Featured Blogs

Spam from Mobile Networks? Who Woulda Thought…

Mobile networks aren't usually thought of as sources of spam, but a quick look at some of the resources that track spam reveals they actually are. This is counter intuitive at first glance because when most people think of mobile they think of smartphones, and those aren't known to be sources of spam (at least not yet). What's really going on is PCs connected to mobile networks with air cards, or tethered with a smartphone where it's permissible, are the culprits more

ICANN Board Meetings Should be Webcast Live

ICANN has just announced that, starting with the June meeting in Prague, the ICANN Board will no longer meet and cast votes on the final day of its three annual public meetings. We think this is an ill-advised step backwards from ICANN's commitment to transparency and the accountability that accompanies it. We also believe that ICANN should have told "the community" it was considering this major change and asked for public comment before making such a decision. more

Update on IPv6 Address Distribution in the RIPE NCC Service Region

At the recent RIPE Meeting we presented some IPv6 address distribution statistics that we would like to share with a wider audience. In the article below, you can find recent statistics on IPv6 allocations and assignments. The first image shows the number of IPv6 allocations the RIPE NCC made to LIRs in each quarter, starting in 2008... Each year is depicted in a different colour, the last one showing the number of allocations made in Q3 2012. more

7 Reasons Why R&E Networks and Universities Are Critical to Future of Broadband

There has been considerable discussion about the future of broadband in terms of infrastructure i.e. fiber, wireless, community owned etc. However, there has been little discussion, to borrow a phrase from Internet 2, on Net+ broadband services. It is in the Net+ services where I think R&E networks can play a critical in helping communities and small commercial ISPs deploy advanced services and applications that will provide new business models to underwrite the costs of next generation broadband. more

The Dangers of Asking for Social Network Passwords

In the last year or so, there's been a lot of controversy about some employers demanding social network passwords from employees or applicants. There's even been a bill introduced in Congress to bar the practice. The focus has been the privacy violation implied by such demands... The first issue is that a password gives the holder write access, not just read access, to the account. more

Spam Levels Still Lower a Year After Rustock

Arstechnica wrote an article recently entitled Spam levels still low a year after Rustock botnet takedown. The article is more detailed that numerous things have contributed to the decline in spam since then. However, the article misrepresents Rustock's effect on the spam levels. It's completely true that Rustock was the largest botnet and sent the most spam (by total individual spam connections). more

Who is Keeping TAS Down?

Today, Friday April 27, ICANN had promised an update on the problems that led to its TLD Registration System (TAS) being taken offline on April 12. As the working day ends in Europe, that update has yet to come. Even if it does, I would not expect anything more concrete than the "we are still working on the issue, thanks for your patience" message of recent days. So what's really going on here? Does anyone at ICANN seriously expect us to believe that the tech team is "still reviewing the TAS data and checking the integrity of each and every application"? more

Open Systems Lead to ‘Economies of Scope’

The 'economies of scope' is an appealing concept implying that if we share knowledge in an open way we can create new, healthy economies that do not just depend on 'scale'. As we have seen, over the last decade in particular, some of the companies that are trying to achieve exponential growth can endanger the economy and society in general - the global financial crisis surrounding the large financial institutions, the scandals around News Corp, the political lobbying (bullying) by the super rich and the destruction of the environment by some developers. more

Leveraging DNS for Subscriber Loyalty

There has been a lot of talk about how the DNS can provide network-based security, and how DNS is in the best position to detect malware traffic before it does any harm. But what does this mean for end users? How does it make their online lives easier and more secure? DNS servers that are aware of sites that host malware, perform phishing activities (harvesting bank details, for instance) and other nefarious misbehaviors, can prevent end users from ever going to those sites. more

UN Moves on Internet Governance: Latest Dispatch

Some unsettling plans declared themselves at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) this week as countries prepared for the up-coming treaty-making jamboree called the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). This community will now have to decide what it does about them. ... It was significant to the CircleID community that the ITU's top dog -- the Secretary General - appeared in person before the assembled countries with a reassurance: the broad and unusual WCIT treaty negotiation, though it may treat many issues, would not take up Internet governance. more

Sprint Fights for Mobile Market Relevance: First Quarter Earnings Positive

Sprint's vision along with determined action says everything. They are fighting for mobile market relevance, thumbing their noses at detractors, moving beyond being relegated to a distant 3rd ranked carrier in a fast growing market. It's acquisition of the iPhone and agreement to spend $15.5 Billion over four years for the privilege has investors squawking bankruptcy sooner rather than later. First quarter earnings reveal that Dan Hesse's decision to purchase iPhones back in October 2011 is paying off in solid contracts. more

Internet Governance: Coin of the New Realm

The Aspen Institute released the IDEA Common Statement and Principles as a do no harm Hippocratic Oath for Internet governance. The Aspen report describes the present moment as an inflection point for "the most robust medium of information exchange in history". Reed Hundt outlined the risks associated with Internet governance changes favored by China and a group of developing nations through the ITU. more

Africa Infrastructure Growth Supporting ccTLDs and New gTLD Growth

This month, France Telecom's Lower Indian Ocean Network 2 "LION2" fiber optic cable has been put in service, bringing the total number of cables in East Africa to four. In South Africa it is expecting West Africa Cable System to go live next month. This huge growth in fiber optic cables connecting Africa means that bandwidth costs can go further down but there are many questions for internet service providers, regulators and policy makers... more

New TLDs: Disruptive Marketing 21st Century Style

Traditionally, top-level domains (TLDs) have been almost exclusively marketed by registries through their registrar channel. In a never-ending cycle of driving and sustaining sales, registries often resort to discounting and "promotional pricing." The competition for prime shelf space for a TLD is fierce, with sales and distribution largely controlled by the channel... In this chaotic and cluttered channel, it's not surprising that TLDs have traditionally been less than successful in defining their brand and delivering a unique value story for their product. more

Getting On Board With DNSSEC - A Personal Recount

I first became familiar with DNSSEC around 2002 when it was a feature of the Bind9 server, which I was using to setup a new authoritative DNS platform for customers of the ISP I was working for. I looked at it briefly, decided it was too complex and not worth investigating. A couple of years later a domain of a customer got poisoned in another ISPs network. And while the DNS service we provided was working properly, the customers impression was we hadn't protected them. more