ICANN's board is acting to minimize risks associated with coronavirus, Chairman Maarten Botterman blogged last week. It's working to reduce the possibility that directors might contract the virus. This includes avoiding all ICANN-related travel through September and canceling a planned in-person May workshop, a spokesperson told us Monday. To ensure decisions and progress continue, directors are holding weekly information calls and special virtual meetings, he said. Directors also are prioritizing work to ensure that what must be done under the bylaws or on time-sensitive issues can be handled, the spokesperson said. "The overall expectation is that output/productivity will be reduced because of the pandemic-related causes, such as illness, family commitments, etc. They're hoping the prioritization will ensure focus." The work plan includes "hot topics" such as the proposed sale of .org registry Public Interest Registry, how best to support the next ICANN remote meeting, and domain name system abuse, Botterman wrote. The board will now generally concentrate on bylaw-mandated responsibilities such as the FY 2021 budget and developing a policy for generic top-level domain name registration data that complies with the EU general data protection regulation.
Face masks or coverings are now required at the Prettyman Courthouse and Bryant Annex, said U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit Chief Judge Beryl Howell in an order Monday. Howell said court staff should wear masks or face coverings when in common or public areas of the courthouse and in nonpublic areas where social distancing isn't practical such as corridors and elevators. The courthouse also houses the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
“Many affordable broadband plans are not meeting the needs of Californians impacted by this pandemic,” California Public Utilities Commission President Marybel Batjer wrote Friday to state ISPs. Providers should provide 25 Mbps free or up to $15 monthly with no data caps or overage charges, she said. Broaden eligibility requirements, make sign-up easy and remove barriers, said Batjer: “Eligibility can be verified at a later date.”
Intel finished Q1 with $19.8 billion revenue, $800 million better than forecasts, partly from a 14% COVID-19-induced increase in its “PC-centric” business, said CEO Bob Swan on a Thursday investor call. Profit of $1.45 per share exceeded projections by 15 cents, he said. The forecast is for Intel’s Q2 PC revenue to be “flat or slightly up” compared with Q2 2019, said Chief Financial Officer George Davis. PC unit volume in Q1 was up 13% year over year “on higher notebook demand and increased supply,” he said. “Notebook demand strength is expected to continue into Q2 with more people working and learning from home due to COVID-19-related shelter-in-place orders.” Intel isn't releasing full-year 2020 guidance “with limited visibility due to the uncertainty driven by COVID-19,” said Davis, noting a "demand bump" so far from the virus' effects. Throughout the pandemic, “the world’s cloud and network infrastructure has delivered massive scaling to support vital workloads for businesses and consumers,” said Swan. “Cloud-delivered applications seen as conveniences a quarter ago, such as online shopping and video collaboration, have now become indispensable.”
The FCC COVID-19 telehealth program made more awards (see 2004230052), Chairman Ajit Pai announced at the end of the commissioners' meeting Thursday. They're medical centers and health clinics in Annapolis, Maryland; Newark, Delaware; Monterey Park, California; Baton Rouge; New York and White Plains, New York. FCC COVID-19 telehealth funding reached $2.56 million Thursday for a total of $9.5 million to date. The program budget is $200 million.
The Audio Engineering Society launched an effort to raise $500,000 by June 1 to sustain the organization through the pandemic. Its next big convention is scheduled for Oct. 21-24, collocated for two days with NAB Show New York at the Javits Convention Center, which currently is a COVID-19 Army field hospital. The May 25-28 and July 23-25 events are canceled. AES isn't “immune to the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking,” said the society Thursday. It draws its “traditional cashflow” from events, and those have been “severely disrupted,” it said. President Agnieszka Roginska asked, “If it is within your ability, may we ask that you make a financial contribution to help see your AES through these unprecedented times?"
Congress should include a moratorium on takeovers in the upcoming COVID-19 stimulus package, said House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I. He and “several colleagues” are pushing for a moratorium on “all transactions that do not involve firms that are truly failing or in bankruptcy,” he said in prepared remarks for Thursday's Open Markets Institute event. This is “outdated antitrust agenda,” NetChoice President Steve DelBianco said in a statement: The proposal “would leave small businesses with no choice but to let go their employees and declare bankruptcy.”
“More jurisdictions across the country have adapted their processes to continue reviewing applications via online portals, submittal via email, or setting up a physical drop box to abide by social distancing, in order to ensure that applications are processed on a timely basis,” the Wireless Infrastructure Association said Thursday in FCC docket 17-79. WIA had phone meetings Monday with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, Tuesday with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, and Wednesday with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.
As the global pandemic hit, Snapchat added 11 million “daily active users” in Q1 for a total of 229 million, up 5% sequentially and 20% increase from Q1 2019, said Snap CEO Evan Spiegel on a Tuesday investor call. "We experienced high revenue growth rates in the first two months of the quarter, which offset our lower growth in March." It’s difficult to predict the “near-term impact of this unprecedented complex and global pandemic on our business,” said Spiegel. “Long-term indicators” are positive, he said: Financial recovery “may be very fast for some businesses and much slower for others.” The stock soared 36.7% higher Wednesday, closing at $17.01.
Facing what the New York Attorney General's Office told us is an inquiry into Charter Communications' labor practices and management of employees during the pandemic, the company emailed us Wednesday that it has been "dramatically" reducing the number of workers going into the field or office "while maintaining the efficacy of our business operations." It said most office and call center workers are remote, it announced a permanent $1.50 an hour pay increase to field operations and customer service employees retroactive to their annual increase in February, and committed to a $20 hourly minimum wage in 2022. It said it has given every worker an additional 15 days of COVID-19-related flex time and promised no furloughs or layoffs for at least 60 days. The cable operator said it instructed employees to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for quarantining if sick, with full pay and benefits. The company said many workers at its corporate campuses are on a rotating schedule to allow for minimal interaction and social distancing, and it escalated routine cleanings in line with CDC guidelines. Other cablers and other ISPs are taking similar moves, we have found (see 2004100038).