Featured Blogs

Fadi Chehadé Announces His Departure - What’s Next for Businesses at ICANN?

Last week, the CEO of ICANN, Fadi Chehadé, announced his intention to leave his position in March 2016, after almost four years as head of the organization. He plans to take a position in private industry, outside of the domain name space. Although the impact to the business community is unclear at this point, Chehadé's departure throws a spotlight on how important ICANN leadership can be in ensuring that business and brand interests maintain their voice in the Internet governance sphere. more

Advantages of Crowdinvesting in Financing New gTLDs

The second-round new gTLD applicants have a tool they don't even know about: "crowdinvesting." That's when a venture sidesteps banks and venture capitalists and instead raises money by selling shares directly to the public. Usually this is done over the Internet, and often enough the investors can hope for a financial return that's far better than what banks and stocks offer. more

How Will Your Registration Data Be Managed in the Future?

Benjamin Franklin once said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." As we consider how Internet domain and address registration data is managed and accessed in a post-WHOIS era, and given the long history of failure in addressing the shortcomings of WHOIS, it is extremely important to start preparing now for the eventual replacement of WHOIS. This is the fundamental purpose of the next Registration Operations Workshop (ROW) that is scheduled for Sunday, July 19, 2015, in Prague, Czech Republic. more

Should Barclays Lose the .Barclays Top-Level Domain?

According to Reuters, Barclays has plead guilty to trying to manipulate foreign exchange rates, and has agreed to pay substantial fines, along with other major banks. Barclays is also the operator of the .Barclays new top-level domain name. This is not a case where it's a single rogue employee or officer has been found guilty of a financial crime. Here, it is the entire bank (and registry operator) that has plead guilty. more

Trust and Collaboration - Key Features for the Internet’s Future

Last week, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), in collaboration with the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG), hosted a conference on Internet governance and cybersecurity. The conference gathered a variety of experts to discuss issues pertaining to Internet governance, human rights, data protection and privacy, digital trade, innovation and security. more

What New gTLD Applicants Want for Round 2

After talking to a few new gTLD applicants who participated in "Round One" of the ICANN new gTLD program, here is a list of complaints and questions I received, and probably a few things potential candidates should pay attention to prior to submitting an application... Applying is too expensive, I want my TLD for $200,000 "all included" (ICANN fee + consultancy services to fill in my application) more

How the Cable Industry is Adapting to Cord Cutters

For people attending The Internet and Television Exchange (INTX), the redubbed Cable Show for 2015, enabling technologies are as important as always, but the transformation of business models in the video delivery industry has certainly cast a huge grip on an industry caught in the middle of a seismic change -- driven by ever-increasing broadband speeds, mobile access to content, and yes, disruptive Over-The-Top (OTT) offerings. more

Curbing Cyber- and Typosquatting

We need a tax. You don't hear that too often. But right now a tax is the weapon needed by the domain name community. We face way too many cyber- and typosquatters. To drive them back, let's tax parked and unused domain names. Done right -- sized properly and phased in -- the tax will make it much harder for speculators to turn a profit while they keep domains sitting idle or parked. more

Is LTE Going to Impact Free WiFi?

Developments in LTE are also going to have a significant impact on the unlicensed spectrum, which is currently used by billions of people through their WiFi modems and WiFi services in cities, cafes, airports and other venues. Known as LTE Unlicensed (LTE-U) or Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), this technology can also ride on top of WiFi networks (without utilising the mobile service), providing high-speed broadband access to users. more

In Congressional Hearing, Stakeholders Highlight ICANN’s Failures and Need for Reform

Can we trust ICANN to conduct itself in a predictable, open, transparent, and accountable manner if it takes over governance of the Internet's domain name system from the U.S. government? That was the main question up for discussion Wednesday in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, as lawmakers heard feedback from a diverse group of stakeholders about the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) plan to relinquish its historical oversight of key technical Internet functions.  more

On the Road to WSIS+10: Open Frameworks for Successful Discussions

This year we must work together to open up Internet governance processes so that everyone can have their voices heard in the development of Internet policies. In 2015, the Internet governance landscape is peppered with events and meetings as a number of key Internet policy issues are debated. There are key global, regional and local discussions underway about how to strengthen the Internet governance model in ways that will be meaningful to users around the globe, and how to be more inclusive of new ideas and perspectives. more

Diving Into the DNS

If you are at all interested in how the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) works, then one of the most rewarding meetings that is dedicated to this topic is the DNS OARC workshops. I attended the spring workshop in Amsterdam in early May, and the following are my impressions from the presentations and discussion. What makes these meetings unique in the context of DNS is the way it combines operations and research, bringing together researchers, builders and maintainers of DNS software systems, and operators of DNS infrastructure services into a single room and a broad and insightful conversation. more

Comparing the Spectrum Policies of America and China

With the explosion in mobile broadband, every mobile operator is scrambling to secure the spectrum capacity needed to stay ahead in the market. There is no doubt that spectrum management is one of the most critical elements of telecommunications policy. It is seen as the pathway to 21C infrastructure... It is interesting to see how the different countries handle their spectrum management policies. more

M3AAWG & i2Coalition Collaborate on Best Practices on Anti-Abuse in Hosting & Cloud Environments

I am excited to announce the recent release of the industry first Best Common Practices document for Cloud and Hosting providers for addressing abuse issues that was created by M3AAWG and the i2Coalition. M3AAWG has been collaborating with the Best Practices Working Group of the i2Coalition over the past 2 years to discuss ways to solve malicious activity within hosting and cloud ecosystems.  more

Unmet Fundamental Requisites for a Successful gTLDs Program

New pioneering ideas are not always welcomed or requested by consumers... Henry Ford didn't wait until people wanted a mass-market car. Citibank didn't wait until they wanted ATMs, and Jeff Bezos didn't wait until they decided to shop on their computers. But the three innovators did more than follow a vision. Before they made their respective leaps, they pondered what people did want. They asked themselves some hard questions. more