Featured Blogs

ICANN to Reconsider the .Amazon Domain Applications

Amazon filed applications for the .AMAZON top-level domains in several scripts in 2012. Five years later, ICANN will re-examine the applications after an Independent Review Process (IRP) proceeding. The IRP Panel found that ICANN's Board failed to demonstrate the existence of public policy reasons for denying the applications. more

Inter-Process Communication - Building Block for the New Internet

The blog on the need for a new internet received quite a bit of (international) attention, and with the assistance of colleague John Day, we would like to elaborate a bit further on this. I mentioned RINA as a good example that can be used to have a look at how such a new internet should look like. Interestingly the basics are not all that new. Already in the 1970s, but certainly two decades later, there were plenty of telecoms and computer engineers who started to understand that the future telecommunications work would have more to do with computing than with telecoms. more

Email and Law in the News

A couple things related to the intersection of email and law happened recently. The 6th circuit court ruled that the government must have a search warrant before accessing email. The published opinion is interesting reading, not just because of the courts ruling on the law but also because of the defendant. more

Financial Times on Telecoms Separation

I've written that a Network Neutrality law needs a Network Management Exception, and I've laid out how this exception is likely to become a giant vacuum-cleaner-fish loophole. The way out is the separation of infrastructure from service, so infrastructure operators can have no financial interests in the services they carry, hence no motive to discriminate in anti-competitive ways. Now today's Financial Times has an editorial on the EC telecom regulator, Viviane Reding's proposal to beef up national telecom regulatory authority within European countries and create a Europe-wide so-called super-regulator. more

Interview with Avri Doria on the History of Community gTLDs

Community gTLDs play an interesting and even unique role in the ICANN new gTLD process. They reflect the community-driven nature of the Internet. Indeed the story of how Community gTLDs came about is a fascinating example of the how bottom-up process can give rise to innovative policy outcomes. It has been over six years since the community gTLD concept was first discussed. In the mists of time, it's easy to forget the deep foundations upon which this concept is based. 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

The Path to End Cybersquatting

Dialogue is the only way to end cybersquatting. Distrust between brand owners and domain owners (with an assist from some cockeyed business incentives) has turned a problem into a very expensive vicious cycle. Now that ICANN is about to launch new top-level domains (TLDs), negotiations must start immediately or both sides will pile up further loses. Here's how the problem plays out now. more

IPv6 a Case of Confirmation Bias

Is the glass half full or half empty? The human reflex of selective deafness to information or arguments countering one’s established believes lives on. The ISOC organized lunchtime IPv6 panel at IETF 74 in San Francisco illustrates the point... more

Notes from NANOG 89: Trust and Network Infrastructure

Trust is such a difficult concept in any context, and certainly, computer networks are no exception. How can you be assured that your network infrastructure is running on authentic platforms, both hardware and software and its operation has not been compromised in any way? more

Who Pays When .Org Prices Rise?

When .org prices rise, who suffers – nonprofits or speculators? Will Ethos Capital raise prices more aggressively than ISOC would? Vint Cerf attributed concerns about higher prices to speculators: "Of course, companies that hold domain names in the tens of thousands for speculative purposes might find such increases more troubling, but I don't have much sympathy for that business model in the context of the organizations the .org brand is intended to serve." more

A Tipping Point for the Internet: 10 Predictions for 2018

The year 2018 represents a tipping point for the Internet and its governance. Internet governance risks being consumed by inertia. Policy decisions are needed if we want to prevent the Internet from fragmenting into numerous national and commercial Internet(s). Geopolitical shifts, in particular, will affect how the Internet is governed. The Internet is made vulnerable by the fragmentation of global society, which is likely to accelerate in response to the ongoing crisis of multilateralism. more

Super Bowl 50 Ads Reimagined Through a New Top-Level Domain Filter

Marketers and advertisers across the world pay close attention to Super Bowl ads, for good reason. At a cost of up to $5 million for a 30-second spot, Super Bowl ads represent the world's biggest stage for high-reach, large-impact marketing. The best practices seen on Sunday will set the standard across the industry and influence marketing behavior around the world. The call to action used in any Super Bowl spot can make or break the investment. more

WHOIS Policy at ICANN Continues to Fail

ICANN has once again acceded to the wants of contracted parties and is at risk of abdicating its duty to act in the global public interest when it comes to WHOIS policy. Its inability or unwillingness to date to reign in bad WHOIS policy, driven by contracted party interests, flies in the face of its previously-expressed policy goal “to ensure the continued availability of WHOIS to the greatest extent possible while maintaining the security and stability of the Internet’s system of unique identifiers.” more

A Year Later: Insights from dotSucks

This week marks the first birthday of the general availability of dotSucks domain names. It has been a year notable for both heat and light, adding up to a set of insights relevant for any new gTLD... Be clear about who you serve and use their vocabulary (not domain name industry jargon) to tell them about it. Engage in marketing... Emotional resonance is more effective than even overwhelming facts-and-figures. The right story helps people see themselves in you. more

The Importance of IPRC in Asia Pacific

I believe and strongly support Internet Principle and Right Coalition (IPRC) Charter is an important edition of document supplementing the principles and rights of individual internet users in any developing and least developed country. Especially in Asia Pacific region where the need and use of such document is immense, as there is a gap in recognition and awareness of rights of internet users. more