Skip to main content

ICANN representatives miss meetings in wake of U.S. travel ban

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, better known as ICANN, is a nonprofit dedicated to coordinating the maintenance work required to ensure that the internet is as stable and secure as possible. This week, multiple representatives of the organization have indicated that the U.S. travel ban will cause disruption to its upcoming schedule of meetings.

Kaveh Ranjbar is one of ICANN’s board members, and on Monday he missed his flight to Los Angeles because of the ban, according to a report from Motherboard. After consulting with the organization’s lawyers, he called his flight provider, and was promptly told that he would not be able to board.

Recommended Videos

“I have both Iranian and Dutch nationalities and passports and I even have a multiple-entry U.S. visa in my Dutch passport but apparently none of that matters!” wrote Ranjbar in a post published via Facebook. “Being born in Tehran means that at least for the next 90 days, I can’t get into the U.S.”

Ranjbar will miss the ICANN board workshop in Los Angeles, as well as a meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force in Chicago where he was set to be appointed as the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s liaison to the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee. He will now attend these meetings remotely.

The travel ban isn’t just affecting people trying to get into the United States. Farzaneh Badiei is an Iranian-born associate researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who serves as the chair of the noncommercial users constituency at ICANN, and she will reportedly be unable to attend the ICANN community forum scheduled to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, in March.

Badiei came to the United States as a research scholar using a multiple entry visa in December 2016. Given the current situation, she’s concerned that if she left the country to attend one of her scheduled events, she would be barred from entry upon her return.

ICANN is working to find a solution that will ensure that its important work can go ahead as planned. While it would be an imperfect fix, there is now talk among ICANN members that conferences and meetings previously held within the United States may me moved to other countries.

Brad Jones
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
TCL is finally launching a phone in the U.S. with its unique Nxtpaper display
TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G display

If you’ve ever wanted a smartphone with a display that isn't uncomfortable to look at for extended periods, then good news! TCL has announced the TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G at CES 2025, and while this is not the first Nxtpaper phone, it is the first one to launch in the U.S., which is a big deal.

For those who haven’t seen a Nxtpaper device, TCL’s innovative display technology blends advanced screen capabilities with digital health and comfort. Handsets like the TCL 50 Pro Nxtpaper 5G have previously offered Nxtpaper tech on smartphones, but now this advanced display tech is coming to North America for the first time, allowing consumers in the U.S. to experience a display that protects their eyes from the harsh effects of blue light and glare during extended viewing periods.

Read more
Samsung’s $60 Fitbit killer is now available in the U.S.
Design render of the Samsung Galaxy Fit 3.

The new year has barely begun, and Samsung is already hitting the ground running with two new mobile gadgets launching in the U.S. The Galaxy Fit 3 and the Galaxy A16 5G both launched in other markets last October, but Samsung has just confirmed their availability in the U.S.

We'll start with the Galaxy Fit 3, which I find the most interesting. A successor to 2022's Galaxy Fit 2, the Galaxy Fit 3 is a small and affordable fitness tracker akin to the Fitbit Charge 6 or Fitbit Inspire 3. It has a 1.6-inch AMOLED display (45% larger than the Fit 2) and promises up to 13 days of battery life. The case is made of aluminum with a matte finish and is 5ATM/IP68 water-resistant.

Read more
Some Samsung phones now have satellite messaging in the U.S. Here’s how to get it
The back of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Before Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 series in January, there were rumors that the new phones would include satellite messaging, similar to the feature available on Apple's newer models. While this feature was not included at the launch, it's now finally rolling out for some users.

According to SamMobile, some Galaxy S24 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 users in the U.S. are now starting to receive this feature.

Read more