The Internet Engineering Task Force, which has been meeting online during the pandemic, plans a hybrid meeting March 19-25 in Vienna. It said all attendees must show proof of vaccination with a European Medicines Agency-approved COVID-19 vaccine or medical proof of past infection.
Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said last week that all in-person oral arguments are suspended for January and will be conducted via Zoom Government. It said a public audio feed will remain available on the court's YouTube channel. U.S. District Court in Washington said jury trials are suspended through Jan. 24, and public counters of the clerk's office are closed until then.
The Copyright Office said Wednesday it will discontinue copyright registration timing adjustments mandated under the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act at the end of 2021. “Some of these adjustments have been extended several times,” and the remaining adjustments were scheduled to expire Friday, Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter said in a declaration. “I have determined, and therefore declare, that there is no evidence of a need for continued adjustments as a result of disruptions to the copyright system” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
AudioCon Los Angeles show producers spent Christmas weekend “in crisis mode,” analyzing all possible options before realizing “it would be impossible to guarantee a safe environment” at its inaugural show Jan. 14-16, at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, Executive Producer Michel Plante emailed Wednesday. AudioCon LA was a “totally new show, presented under the umbrella of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society,” he said. The postponement could extend to January 2023, Plante said: “Being an event organizer during a pandemic is like playing Russian Roulette: You might be lucky with your dates, or you might not. Any date you plan could be canceled at the last minute.” Organizers don’t plan to disturb the established audio show calendar, Plante said: “The last thing we will do is to choose a date in 2022 that will interfere with any other show in North America. If there is an opportunity and this is a date that satisfies the industry, including the other shows, we will consider it.” The make-up show will also have to wait for availability at the Hyatt Regency, “a very busy hotel all year round,” he said. Twenty-four hours after producers announced the event in June, it had 50 reservations from exhibitors, with a target of 100 -- before the omicron surge began, he said. Presold tickets numbered under 1,000, with most attendees expected to buy tickets a week or two before the event. Producers had hoped to sell 5,000 tickets, “but we already knew in mid-November that with the Omicron, we would do like most events in 2021 and sell only 50% of it,” he said. All exhibitors received full refunds within 30 minutes of the show’s postponement announcement, he said; all tickets were refunded 18 hours later. Plante and Executive Producer Sarah Tremblay have had three of their last four shows in Canada canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
AudioCon Los Angeles, scheduled for Jan. 14-16 at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, California, is postponed indefinitely, according to the event’s website. AnalogPlanet founder Michael Fremer, slated to hold a seminar on turntable setup at the event, posted an announcement from show organizers Monday that cited the “hyper-infectious Omicron variant” as the cause for cancellation: “It became evident that it would be impossible to hold our event in total safety on the dates we planned it,” said executive producers Sarah Tremblay and Michel Plante, along with Bob Levi, president-Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society. “We are not taking this decision lightly,” they said. “We have invested one year of our life in developing this project and a considerable amount of money. However, we are confident that this is an investment for the future and not a loss in the present.” They didn’t give an alternate date, saying only it would be in the future. “AudioConLA will refund everyone at 100% within the next couple of days,” they said. Organizers didn’t respond to questions Tuesday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will be remote for all January oral arguments amid the surge in COVID-19's omicron variant, COVID-19 surge, said the court Monday. All scheduled arguments will be held telephonically, it said. The court announced revised protocols last week requiring proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test administered within the previous 72 hours of the oral argument, regardless of vaccination status. The Supreme Court earlier this month said it would hear January and February oral arguments in person, but courtroom access would be limited to the justices, essential court personnel, counsel in the scheduled cases and some journalists.
The National Retail Federation touted continuing partner and exhibitor momentum for NRF 2022: Retail's Big Show Tuesday, even as the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in New York City over the past week rose 6.9%, according to the New York Health Department. The trade show is slated for Jan. 16-18 at the Javits Center. NRF announced “enhancements” to existing health and safety protocols, which require proof of vaccination and indoor mask-wearing at the event. NRF will provide attendees and exhibitors COVID-19 rapid self-tests, as well as access to polymerase chain reaction tests on-site to use at their discretion, it said. The trade group advises that attendees test at home before traveling to New York. All NRF 2022 attendees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and show proof to attend. The Javits Center has “greatly improved its ventilation systems as well as cleaning and disinfecting practices,” NRF said, saying sanitation stations will be positioned throughout the convention center and wider aisles are designed to maintain social distancing.
The RSA Conference, scheduled for Feb. 7-10 in San Francisco, is delayed to June 6-9 due to the surge in omicron cases, blogged RSA Conference Vice President Linda Martin Wednesday. “We all want to be able to plan with the level of certainty that we had before March of 2020, but life has changed, and we all have learned to transform.” The “working assumption is that we will be hosting a physical event” at Moscone Center in June. Officials will contact people who registered and made hotel accommodations, she said.
Tech use by people over 50 “skyrocketed” during the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to continue, said a Tuesday report from the American Association of Retired Persons. Some 70% of survey respondents said they bought tech products in 2020. This year, they spent an average $821 on tech vs. $394 in 2019, said the report. Smartphones and accessories, along with Bluetooth headsets, topped the list of purchases. Three-quarters of respondents in their 50s, 79% in their 60s, and 72% over 70 count technology as their link to families and the wider world, AARP said. Tech behaviors formed during the pandemic appear to be long term, the organization said, highlighting video chat and online shopping, banking and engagement in health services. A third of older adults ordered food online from a restaurant and one in four listened to a podcast in the past two years, it said. Seniors subscribe on average to three streaming video platforms, said AARP, but four in 10 felt technology is not designed with them in mind.
AMC Theatres rode the “opening weekend strength” of Spider-Man: No Way Home to sell more than 7 million tickets globally Thursday-Sunday, including 5 million in the U.S., said the theater chain Monday. More than 2 million people watched a movie at an AMC location around the world on Saturday, the most tickets it sold in a single day since Christmas Day 2019, it said. Imax reported separately Monday that it took in $36.2 million in Spider-Man revenue on 834 screens across 77 markets globally, including $22 million in North America. It was its sixth biggest global opening weekend ever, it said. Spider-Man overall took in $334.2 million in its debut weekend, smashing expectations of $160 million-$170 million, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Monday. Despite the "raging coronavirus," the U.K. was the film's strongest market with a $41.4 million box office, making it the fourth highest opening of all time, Frankel said.