Featured Blogs

Starlink Broadband Service – More on the Beta Plus Exciting Video

If you have last-generation satellite internet access, broadband from a wireless ISP (WISP), or even satellite television from DISH or DIRECTV, an installer came and carefully aimed a dish antenna for you. Starlink, a broadband access service from Elon Musk's SpaceX company, reimagines the install process and, in most cases, eliminates the need for an installer. The Starlink dish can sit on the ground or the peak of your roof; more importantly, it aims itself, as you see in the accompanying video. more

Broken Policies

As an email policy wonk, I think a lot about how specific policy implementations can go wrong. Sure, every policy can go wrong, or not fit a common case. A lot of people only write polices that address common cases and don't worry about the rarer cases. The problem is there are some rare cases that may cause significant harm and those cases should be addressed. Consumerist has a case up about email policy gone wrong with a clear path to harm but no policy for handling the issue. There are a couple places I see where this policy hole can be fixed. more

Can the Internet Work Across Borders?

On the face of it, the answer is a rather obvious and simple "yes"! The Internet obviously works across borders. Technically, it is a global network servicing its users wherever they may be on the planet. But it is this very nature -- the fact that the Internet is not bound to a specific country or territory -- which has more and more people asking themselves whether it can really work across borders. more

Mid-Year .brands Review: 2017 Off to a Brilliant Start

If you've read my blogs in the past, you'll know that I'm really passionate about the benefits that .brands can deliver to organizations and their customers. We are now half way through 2017 which provides us with an opportunity to have a good hard look at the data and reflect on the last six months in the .brands space. Here is the punchline -- it's pretty damn impressive, and for a variety of reasons. more

Cruz Sees Himself as Protector of Internet Freedom

It looks like Senator Cruz' letter writing campaign isn't going to end any time soon. While previously the Senator and former US presidential hopeful was happy exchanging salvoes with ICANN he's now switched gears and is instead focussing on NTIA and the US Department of Commerce. The latest letter is focussed on a very strange interpretation of the IANA transition proposals. more

Google Can, at Least for Now, Disregard Canadian Court Order Requiring Deindexing Worldwide

U.S. federal court issues preliminary injunction, holding that enforcement of Canadian order requiring Google to remove search results would run afoul of the Communications Decency Act... Canadian company Equustek prevailed in litigation in Canada against rival Datalink on claims relating to trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition. After the litigation, Equustek asked Google to remove Datalink search results worldwide. Google initially refused altogether... more

From ICANN57 Hyderabad to the 3rd WIC Wuzhen Summit: A Moment of Consensus on Internet Governance

Two events that happened last month deserve an additional note. One is the ICANN57 conference held in Hyderabad on November 3-9. The other is the 3rd World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit held in Zhejiang Province on November 16-18. Though being completely overwhelmed by the result of President election in the United States, both events mark the victory of non-state actors and serve as good news for the community. more

Fair Use Registration of Domain Names for Artists and Hobbyists

There is in the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act a provision not expressly found in the UDRP (at least, not in so many words) but the concept is nevertheless present in the Policy by construction... The term "fair use" is typically associated with protected speech (criticism and commentary), fan websites, and nominative use of domain names but it is not limited to those uses. It's a flexible principle in both trademark and copyright law. more

Hello World

I've been threatening to blog for several years now. I can't recall for how many years I've left the threat open, but hopefully you'll understand given the title of this piece, that I'm prone to senior moments. For the past two years I've been immersed in Internet Governance, an area I knew precious little about before being tossed into the deep end of the pool... My current employer, PayPal (eBay), recognizes the importance of cat herding, and has formed a group that I am fortunate to be part of, that specializes in Internet Standards and Governance. more

EU Approval for 4G Technologies to Use GSM Bands - A Boost to Rural Mobile Broadband

The EC recently approved technical rules on how the 900MHz and 1800MHz frequency bands should be utilised for 4G services, including LTE and WiMAX. National governments have until the end of 2011 to implement the decision into national legislation. Restrictions were initially imposed by the 1987 GSM Directive which limited these bands for 2G. more

New TLD Applications: What’s the Status of the Next Round?

For many industry participants, the timing around opening the next round of new Top-Level Domain applications has been frustrating, to say the least. However, with the recent ICANN Marrakech meeting now complete, we thought it timely to provide an update for those who may be interested to apply in the next round or for those merely following the journey. more

In Response to CADNA: Cybersquatting is Not Criminal But a Civil Matter

The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) recently released a statement that implied that cybersquatting is a criminal activity. It said, "CADNA has been working diligently to further international and national policies that combat the practice of cybersquatting... As brands continue to learn about the prevalence and practice of online criminal activities..." While, Internet Commerce Association (ICA) vigorously opposes cybersquatting, it is important to note that cybersquatting is a civil matter, not a criminal one. There is a good reason that cybersquatting is a civil matter... more

Revisiting the Impact of Killing Net Neutrality

Ajit Pai recently wrote an article in the National Review where he talks about how his decision as head of the FCC to repeal net neutrality was the right one. He goes on to claim that repealing net neutrality was the driver behind the current boom in building fiber and upgrading other broadband technologies. He contrasts the progress of broadband in the U.S. with Europe and says that the FCC's action is the primary reason we are seeing a fiber boom in the U.S. more

Preparing for GDPR’s Impact on WHOIS - 5 Steps to Consider

With GDPR coming into effect this May, it is almost a forgone conclusion that WHOIS as we know it today, will change. Without knowing the full details, how can companies begin to prepare? First and foremost, ensuring that brand protection, security and compliance departments are aware that a change to WHOIS access is on the horizon is an important first step. Just knowing that the ability to uncover domain ownership information is likely to change in the future will help to relieve some of the angst that is likely to occur. more

Another Day, Another Two Million Dollars

ICANN just published the results of the auction for .HOTELS and .HOTEIS. The high bidder (I'm not sure "winner" really applies here) was Booking.com, who will use .HOTELS. The $2.2M they paid, along with the prior results, notably the $25 million Google paid for .APP, brings the total in ICANN's auction pot to about $60.5 million. There's a few more auctions scheduled for CAM, PHONE, and SHOP/SHOPPING, along with yet to be scheduled auctions for DOCTOR, INC, LLP, and LLC. more