Featured Blogs

Stumbling Forward Means Promoting IDNs

A couple of weeks ago during the 40th ICANN meeting in San Francisco I got up to talk at the microphone. I spoke about the needs of developing markets on the web, about the importance of focusing on the 56% of the world that doesn't use Latin character scripts and about the struggles they still face as they go about their everyday lives - chatting, shopping or when pushed, promoting regime change - all using the internet... more

Horse’s Head in a Trademark Owner’s Bed

Recently, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) unveiled its Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), a tool it proposes will help fight trademark infringement relating to another of its new programs - generic top level domain (gTLD). As Lafeber describes, criticism of ICANN's gTLD program and subsequent TMCH database is mounting. Skeptics have noted that given the significant cost of registering a gTLD - the application fee is $185,000 and subsequent annual fees are $25,000 - the program appears to be solely a cash cow, without adding much value to Internet users. more

A Less Than Candid PP-2018 OTT Resolution

As the ITU-T 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference rolls toward a close this week, its most controversial and contentious subject appeared baked into a new treaty instrument resolution that has apparently reached a kind of steady-state. After distilling the many input proposals through ten revisions and a corrigendum, the tasked drafting committee has produced a new resolution with the simple title of "OTTs." more

Why Offering the Quad Play Would Help Cable’s Stock Price

The mobile phone market is growing exponentially and will continue to evolve for years to come. Why has the Cable Industry not moved into the lucrative mobile phone market? It could definitely be a revenue bonanza, as it currently is for telecom companies. ... Verizon and AT&T's revenues, as a percentage of stock price by division, attributes mobile phone service up to 40-42% of total revenues. more

Can Satellite Broadband Be Affordable?

When we first heard of the possibility of broadband from low-orbit satellites, there was a lot of speculation that the technology could bring affordable broadband to the masses around the globe. The latest announcement from Starlink shows that affordable broadband is probably not coming in the immediate future. Starlink announced a premium tier of service with a $500 monthly fee for 150-500 Mbps. more

IoT From a Network Perspective: Learning to Navigate the New Realms

Let's play the analogy game. The Internet of Things (IoT) is probably going end up being like... a box of chocolates, because you never do know what you are going to get? a big bowl of spaghetti with a serious lack of meatballs? Whatever it is, the IoT should have network folks worried about security. Of course, there is the problem of IoT devices being attached to random places on the network, exfiltrating personal data back to a cloud server you don't know anything about. more

Telecoms Competition on a Downhill Slide in America

That is what happens when you base your telecommunications policies on the wrong foundations. The problems with the telecommunications industry in America go back to 1996 when the FCC decided that broadband in America should be classified as internet (being content) and that therefore it would not fall under the normal telecommunication regulations. Suddenly what are known as telecommunications common carriers in other parts of the world became ISPs in the USA. How odd is that? more

New study: Over Half of French Enterprises Blacklisted

Public blacklists are used on a daily basis by many enterprises in order to curb spam. Frederic Aoun and Bruno Rasle, co-authors of the book "Halte au Spam", unveiled today their latest study on the subject. This contribution is divided in two parts... more

The 2019 IPv4 Market: Mid-Year Report

After a slow start to 2019, the volume of IPv4 numbers traded is picking up – though still far below the peak trading periods of 2018. By this same time last year, the total quantity of numbers flowing to and from organizations in the ARIN region was just over 27 million. more

China Isn’t Happy With the IGF

On the final day of a four-day meeting, most government representatives expressed support for renewing the Internet Governance Forum's five-year mandate which ends next year. China did not. Chen Yin, the head of the Chinese delegation to the Internet Governance Forum, said yesterday that the IGF's mandate should not be continued without reforms. more

What’s Certain About the Regulatory Uncertainty Debate

Incumbent carriers, such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, have made countless "curtains for the Free World" assertions in the Network Neutrality debate. They claim that if the FCC reclassifies as common carriage aspects of Internet access, it will create "regulatory uncertainty" and "disincentive investment." Not one of the countless sponsored researchers funded by incumbents has provided a shred of empirical evidence to support these assertions. more

The Next New Media: Typewriters and Handwritten Letters

Who would have thought that typewriters and handwritten letters would ever be back in fashion? But back in 2013 it was reported that Russia was buying large quantities of typewriters. When this was further investigated the country denied that this was for security reasons. Since the Snowden revelations there has been a further rush on typewriters, both by government officials and by a range of, mainly corporate, businesses. more

A Sigh of Relief for Brand Owners ...Not So .Fast

All indications from the ICANN meetings in Seoul are that significant delays for the release of new gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domains) are expected. According to Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's CEO, new gTLDs will be made available when, "we've adequately addressed the important issues that are on the table." These important issues include efforts to address malicious conduct, root scaling, economic analysis, trademark protections, and vertical separation as related to the new gTLDs. more

Reviling Universal Service Subsidies and Then Showcasing the Results

Today, the Supreme Court will consider a challenge to the universal service subsidy program established soon after the introduction of telephone service by the AT&T Bell System and later officially adopted by the FCC as mandated by a 1996 law.1, 2 Universal service funding supports access to telephone and broadband service by subscribers in rural locales that commercial ventures will not serve absent a subsidy. more

Now Is the Time to Act: The Technical Community Must Engage in Support of Multistakeholderism

Over the next two years, several global dialogues about our shared digital future are taking place -- and big changes could be in the cards. An intensive series of negotiations will see United Nations (UN) Member States weigh in on the future of digital cooperation -- and multistakeholderism finds itself under the spotlight. The multistakeholder model allows everyone who has a stake in the internet to meaningfully engage in discussions and decisions about its future on equal footing, but a number of critics are calling for change. more