Featured Blogs

dot DO or dot DIE?

ICANN has started dot name evaluations and charging ahead at their full speed. Mathematically it can be proven that any reasonable success of the current 1500 proposed dot names will result in tens of thousands of additional applications in the subsequent rounds. It is estimated that by the year 2020 there will be 10,000 dot names in operation and by 2025 the number would easily double. Such forecasts are not based on technological advances more

Fashion of the Moment: The “Pioneer Program”

I have had the question recently with several new gTLD applicants. I think this is a good subject for applicants with the intention to sell domain names AND who are alone to apply for their string. A Pioneer program allows to: Find good partners to developp a TLD; once the program is signed, it is an insurance they will have a good use of the requested domain name... more

Help Define ICANN’s Future

Mention ICANN in Internet circles and you will always find a multitude of views of what the organization should do, needs to do, and should have done; how it has to change, and why; and what it needs to focus on. Well, the time has come to make those views known and to try to persuade the rest of the community that they represent the best step forward. more

I, the Domain Name Tasting Victim

I have recently been a "victim" of the domain name tasting "scam". A domain name (.COM) which is related to me personally (and which was owned by someone else previously) expired and as I knew from Whois (which is another debate on its own) that the expiry date was coming up, I kept a watch on when it would become available so I could register it. To cut a long story short, it took me nearly 6 weeks to get the domain. Each time the domain dropped off the 5 day grace period (it is not really something that would generate ad revenue), it would be picked up by a different registrant... more

Want to Make a Difference in Internet Governance? Just Show Up

It was 20 years earlier than ICANN, and 25 years ahead of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) that Woody Allen said "80 percent of life is just showing up," but he could have just as easily been talking about our current multistakeholder policy situation. The emergence of powerful multistakeholder governance and engagement models has fundamentally changed the way we do Internet policy, and the roles that companies, organizations and individuals play in the process. more

Is ICANN Entering a Bold New Era?

When Barack Obama succeeded George W Bush and became America's 44th president, it seemed he could do no wrong. But this was arguably more a consequence of the perceived inadequacies of his predecessor than a realistic reflection on his own abilities. A fact highlighted by Obama being awarded the Nobel peace prize a mere nine months after taking office, before he'd had any real chance of having an impact on America or the world. When Fadi Chehadé was formally introduced as ICANN's next CEO, at the organisation's 44th international meeting in Prague last June, there was an undeniable Obama effect... more

Google and China: Some General Thoughts

I have deferred blogging on the Google/China imbroglio for a few reasons. First, heavyweights such as Jonathan Zittrain have tracked International online censorship and online security issues more closely than I have. Second, after Google's provocative blog post, I wanted to see the facts develop rather than rely solely on Google's assertions. The spin doctors are now moving in, so the useful development of the factual record will be slowing down. more

The Third Wave of Internet Exceptionalism

From the beginning, the Internet has been viewed as something special and "unique." For example, in 1996, a judge called the Internet "a unique and wholly new medium of worldwide human communication." The Internet's perceived novelty has prompted regulators to engage in "Internet exceptionalism," crafting Internet-specific laws that diverge from regulatory precedents in other media. Internet exceptionalism has come in three distinct waves... more

New LIRs and Their IPv6 RIPEness

The RIPE NCC's membership grew steadily over the course of 2012. In Q3, the RIPE NCC received 417 requests to become a Local Internet Registry (LIR); the highest number we have seen so far. This surge in membership growth exceeds the previous record set 12 years ago during the dotcom bubble in 2000. One reason for the surge is probably the anticipation of the last /8 of IPv4 addresses. more

Abusive Conduct: Domain Name Registrants and Rights Holders

Abusive conduct or cybersquatting is the essence of disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), usually by domain name registrants violating their warranties of registration but also (in appreciable numbers) by trademark holders overreaching their statutory rights. The UDRP remedies are asynchronous: there is forfeiture of offending domain names; for abusive use of the process there is reverse domain name hijacking (RDNH), essentially a shaming remedy that substitutes for a monetary penalty. more

An In-Depth Interview of OneWeb CEO Greg Wyler

OneWeb is building a large constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) Internet-service satellites and Via Satellite has published the "definitive 2018" interview of OneWeb CEO Greg Wyler. The following are some of the quotes that caught my eye... They are going through the final stages of testing now before the launches begin. The satellites have actually performed better than expected in many ways, especially with their Radio Frequency (RF) performance which is really positive. more

The Cost of an ISO 27001 Certification

The first question I often get when talking to IT Service providers on ISO 27001 certification is: "How much does it cost to get it?" I like to reply with a question: "how much does it cost when you don't have it?" The answer to the first question is easy, the answer to the second one is more complicated. As a financial I am interested in the business case. If the cost of not having an ISO 27001 certification is higher than the cost of getting and maintaining one, you can actually make a profitable investment by getting certified. more

Beware of Abandoned Domain Names in this Turbulent Time and as the Global Economy Changes

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused worldwide disruption -- for whole nations and their economies. Unfortunately, there will be some side effects for businesses. A number of brands will disappear from the streets and shelves, as businesses that fail to weather the storm will have to fold. Companies that do survive will likely focus more on their core markets, pulling brands out of higher risk, less profitable markets... more

An Update on Securing BGP from IETF 102

One way or another we've been working on various aspects of securing the Internet's inter-domain routing system for many years. I recall presentations dating back to the late '90's that point vaguely to using some form of a digital signature on BGP updates that would allow a BGP speaker to assure themselves as to the veracity of a route advertisement. more

Cloud Computing’s Concealed Complexity

James Urquhart claims Cloud is complex - deal with it, adding that "If you are looking to cloud computing to simplify your IT environment, I'm afraid I have bad news for you" and citing his earlier CNET post drawing analogies to a recent flash crash. Cloud computing systems are complex, in the same way that nuclear power stations are complex - they also have catastrophic failure modes... more