Featured Blogs

Rural America is Losing Patience

From all across the country, I'm hearing that communities without broadband are tired of waiting for a broadband solution. Local broadband advocates and politicians tell me that folks with little or no broadband are hounding them about when they are going to see a broadband solution. A large part of the frustration is that folks have heard that broadband is coming to rural America but aren't seeing any local progress or improvement. more

Economy-of-Scale for ISPs

I've worked with a number of small communities that want to explore the idea of having a community-owned ISP. My advice to small communities is the same as with all clients - economy-of-scale really matters for ISPs. Economy-of-scale is the economic term for describing how businesses get more efficient as they get larger. It's fairly easy to understand, and the classic example is to look at the impact of the salary and costs of the general manager of an ISP.  more

TLDs, CJD and Other Mad Cows

"At every crossroad on the road that leads to the future, tradition has placed against us ten thousand men to guard the past". These were the words of Stanley Prusiner in 1992 describing the opposition to his radical discovery of what he called prions, the causative agents of a clutch of baffling brain diseases. These include kuru, affecting New Guinea cannibals, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD), and BSE or mad cow disease. And today these guardians of the past are in place again at the crossroad that leads to a future of thousands of top-level Internet domain names. more

Fiber Resource Shortages

The fiber industry is as busy as I have ever seen it, and it's about to get even busier. The cellular carriers, particularly Verizon are actively building fiber to reach small cell sites. The cable companies are building a significant amount of fiber, particularly Altice which is upgrading to FTTP. The FCC is going to award $9 billion in 2020 for the 5G Fund grant program, much which will go for fiber to reach rural cell sites. more

Technology: Doomsday or Godsend – the Choice Is Ours

Following the American insurrection and the role the media played -- social media, particularly the "doomsday scenario," started to appear again in relation to technological developments. Only a few years ago, a group of hi-tech companies, including Tesla, warned against the negative aspects of artificial intelligence (AI). Other technologies that could seriously affect human developments include gene editing, nanotechnology and synthetic biology. more

When Will We See Real 5G?

The non-stop wireless industry claims that we've moved from 4G to 5G finally slowed to the point that I stopped paying attention to it during the last year. There is an interesting article in PC Magazine that explains why 5G has dropped off the front burner. The article cites interviews with Art Pouttu of Finland's University of Oulu about the current state and the future of 5G. That university has been at the forefront of the development of 5G technology and is already looking at 6G technology. more

What’s in a Name? The Power to Reach a Global Audience.

I've been asked a number of times recently which new gTLDs are working well. What's popular and where are some examples of them being used. Another question I have been hearing recently is what are some good examples of marketing activities that are working. We have seen a handful of examples of names with websites. Just enter site: favourite gtld in the search bar and you'll get a list of live sites for a given TLD... more

Tactics for Responding to Cyber Attacks - Squeezing Your Cyber Response-Curve: Part 1

Many cyber attacks against companies today go unreported, and more still are undetected... Timing and context are everything. The faster a company identifies a problem, and the faster and deeper it is understood and its relevance to the business, the more effectively the company can respond. We call this squeezing the cyber response curve. This two-part post will discuss the current state of cyber threats, what the cyber response curve is and its impact your organization and how you can effectively squeeze this curve to improve attack response. more

Towards a More Fully Accountable and Transparent ICANN

ICANN held its second international meeting of 2012 last week in Prague, Czech Republic. While the agenda focused heavily on issues related to new gTLDs and on welcoming incoming CEO Fadi Chehade, ICANN also conducted a community consultation on its accountability and transparency reviews. more

IANA: Keeping the Ultimate Objective in Mind

Later this week, ICANN's Chartering Organizations will indicate whether they will support the third draft proposal of the CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 1 Recommendations. This is a significant moment in the IANA transition process. Support for the accountability proposal by the ICANN community will mean that we are very close to a point when the transition can move to its next phase. more

Internet Society Seeks Nominations for 2020 Board of Trustees

Are you passionate about working toward a stronger, open Internet available to everyone? Do you have experience in Internet standards, technology, development or public policy? If so, please consider applying for a seat 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

“Open” or “Closed” Generic TLDs: Let the Operators Decide

(The following is an edited version of comments I submitted to ICANN regarding "closed" generic TLDs.) On February 5th, ICANN solicited comments on whether ICANN should determine the circumstances under which a generic TLD operator is permitted to adopt "open" or "closed" registration policies. Allowing gTLD operators to make these determinations, as opposed to ICANN, will promote innovation on the Internet to the benefit of consumers. more

The Missing Data: Measuring ISP User Populations

In our physical world, census information is used to inform the planning processes behind the provision of infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, housing, and similar. It can be used to assess the impact of natural disasters or to understand a society's needs in terms of food and energy security. Demographic data is also used to inform investment and business decisions. You'd think that the Internet itself would be awash with similar information. more

IPv4 Leasing: Myths vs. Reality

IPv4 leasing divides opinion as concerns over abuse, sustainability, and obsolescence persist. A recent IPXO webinar examined the evidence, challenging myths and advocating for transparency, flexibility, and cooperation in a shifting internet landscape. more

Hole in Space - the Mother of All Video Chats

New technology enables new art forms and artists Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz (K&S) began working with geostationary satellite links in 1977. Their first work was an experiment in remote dance and music. Video of dancers at The Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and an educational television center in California was transmitted to a central control studio where a composite was formed and sent back to monitors the dancers could see. more