ALL about the money."

6. IGF 2019 Berlin  25-29 November

Action Or Just More Talk?

Editor's note:the fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be hosted by the Government of Germany in Berlin from 25 to 29 November 2019. The first face-to-face 2019 Open Consultations and MAG meeting takes place on 28-30 January 2019 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. A Call for Issues has been published and submissions are due Thursday 24 January 2019. UPDATE: Among the issues already submitted in the Category: Evolution of Internet Governance:

#22 Quels solutions préconisez vous pour l'évolution de la gouvernance de l'Internet? [What solutions do you recommend for the evolution of Internet governance?]

#37 A middle ground between the vested-interest capture of multi-stakeholderism and government capture of multi-lateralism is badly needed. How can IGF stimulate such innovation? Comment submitted with this issue below (highlighting added)--

The 12 Questions for 2018 Answered:

1. Domain Names: Will 2018 Be As Bad As 2017 or Worse, particularly for new gTLDs (new generic top-level domains)? New gTLDs No Longer In Decline, But Hardly Healthy
2. Will the Internet Society (ISOC) find its way in 2018? New Leadership, But Jury Still Out
3. What's Next for Internet Net Neutrality? More of the Same, See You In Court
4. Should the Internet Governance Forum be allowed to die? Depends on What Happens in Berlin, November, 2019
5. China's 5th World Internet Conference in 2018: Even Bigger, Broader, and Bolder? No
6. Was ICANN ready for EU GDPR compliance on 25 May 2018? No, It Was A Train Wreck
7. Will NTIA extend the Cooperative Agreement with Verisign on or before November 30, 2018, and specifically, what will happen to .com pricing? Extended But Verisign Got More $$$
8. Will ICANN "roll the root zone KSK" in 2018 or "break the internet" in the process? Delayed But Everything Turned Out OK
9. What will be the outcomes of ICANN litigation in 2018? Ruby Glen (Donuts) Lost vs ICANN, ICANN Lost vs EPAG (Tucows), For Everything Else See 2019 Above
10. What will the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division do about new gTLD .WEB, Verisign and ICANN? Nothing, File Closed, No Action
11. What will happen to the ICANN Reviews, including the still suspended SSR2? SSR2 Back In Business, As For The Rest, Nobody Cares
12. Will the global internet community begin taking steps to reform or replace ICANN in 2018, including at PP-18, ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018, Dubai, UAE 29 Oct - 16 Nov 2018, or establish a new root? Only Macron at IGF2018 in Paris Gave A Glimmer Of Hope

2) ICANN News

a. EPDP Meeting Thursday, Jan 3, 2019, at 14:00 UTC (9am EST). Observers use Adobe Connect, or browser or app audiocast. Resources: EPDP Initial Report (pdf) and comments. 

Editor's note: The following quotes from the chat transcript (embed below) sum up the dysfunctional EPDP meeting on January 3, 2019:

Stephanie Perrin (NCSG): (09:37) "Let us ask the legal counsel to explain how one goes about elucidating purposes of processing. It is a bit late, but we are a long way from bringing this thing home, in my opinion. Better late than never."

Stephanie Perrin (NCSG): (09:59) "My comment about seeking legal advice, was to try to explain to us what this process is. We do not have a sound methodology, people are all over the map, in my view because they do not really understand what we are trying to do."

Thursday meeting agenda, EPDP leadership's note (pdf), meeting transcript (pdf); Adobe recording, PCRT (Public Comment Review Tool), notes & action items, and Chat transcript (pdf) embed below:

GNSO Council EPDP page and updates; links to all EPDP meetings' transcripts and recordings on the GNSO calendar; EPDP working group wiki, mail list, action items, Temp Spec, EPDP Charter (pdf), Data Elements Workbooks (pdf).

Editor's note: comments by the GNSO's CPH (Contracted Parties House, i.e., Registrars & gTLD Registry Operators) embed further below, excerpts:

The EPDP Team must limit its focus to the charter if it is to complete its work by the anticipated February 1, 2019 Final Report publication date.

Several working methods have impeded the EPDP Team’s progress. Certain EPDP Team members spent a disproportionate amount of time (including during almost every meeting) discussing -- or trying to discuss -- access. These access discussions and efforts were premature, diverted the EPDP Team’s attention from its critical prerequisite work, and negatively impacted the Team’s progress. The Initial Report reflects this diversion and lack of progress. The EPDP Team has a responsibility to the ICANN community to be diligent about remaining “in scope;” otherwise, the Team risks not completing its work by February 1, 2019.

The EPDP Team has neither agreed upon – nor in many cases even conducted – significant foundational work including defining a minimum data set, performing a data audit, and defining roles and responsibilities of parties. Further, the Purposes put forth as Recommendations in the Initial Report, only stand on the analysis conducted in the workbooks which are overtly framed as ICANN Purposes only.

It is not appropriate for any PDP WG to propose new or materially different policy recommendations in its Final Report without providing the community an opportunity to comment. This is especially true for a subject as complex and important as GDPR compliance in the domain name registration ecosystem.

The Initial Report itself raises concerns. The lack of agreement behind the individual recommendations is clear. The lack of consensus calls is clear ... Although the Initial Report is written to suggest that the EPDP Team developed the recommendations, the CPH understands that it did not. To the contrary, ICANN Staff developed the specific language of the recommendations, many of which could not be tracked back to specific EPDP Team decisions or discussions. The timing of the Initial Report (and the time diverted to access discussions) left little time for the EPDP Team to properly deliberate on all recommendations, the data elements workbooks, or the Initial Report text itself. While the CPH understands the tremendous time pressure the EPDP Team faces, it is important for the integrity of the PDP process that working group members not be surprised by Initial Report recommendations, be able to trace the origin of recommendations, and have adequate time to sufficiently deliberate those recommendations. In addition, the EPDP Team must focus on creating a report that lends itself to a clear, implementable Consensus Policy. The Initial Report is simply too ambiguous. (emphasis added)

CPH Comment embed in full below:

b. ICANN Public Comment periods ending in January, 2019

Note: dates subject to change by ICANN org. Closing time is 23.59 UTC on each date shown:

• Application for New Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Dispute-Resolution Service Provider 4 Jan 2019 

• Policy Status Report: Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) 7 Jan 2019 

• Maximal Starting Repertoire Version 4 (MSR-4) for Root ZoneLabel Generation Rules (RZ-LGR) 10 Jan 2019 

• Work Track 5 on Geographic Names at the Top Level - Supplemental Initial Report of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process 22 Jan 2019

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. GoDaddy $GDDY Citi analyst Nicholas Jones has given the stock a Buy rating and $82 target, citing GoDaddy's healthy FCF (free cash flow) and capital allocation strategy. Jones also thinks GoDaddy can increase ARPU (average revenue per user) to $230+ by 2029 from about $150 this year. Source: Bloomberg First Word.

b. Domain Registrar can be held liable for pirate site, German Court rules--torrentfreak.com 24 Dec 2018.

c. The web really isn’t worldwide – every country has different access--theconversation.com.

d. How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually--nymag.com.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News: 2018 in Review 

a. Big Wins for Privacy and Free Speech: 2018 in Review | EFF.org

b. The Year of the GDPR: 2018’s Most Famous Privacy Regulation in Review | EFF.org

c. Using Technology to Protect Online Privacy: 2018 Year in Review | EFF.org

Concerned about online privacy.

US: 83%
India: 83%
France: 78%
Italy: 78%
Mexico: 77%
UK: 76%
China: 76%
Nigeria: 75%
Turkey: 74%
Australia: 71%
Japan: 67%
Germany: 67%
Russia: 61%

(Ipsos)

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) December 16, 2018

InternetGovernance.org:

d. Civil society groups blast ICANN Org’s push for a “Unified Access Model”

e. An Access Model for Whois Data that Respects Registrants Rights

f. The Looming Battle over the GDPR and the Purpose of Whois in ICANN

g. The 2006 Definition of Whois Purpose: Case study of the “bad old days” in ICANN: “... everyone in the task force agrees the purpose of Whois is to provide a system for a given domain name to be looked up and produce a set of contact information ..."  (emphasis added)

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

#1 News Review | Greed is Good? ICANN Auctions & The Big 'Money Grab'

-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo 

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Tech Review 2019: From Moon Missions To A Big Year In Tech IPOs

Tech Review (TR 2018-12-29)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) 2019: The Year of Moon Missions, 2) Tech IPOs Poised for Another Big Year, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes, 4) ICYMI Tech News: Amazon, Google, Netflix, Facebook, China's Tech Sector, 5G Hype vs 5G Reality.

1) 2019: The Year of Moon Missions, marijuana and mega-hub airports

From groundbreaking moon missions to growth in the legal-cannabis market, 2019 will be year of new highs. Here's what to watch out for in the year ahead. Economist.com video above published Dec 20, 2018.

2) Tech IPOs Poised for Another Big Year

For tech IPOs, 2018 was a year of big deals and a year of global deals. There were more billion dollar technology IPOs than ever before and activity was largely driven by non-U.S. companies. Learn more from the Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division about what is driving activity and what we expect for the year ahead. Goldman Sachs video above published Dec 14, 2018.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite +4.0% | S&P 500 Index +2.9% | DJIA +2.8%

The market's underlying new reality: roughly 85% of all trading is on autopilot--controlled by machines, models, or passive investing formulas, that move in unison and blazingly fast--wsj.com: The Herdlike Behavior of Computerized Trading.

 Nobody Has Any Clue How To Trade "Bewildering" Market--zerohedge.com

The Long View:

Investing Notes:

PASSIVE ATTACK. My magazine piece on the roots of the index investing revolution, and what the future might hold. https://t.co/Bc5JOstDwj pic.twitter.com/DGd6EQyMOq

— Robin Wigglesworth (@RobinWigg) December 20, 2018

A Look Back: Amazon's ad platform growing 'very rapidly' said WPP CEO a year ago

Fox Business video above published Jan 26, 2018: then WPP CEO Martin Sorrell's (retired in April, 2018) prescient outlook for the markets in 2018, the U.S. economy, President Trump’s presence at the World Economic Forum, and the future of advertising.

Quant investors face test of faith in 2019 https://t.co/mvPpTz8oYN

— Finance News (@ftfinancenews) December 21, 2018

4) ICYMI Tech News:

Like the Google search engine, Amazon's Alexa has the potential to become a dominant gateway to the internet, so the company is pressing ahead with Alexa, built upon AI and machine learning. “By controlling that gateway, you can build a super profitable business,” said Kartik Hosanagar, a Wharton professor studying the digital economy--reuters.com.

Google isn’t the company that we should have handed the Web over to--Google repeatedly pushes the web in a proprietary direction to improve its services on Chrome making Microsoft's adoption of Chromium a loss for the open web--arstechnica.com.

More than half of top 50 shows on Netflix, by one measure, are owned by others like Disney, NBCU, and WarnerMedia, which are planning rival streaming services--recode.net.

The rise of China’s tech sector: the digital great game--Many Chinese tech firms also relied in their early phases on funding by foreign investors, a blatant breach of Chinese law-- lowyinstitute.org.

Facebook's terrible year just got worse ... The social media giant is under fire for whether it does enough to safeguard user data--cnet.com.

2018 was the year of 5G hype. The 5G reality is yet to come--WashingtonPost.com.

Crypto efforts of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and others are in limbo after bitcoin's months-long fall and weak demand from institutional clients--bloomberg.com Dec 22, 2018: Wall Street Quietly Shelves Its Bitcoin Dreams--Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and many more built it, but they didn’t come.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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1MDB Scandal: Goldman Sachs & the Malaysian Fraud Explained (video)

1MDB Scandal: the Malaysian fraud explained

The FT.com's Stefania Palma explains the corruption and money-laundering inquiry at the state development and investment fund in which charges have been filed against two former Goldman Sachs bankers, local financier Jho Low and ex-1MDB employee Jasmine Loo Ai Swan. Financial Times (ft.com) video above published Dec 18, 2018:

See  also:

• straitstimes.com/tags/1mdb

• 1Malaysia Development Berhad domain: 1mdb.com.my

Breaking News: Malaysia filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs, saying it made false and misleading statements related to the 1MDB scandal https://t.co/jaCQAcjVRj

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 17, 2018

Here’s what Goldman CEO David Solomon, who's been pretty quiet on 1MDB scandal so far, said in a year-end note to employees: pic.twitter.com/wmxRma7ig3

— Liz Hoffman (@lizrhoffman) December 21, 2018

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon made his most forceful defense yet of the firm, for its dealings with a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund https://t.co/T0kfydfYJJ

— Bradley Hope (@bradleyhope) December 21, 2018

Goldman Sachs ignored warning signs about scandal-plagued Malaysian investment fund #1MDB in its push for Asian business https://t.co/au07P7wize

— Bradley Hope (@bradleyhope) December 18, 2018

Three years of work later, @TomWrightAsia and I are excited to see "Billion Dollar Whale" for sale worldwide. It's the story of Jho Low, architect of one of the greatest heists of all time, involving everyone from Goldman Sachs execs to Leo DiCaprio. https://t.co/hPW6E1IFPo pic.twitter.com/Uugbq0tnv7

— Bradley Hope (@bradleyhope) September 18, 2018

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Economics 2018: Stock Market Turmoil, Trade Wars, Brexit Uncertainty

2018 in economics: from market turmoil, to trade war and Brexit

Market turmoil, a trade war, a softening global economy, a sputtering Germany, a budget-busting Italian government and Brexit: FT.com's economics commentator Martin Sandbu reviews a tough year in economics. Video above published Dec 21, 2018.

There exists a credible alternative to the present Brexit shambles. We must take it, seize the Brexit prize, and give the people of Britain the future they deserve. https://t.co/AOJKj3zc3V

— David Davis (@DavidDavisMP) December 16, 2018

The no-deal option: About a dozen Cabinet members now back completing Brexit on world trade terms rejecting the EU’s offer.
My Telegraph column on why this could now be the least risky option: https://t.co/evgc8IEbLE

— Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) December 21, 2018

Brexit Britain will be just fine https://t.co/29oIdcqAqF

— Toby Young (@toadmeister) December 26, 2018

On the other hand, Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, disagrees:

Martin Wolf: The nightmare of a no-deal Brexit looms and must be prevented https://t.co/YFV3bHIFvR

— Martin Wolf (@martinwolf_) December 13, 2018

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How To Invest Your Extra Cash Wisely and Financial Outlook for 2019

How To Invest Your Extra Cash Wisely

Bloomberg.com video above published Dec 13, 2018.

Vanguard (domain: vanguard.com):

Our take on where the economy might be headed in 2019 and beyond: https://t.co/YzZuEkNgQG

— Vanguard (@Vanguard_Group) December 18, 2018

Vanguard 2019 economic and market outlook (pdf)Tweets by Vanguard_FA

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Wherever You Are, Enjoy The Holiday!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Below: Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, California  (domain: gracecathedral.org):
Tweets by gracecathedral
See also @StPaulsLondon St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England:

Join us behind the scenes as we prepare for our busiest days of the year in 'Christmas at St Paul's'.

Follow the Virgers as they prepare to welcome thousands at services and experience Christmas Day through the eyes of our Choristers.

Watch it on BBC 2, 9pm on Christmas Eve. pic.twitter.com/i9tyGhb5nN

— St Paul's Cathedral (@StPaulsLondon) December 18, 2018

Domain: stpauls.co.uk

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Happy Holidays! Time-Out for a Peppermint Mocha! (video)

Starbucks Holiday 2018 | Peppermint Mocha

Sip a cup of magic, Starbucks Peppermint Mocha. Enjoy!

The NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange close early Christmas Eve (Monday, 1:00 pm EST) and both exchanges are closed Christmas Day.

Starbucks $SBUX (domain: starbucks.com)
Tweets by Starbucks

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News Review | Greed is Good? ICANN Auctions & The Big 'Money Grab'

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-12-23 with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) Greed is Good? ICANN Auctions & The Big 'Money Grab,' 2) Other ICANN news: a. EPDP Meetings, b. New gTLD .AMAZON,  c..WEB IRP, d. New gTLDs Next Round; 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks:  VeriSign $VRSN in NASDAQ 100, 4) ICYMI, 5) Most Read.

1) Greed is Good? ICANN New gTLD Auctions & The Big 'Money Grab' 

"... 2. Auctions (both "private" and "ICANN last resort") have corrupted ICANN and the processes for developing new gTLDs--"it's all about the money"--and increase costs that new gTLD registry operators can only recoup by charging registrants far more money for new gTLD domain name registrations and renewals than necessary had ICANN followed RFC1591 and the advice of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division cited above. In effect, consumers (domain name registrants) are bearing, directly and indirectly, the entire costs of ICANN's ill-conceived, horribly implemented, and corrupt program for new gTLDs .... 5. In lieu of the contracted parties' proposed "money grab" above and all other third parties' already proposed, or yet to come, "money grabs," ICANN should instead end this entire repulsive and tawdry "money grab" stampede, and announce it will set aside ALL of the auction proceeds for the benefit of domain name registrants who have, indirectly, provided these funds ..." (emphasis added)

Editor's note: excerpts above from my comment to ICANN's Initial Report of the New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross-Community Working Group, my comment is embed in full below:

See all the comments to ICANN's Big "Money Grab" here.

2) ICANN News

a. GDPR & ICANN WHOIS: Next meeting of the EPDP working group is Jan 3, 2019. For information on last week's meetings (info, transcripts, recordings, etc.) see last week's News Review. All comments to the EPDP Initial Report (pdf) can be reviewed here.

Editor's note: for more on the EPDP Initial Report comment process (including an "easy to read" copy of the comment I submitted), go to last week's News Review.

Related:

• Purpose O and ICANN org questions (Dec 22, 2018).

• Technical Study Group on Access to Non-Public Registration Data Charter (pdf) and blog post.

b. New gTLD .AMAZON: 

18 Dec 2018 Letter (pdf) (content below) from ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby to HE Jacqueline Mendoza:

Background: 7 Dec 2018 Letter from HE Jacqualine Mendoza to ICANN Board (pdf);

See also: (1) .AMAZON new gTLD application (pdf): "Geographic Names 21(a). Is the application for a geographic name? No." (2) 18 Dec 2018 Letter from ICANN CEO Göran Marby to GAC Chair Manal Ismail (pdf).

c. New gTLD .WEB IRP: 

ICANN’s Opposition To  Afilias Domains No. 3 Ltd.’S Request For Emergency Panelist And Interim Measures Of Protection (pdf) embed below:

Remaining items on the .WEB IRP schedule:

7 January 2019 Afilias Reply on Its Request for Interim Measures of Protection
9 January 2019 I CANN Sur-Reply (if any)
14 January 2019 Video Hearing on Afilias Interim Request
28 January 2019 Emergency Panelist Decision on Interim Request

More info here.

d. New gTLDs Next Round: 18 Dec 2018 Letter from ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby to Cheryl Langdon-Orr and Jeff Neuman (pdf) re: new gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDPWG Supplemental Initial Report:

"We believe that any new recommendations should guard against bad faith applications to the extent possible. These concerns mostly center on the issues of auctions of last resort and on private auctions. We take special note of the possible practice of participating in private auctions for the sole purpose of being paid to drop out. We also take note of the abuse that becomes possible in alterations to the change request mechanisms. The Board has concerns about whether, and in what ways, the availability of private auctions incentivizes applications for purposes other than actually using the string; and we are interested in how these incentives for abuse might be minimized."

.
3) Names, Domains & Trademarks:  Verisign $VRSN

.COM Registry Operator VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) is one of the six companies joining the NASDAQ-100 index coincident with its annual re-ranking, effective prior to market open on December 24, 2018. Source: Bloomberg First Word.

NASDAQ-100 Index

UPDATE: Dec 27, 2018: $VRSN UP 4% Since Added to the NASDAQ-100

Editor's note: The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market®, and was launched in January 1985.  

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

The EFF Gift Guide: What’s Creeping Us Out | EFF.org: 

• Facebook’s Portal
• Smart Home Hubs From Google, Amazon and Others
• Verizon Phones with AppFlash Spyware
• The Elf on the Shelf & the Mensch on a Bench

Editor's note: consider making a donation to EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) before 2018 ends.

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

1. News Review | GDPR & WHOIS EPDP Initial Report Comments Due Dec 21

2. Tech Review | Semiconductor Chip Wars: China vs U.S. (video)

3. Technology & Innovation: What's Next in Consumer Startups?

-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo 

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Tech Review | Amazon Reviews: What's Fake, What's Real? (video)

Tech Review (TR 2018-12-22)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Amazon Reviews: What's Fake, What's Real?, 2) How Scammers in China Manipulate Amazon, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: Focus on Europe, 4) ICYMI Tech News.

1) Amazon Reviews: What's Fake, What's Real?

Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN has a program where reviewers get free products in exchange for legitimate reviews. In other scenarios, vendors give products free to buyers who rate them five stars. WSJ's Joanna Stern caught up with a professional Amazon reviewer to find out how to spot the fakes. Wall Street Journal (wsj.com) video above published Dec 20, 2018.

$AMZN

2) How Scammers in China Manipulate Amazon

Chinese sellers resort to a wide range of cunning techniques to manipulate product listings on Amazon and boost sales. WSJ’s Jon Emont investigates their strategies and explains how consumers can detect sham listings. Wall Street Journal (wsj.com) video above published Dec 17, 2018.

See also: Amazon to lower some fees for third-party sellers.

3) Investing

The Week: NASDAQ Composite -8.4% | S&P 500 Index -7.1% | DJIA -6.9%

Editor's note: the markets appear to be "spooked." U.S. consumer sentiment remains at record favorable highs:

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.

The Long View:

Investing Notes: Focus on Europe

"While the U.S. economy remains solid, our international business weakened during the quarter, especially in Europe"--FedEx lowers outlook on slowdown in Europe (Dec 18, 2018).

Europe’s Still Not Ready to Shore Up the Monetary Union ... Planned reforms are a start, but they won’t be much help in a crisis.--bloomberg.com.

Germany: "Germans are enthusiastic savers but reluctant shareholders. As a cohort, they demonstrate a counter-productive preference for fixed-income products. This inclination has barely changed even as income has fallen due to the European Central Bank (ECB)’s low interest rate policy."--“German Angst” Shapes Investment Decisions: Study | cfainstitute.org.

France to tax tech giants from 2019 as EU fails to act ... French economy minister says the country will introduce its own digital tax, dubbed “GAFA tax”, on large internet and technology companies from January 1--dw.com.

A WTO Brexit: "I have still not heard a scare story I believe, and do not think the EU will be able to mount some kind of self harming blockade of their trade with us after we leave. I find myself in the position of having more confidence in our Ministers’ abilities to make it (Brexit) work than they sometimes express in themselves. I have this confidence because most of what happens to ensure imports and exports work is nothing whatsoever to do with governments. It rests on a willing buyer and a willing seller, who will still  be there in abundance the day  we leave the EU"--John Redwood, Dec 18, 2018 (Redwood was Chief Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher).

4) ICYMI Tech News:

Apple $AAPL in India: only 24% of people in India own smartphones, and "the number of users is growing faster than in any other country," but "the number of iPhones shipped in India has fallen 40% so far this year compared with 2017, and Apple’s market share there has dropped to about 1% from about 2%."--wsj.com. See also Apple to pull some iPhones in Germany as Qualcomm $QCOM extends global patent wins--reuters.com.

Facebook $FB shares drop as data privacy fallout spreads--reuters.com. See also: As FAANG stocks falter, fund managers make bets on survivors--reuters.com. FAANG: Facebook Inc. $FB, Amazon.com Inc., $AMZN, Apple Inc., $AAPL, Netflix Inc., $NFLX, and Google (Alphabet) $GOOG, $GOOGL.

SoftBank's Vision Fund nearing $1.5 billion investment in SE Asia's Grab--reuters.com.

Cisco $CSCO announced it will pay $660 million in cash and assumed equity awards to acquire privately held semiconductor company Luxtera that uses silicon photonics technology to build integrated optics capabilities for webscale and enterprise data centers, service provider market segments, and other customers.

China hacked HPE, IBM and then attacked HPE's and IBM's clients--reuters.com. See also China resumes approvals of video games | technode.com.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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