Multistakerholderism and Its Discontents: A Reply

Twenty years after multistakeholderism helped save the Free Internet and present-day Internet governance from a potentially existential crises, the term is again triggering some strong emotions. There are very real questions around definitions, accountability, participation, and even legitimacy in all multistakeholder models. Within Internet governance, there are declared enemies of the multistakeholder approach... more

A Collision Between Tech Policy and Foreign Policy: the UN Cybercrime Convention

Sometime by year-end, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) will vote on the proposed UN Convention Against Cybercrime. The treaty is opposed by most civil liberties organizations and Internet businesses, although the US position appears uncertain, mostly for reasons of foreign policy. more

Exploring the Impact of WHOIS Data Redaction on Unsolicited Emails

In the digital age, personal data protection has become paramount, with regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) shaping global practices. One area significantly affected is the public availability of WHOIS data, a critical resource in the domain name system. WHOIS traditionally provided detailed contact information for domain registrants, but privacy measures have redacted much of this data in recent years. more

Is Verisign a Monopoly? Does It Matter?

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jerry Nadler recently wrote a letter complaining that VeriSign overcharges for .com domains due to its market power. They sent it to the Department of Justice and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). While you can make a reasonable case that the claim is true, two more interesting questions are "Why now?" and "Why bother?" more

Led by Ted Cruz, the GOP Doesn’t Want Affordable Internet

In the coming months, we're set to witness the largest investment in America's digital infrastructure in history: $42.5 billion that should be a true lifeline for millions of Americans struggling with slow, unreliable, or nonexistent internet connections. But as with any massive government spending program, the devil is in the details - and Republican lawmakers, led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, are doing their best to ensure those details work against their own constituents. more

Copyright Infringement: a New Worry for ISPs

Recent court rulings hold ISPs accountable for failing to disconnect users accused of copyright infringement, sparking alarm across the industry. As record labels push for harsh penalties and ISPs warn of the potential for mass disconnections, the debate highlights the flaws of outdated copyright laws and raises critical questions about fairness, enforcement, and the future of internet access. more

Attacking DNS Abuse: The Next Amendments Needed

Abusive behavior that leverages the domain name system (DNS) continues to be a problem, with a reach that has been widely and credibly documented. There is little doubt that bad actors continue to use the DNS for nefarious and costly purposes. While the amendments made in 2024 to ICANN's Registry Agreement (RA) and Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) were a step in the right direction, more advanced tools are needed to bring abuse rates down. more

Project 2025: The Internet and Cybersecurity

As the saying goes, elections have consequences. The consequences are underscored in the recent U.S. Presidential election and the potential impact on the Internet, infrastructure and cybersecurity. In the context of the CircleID global community, it seems worth asking where things are headed? It does beg for an analysis of what is actually proposed in Presidential Transition Project 2025 related to things internet and cybersecurity. more

The Internet’s Two Bodies: Understanding the Multistakeholder Reign

The reports of multistakeholder Internet governance's demise are greatly exaggerated. This article explores the dual nature of multistakeholderism: its evolving, sometimes contentious practice as the "First Body," and its enduring principle of actor plurality as the "Second Body." Despite criticism and challenges, multistakeholderism remains crucial for a resilient, non-state-led Internet, underscoring the need to adapt and uphold its foundational pluralism. more

NIS2 Article 28 Guidance: A Positive Step Toward Reducing DNS Abuse Across Europe

The European Union (EU) has set a high bar by tackling domain name system (DNS) abuse head on via government regulation and seems to have successfully resisted attempts to water down DNS stewardship obligations. Recent guidance from a key European Commission cooperation group (the NIS Cooperation Group) handling sections of the Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) intends for a robust implementation of Article 28, which will go a long way toward helping to mitigate some of the longstanding problems that persist in the DNS. more

IPv6 Transition Stalls as Internet Moves Beyond IP Addresses

The shift from IPv4 to IPv6 has been a protracted and complex process, raising questions about why this transition has been so sluggish despite the depletion of IPv4 addresses more than a decade ago. more

What the Global Digital Compact Taught Us About Future Internet Governance Debates

On September 22, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Global Digital Compact (GDC), marking one of the most significant intergovernmental agreements on digital issues in the past two decades. Appended to the Pact for the Future, the GDC is a non-binding agreement that outlines a global governance framework for a wide range of digital issues, including internet governance and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). more

NIS 2 Directive Set for Implementation with New Guidelines, But Concerns Remain

The NIS Cooperation Group has released critical guidance for the implementation of Article 28 under the NIS 2 Directive, focusing on registration data accuracy obligations for top-level domain (TLD) registries, registrars, and related services in the EU. more

Are Light Poles Telecom Infrastructure?

A long-running issue resurfaced recently asking if light poles should be made available for telecommunications. This idea that light poles might be telecom infrastructure comes from language included in Section 224 of the United States Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) code that says that a "utility shall provide a cable television system or any telecommunications carrier with nondiscriminatory access to any pole, duct, conduit, or right-of-way owned or controlled by it." more

Wireless Technology and Vehicle Safety

Five years ago, any discussion of 5G included a vision that we'd end up with smart cars that were all connected with a ubiquitous 5G network that was going to be built everywhere. We're still waiting to see a real 5G network anywhere instead of the 4G LTE networks that are still being touted by every cellular company as 5G. The idea of a ubiquitous network capable of supporting smart cars died, but there is still an effort underway to use wireless technology to make car travel safer. more