More Cancellations, Revamps as US COVID-19 Deaths Approach 100

A few of the COVID-19-induced developments Tuesday:

• The FCC is waiving Lifeline program recertification and reverification requirements for 60 days, in an order on docket 11-42. It's to protect against service interruptions during the pandemic and "allow Lifeline carriers to focus their efforts on assisting customers."

• DOJ's Antitrust Division is adopting "temporary changes" to its civil merger investigation processes, "which will remain in place" for as long as the COVID-19 "event" lasts, it said Tuesday. The changes will ensure that the division "will be able to continue operations as its employees carry out their duties to protect American consumers under a mass telework directive," it said.

• The FTC suspended noncritical domestic and international travel, the agency said Tuesday. Most FTC employees are working remotely, with “limited exceptions for emergency personnel and staff who must be in the office to perform mission-essential work,” it said. Unplanned visitor access to FTC facilities was suspended, the agency said, and parties should assume all agency related meetings will be held remotely until further notice, the announcement said.

• FTC Competition Bureau staff may do official travel only with top-level management permission under “compelling circumstances,” said another announcement. Virtually all FTC Competition Bureau employees are working remotely, and almost all meetings are done via video or teleconference, the agency said. The bureau is reviewing all probes and litigations to consider statutory and timing modifications. The bureau is reallocating resources to maintain enforcement activities, the commission said, which will mean capacity loss for nonenforcement activities, including conference participation by employees.

• The Copyright Office is continuing operations for online registration, searching copyright-related records and learning about copyright topics, it said Tuesday. The CO will continue processing mailed registration applications and recorded documents. The agency also is accepting public comment through June 1 on proposals to improve copyright registration system efficiency (see 2003030029), it announced Monday. It’s proposing to “permit post-registration edits to rights and permissions information," and to allow "voluntary submission of additional deposit information to be included in the public record.”

• Disney will incur “unprecedented pain” from COVID-19 “impacts” and the "ensuing" recession, said MoffettNathanson senior analyst Michael Nathanson in an investor note. He forecast a 40% decline in Disney’s earnings per share for fiscal 2020 ending late September and an additional 29% decrease a year later. “The floor dropped” when the coronavirus forced Disney’s U.S. theme parks to close and the NBA and NHL to suspend their seasons, said Nathanson. He also thinks Disney’s direct-to-consumer and international businesses will take a hit from recession-induced advertising losses, he said. He’s still recommending Disney stock as a “buy,” he said, because “we would wait for earnings revisions to bottom ahead of making a large contrarian bet.” The stock closed 1.6% lower Tuesday at $93.53.

• The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' Richmond courthouse is closed to the public, though papers to be filed with the court can be stamped and filed in the lobby, it said Tuesday. The requirement of paper copies of formal briefs and appendices is suspended, it said. Cases scheduled for oral argument during this week and the April 7 session will be heard later, heard by teleconference or video conference, or submitted via briefs.

• The Digital Video Broadcasting consortium will host seven webinars to replicate the programming lost when COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the March 8-11 DVB World 2020 conference in Valencia, Spain, it said Tuesday. The series opens Thursday with a session on how adaptive bit rate multicasting can open a “new door” for DVB. It concludes April 6 with a workshop on building a “reference client” for DVB-1. The free webinars are open to all, not just DVB 2020 registrants, said the consortium. The next DVB World conference is planned for March 22-24, 2021, in Berlin.

• The Display Week 2020 conference "will take place as scheduled" June 7-12 at San Francisco's Moscone Center, emailed the Society for Information Display Tuesday. "As a leader in the electronic display industry, we are committed to advancing the field," said SID. Show organizers will "comply with local, state and federal guidelines to limit the spread of the virus and provide a safe environment for our exhibitors, attendees and all those involved in Display Week 2020," it said. SID is "aware" of the Trump administration's European travel ban and the "shelter in place" policy imposed in the Bay Area, it said. "However, we remain optimistic that both of these measures will be lifted within the next couple of months and will not affect the show."

• Many conference promoters are trying to decide “how to go virtual with your event either canceled or on the verge of being canceled,” CadmiumCD Chief Technology Officer Peter Wyatt told a webinar of event organizers Tuesday. His company supplies event software for bringing live in-person conferences online, and he said Tuesday’s webinar had seven times more attendance than normal due to COVID-19 cancellations. One consideration in the decision to go virtual is how to “retain the revenue you otherwise would have gotten with live events,” he said. Organizers also “want to leverage the work that you’ve done in the past year getting ready for your event this spring,” he said. “I’m sure many of you are heartbroken by the countless hours you’ve put in only to find out that attendees won’t be able to experience what you’ve planned.”