During the ITU Conference I had the honour of a private meeting with Dr Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the ITU since 2006... Dr Touré has a fascinating background. Born in Mali and educated in Russia, he has brought with him a distinctly fresh approach to the ITU. He has been Africa's Regional General Manager for ICO Global Communications and worked at various levels at the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT). more
Within every organization a chosen few are tasked with introducing IPv6 into their networks, outward facing services or applications. But who are they? We know them as Network Engineers, System Administrators and Software Developers but are they one trick ponies spending all their time in layer 3? more
It still amazes us that respected industry commentators join liberal politicians in questioning the need for FttH in the wake of the enormous success of mobile broadband. They refer to this phenomenon as proof that people are bypassing their fixed broadband and are now using the smartphones and tablets to obtain most of their broadband access. However, after several years of mobile boom the majority of households are still using the fixed-line networks for calls... more
With more and more stories coming in from all over the world about the prolific use of telecommunications to spy on what people are doing, the ball has been thrown back into the industry's court, to do something about it. In principle, ever since telecoms came into existence in the 1850s spying was high on the agenda of the people who started to use the new technology. In 1865 countries formed the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). This later became the first institution under the UN and all countries in the world are a member. more
I go back to the International Forum on the White Paper (IFWP). (Like Jeff, I was very young.) The Department of Commerce had just issued the White Paper, and there was a proposal that we pass control of the critical Internet identifiers to a new not-for-profit corporation with a bottom-up Multistakeholder way of making policy and an international board of directors. more
Are you passionate about preserving the global, open Internet? Do you want to help guide work to connect the unconnected and promote / restore trust in the Internet? Do you have experience in Internet standards, development or public policy? If so, please consider applying for one of the open seats on the Internet Society Board of Trustees.
The Internet Society serves a pivotal role in the world as a leader on Internet policy, technical, economic, and social matters, and as the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). more
It puzzles me to watch Governments introducing or subscribing to proposals that would in effect smoothly concede part their sovereignty to the ITU -- in an area that is central -- Communications. The WCIT 2012, in the middle of its second week, would now discuss Document DT/51-E 11, which is said to be a "package" of not-yet-compromised draft proposal for revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations, which inevitably makes ITU the control center of all communications in the known Universe. more
Ev Ehrlich over at High Tech Forum wrote an excellent piece yesterday about some recent comments by Google's Eric Schmidt. According to Schmidt there are four megafirms right now executing well on what he calls "platform strategies" - Google (search), Apple (gadgets/ecosystem), Amazon (online retailing) and Facebook (social connectivity). more
It makes me cringe when I hear operators or security practitioners say, "I don't care who the attacker is, I just want them to stop." I would like to believe that we have matured past this idea as a security community, but I still find this line of thinking prevalent across many organizations -- regardless of their cyber threat operation's maturity level. Attribution is important, and we as Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) professionals, need to do a better job explaining across all lines of business and security operations... more
Today at 5:10pm EDT the IETF 90 Technical Plenary will be streamed live out of Toronto, Canada... After some initial reports, the technical focus will be on "Network topology and geography." The session will be recorded for later viewing. The slides are online and from what I can see it should be a very interesting talk for those of interested in the underlying infrastructure of the Internet. more
I have been reading through the last gTLD applicant guidebook and have wondered whether all my efforts, traveling, attending all major music conference and lobbying come with any merit. How do you define a community? What is the difference between a dotGreece, dotGay or dotMusic community? ...Whether we like it or not, the point system is what ICANN has set up to determine the winners. If you were to ask me I would create a different method of scoring. It is one of open competition. more
It is tempting to write off ICANN as a U.S. foreign policy lackey and that's all there is to say about ICANN. However, if the mantra for rewiring governance means "lets get ICANN" we risk missing forest for trees. ICANN is merely the symptom of a dysfunctional governance predicament that somehow (despite best efforts) skews oversight. Shapiro, for example, regards oversight as a "game" (1994). His "delegation dilemma" or "agency problem" stems from two options, neither of which are attractive vis-á-vis governance. more
One of the more interesting developments in this new year is the proposed changes in how, or perhaps more accurately, when the ICANN Board will undertake its activities. Historically, the ICANN Board has held monthly teleconferences (Special Board Meetings), with the exception of those months when the ICANN Board meet in person as part of a regional meeting (Regular Board Meeting). Approximately five years ago, the ICANN Board also began holding bi-annual retreats as part of their regular business activities. Interestingly, the proposed 2010 agenda for the ICANN Board has only four proposed Special Meetings... more
Having trademarks (registered or unregistered) is the prerequisite for maintaining a UDRP, but having one is not conclusive of either Respondent’s lack of rights or legitimate interests or that it registered and is using the domain name in bad faith. The cautionary tale in many of these cases, especially for the Complainant who has the burden of proof, is that it has to satisfy each of the elements in the three subsections... more
The novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) has prompted many organizations in Mainland China and Hong Kong to execute their business continuity plan (BCP). During the last epidemic in 2003, the SARS outbreak lasted for nine months – and with an infection rate that is increasing rapidly, this new coronavirus has the potential to cause prolonged periods of commercial disruption, and heavy reliance on BCPs. more
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