News Briefs

Ted Cruz: IANA Transition ‘Likely Illegal’

"Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called on Congress to stop the Obama administration from giving away control of the Internet with congressional authorization -- a move Cruz said is likely illegal," Nicholas Ballasy reporting today in PJ Media. more

Republicans Threaten to Derail IANA Transition

Republican congressmen continue their efforts in delaying the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition from the US government to ICANN. Kieren McCarthy reporting in The Register writes: "For the third time, a House Appropriations subcommittee has included a provision in a must-pass bill that would prevent the Department of Commerce from using any funds in the transition of the IANA contract from the department to non-profit California organization ICANN..." more

US Senate Gives Final OK to Ban Internet Taxes

The U.S. Senate today passed legislation placing a permanent ban on states' taxing Internet access, sending the measure to President Obama for signing into law. more

FCC Introduces Broadband Labels

The Federal Communications Commission has introduced new broadband labels in order to provide consumers of mobile and fixed broadband Internet service with an easy-to-understand information about price and performance. "These labels provide consumers clarity about the broadband service they are purchasing, not only helping them to make more informed choices but also preventing surprises when the first bill arrives," said Chairman Wheeler. more

UK Security Agencies Have Unlawfully Collected Data for 17 Years, Says Court

"British security agencies have secretly and unlawfully collected massive volumes of confidential personal data, including financial information, on citizens for more than a decade, top judges have ruled," according to a report published today in The Guardian. more

Attend the Upcoming Master Class in Internet Governance and Policy

InterConnect has finalized the dates and details for its "Master Class in Internet Governance and Policy" taking place next month in Bath, UK. more

ICANN Confirms Selection of Leading New CEO Candidate, Announcement Expected Next Week

Following rumors last week on the leading candidate for ICANN's new CEO position, an official announcement has been released by ICANN confirming that the board may indeed announce its selection during its meeting in Sydney next week. more

Apparently Legitimate Estonian ISP Operating as Large Cybercrime Hub Since 2005

An apparently legitimate ISP in Tartu, Estonian is reported to have been serving as the operational headquarters of a large cybercrime network since 2005 according to TrendWatch, the security research arm of TrendMicro. "An Estonian company is actively administering a huge number of servers in numerous datacenters, which together form a network to commit cybercrime. It appears that the company from Tartu, Estonia controls everything from trying to lure Internet users to installing DNS changer Trojans by promising them special video content, and finally to exploiting victims' machines for fraud with the help of ads and fake virus infection warnings..." more

Google Praises Canada for “Keeping the Internet Awesome”

In response to Canada's recent decision to keep a hands-off approach to distributed content over the Internet and through mobile devices, Jacob Glick, Google's Canada Policy Counsel has highly commended the decision. In a blog post today, Glick writes: "If you've ever wondered about the power and popularity of user-generated content in Canada, consider this: if all three Canadian television networks began broadcasting Canadian content 24 hours a day, seven days a week, YouTube would still have more Canadian content than those three networks combined." more

GigaNet Call for Proposals: Internet Governance Research a Decade After WSIS

In 2016, the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) will celebrate its 11th Annual Symposium which will take place on 05 December 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico as a pre-event of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
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David J. Farber, Early Architect of the Internet, Dies at 91

David J. Farber, a pioneering computer scientist and mentor to key architects of the Internet Protocol, has died at 91, leaving a legacy that helped transform isolated machines into the global network underpinning modern communication. more

FBI Pushing Enforcement Action Against Money Mules

Brian Krebs reporting on the Krebs on Security blog: "The FBI's top anti-cyber crime official today said the agency is planning a law enforcement action against so-called 'money mules,' individuals willingly or unwittingly roped into helping organized computer crooks launder money stolen through online banking fraud." more

Microsoft Data Suggests 1 Out of Every 14 Downloads is Malware

Microsoft Program Manager, Jeb Haber, reports in a blog post that from browser data collected on user downloads, 1 out of every 14 programs downloaded is later confirmed as malware. Haber says: "Consumers need information to make better decisions. That said, IE9 adds another layer of defense against socially engineered attacks that now looks at the application being downloaded -- this is in addition to the URL-based protection described above. This new layer of protection is called SmartScreen Application Reputation." more

Schneier: “Someone Is Learning How to Take down the Internet”

"Over the past year or two, someone has been probing the defenses of the companies that run critical pieces of the Internet," wrote renowned security expert, Bruce Schneier, in a piece published in Lawfare. more

Cisco’s Big Bet on IoT, Acquires Jasper for $1.4 Billion

Cisco has announced its intent to acquire Jasper Technologies, Inc., a privately held company based in Santa Clara, which provides a cloud-based IoT service platform helping enterprises and service providers launch, manage and monetize IoT services on a global scale. more