News Briefs

ICANN Community Leader Stéphane Van Gelder Has Died

ICANN community leader and long-time CircleID participant Stéphane Van Gelder has died in a motorcycle accident. He was 51. more

Russian-Based Kaspersky Lab Planning on Swiss Data Center to Address Russian Exploit Concerns

Leading Moscow-based anti-virus software provider Kaspersky Lab is planning to open a data center in Switzerland to address Western government concerns that Russia exploits its anti-virus software to spy on customers, according to a report from Reuters on Wednesday. more

Berners-Lee Warns Rise of Dominant Platforms has Resulted in Weaponization of the Web at Scale

The World Wide Web turned 29 today and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, web inventor, has shared some stern warnings about the direction it is headed. more

Microsoft, Facebook and Others Demand ICANN Take a Closer Look at Questionable Registrars

Adobe, Facebook, Microsoft and eBay are among a group of leading companies demanding ICANN to take a closer look at an "immediate and urgent matter" involving a subset of questionable domain name registrars. more

FCC Announces Near $1 Billion Plan to Restore Broadband in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai today proposed close to $954 million toward restoring and expanding communications networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that were damaged and destroyed as a result of the 2017 hurricane. more

Women in Security Organize New Conference in Reaction to RSA’s Lack of Female Speaker Inclusion

RSA, one of the largest cybersecurity conferences, has been criticized for booking only one female keynote speaker this year who is Monica Lewinsky. more

Several Major Tech Companies File Suit Against FCC Over Net Neutrality Repeal

Several major tech companies, including Kickstarter, Foursquare and Etsy, filed a lawsuit today against the Federal Communications Commission in an effort to preserve net neutrality rules. more

1.3 Tbps DDoS Attack Against GitHub is Largest Attack Seen to Date, Says Akamai

According to Akamai, the incident was the largest attack seen to date, "more than twice the size of the September 2016 attacks that announced the Mirai botnet and possibly the largest DDoS attack publicly disclosed." more

Washington State Passes Country’s Toughest Net Neutrality Legislation

Washington may be the first state to approve a net neutrality law that applies to all wired and wireless Internet providers in the state. more

IPv6, 5G and Mesh Networks Heightening Law Enforcement Challenges, Says Australian Government

In a submission to the Joint Committee on Law Enforcement's inquiry into Impact of new and emerging information and communications technology, the Department of Home Affairs and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) warn law enforcement will be degraded by a number of new technologies. more

‘First True’ Native IPv6 DDoS Attack Reported

Possibly the first documented native IPv6 DDoS attack reported today suggests a DNS dictionary attack which originated from around 1,900 different native IPv6 hosts, on more than 650 different networks. more

ICANN and GSMA Sign Memorandum of Understanding

ICANN and the mobile network operators trade body, GSM Association (GSMA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Mobile World Congress being held this week in Barcelona. more

Vodafone Plans to Create the First 4G Network on the Moon, Appoints Nokia as Technology Partner

Vodafone is working on a project to create the first 4G network on the Moon to support a mission by PTScientists in 2019. Nokia is chosen as the company's technology partner, according to a press release issued today. more

Court Sides with FTC, Says AT&T Cannot Escape Jurisdiction of the Agency

California appeals court today gave Federal Trade Commission the green light to move forward with a lawsuit alleging that AT&T Inc was deceptive in slowing internet speeds to customers with unlimited plans. more

Significant Changes Underway for Core Internet Protocols

Significant changes to the core Internet protocols are underway due to the increased necessity to overcome limits that have become apparent particularly with regards to performance. more