DNSSEC Workshop Streaming Live from ICANN 55 in Marrakech on Wednesday, March 9, 2016

What is the current state of DNSSEC deployment around the world and also in Africa? How can you deploy DNSSEC at a massive scale? What is the state of using elliptic curve crypto algorithms in DNSSEC? What more can be done to accelerate DNSSEC deployment? Discussion of all those questions and much more can be found in the DNSSEC Workshop streaming live out of the ICANN 55 meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, on Wednesday, March 9, from 9:00 to 15:15 WET. more

DotSpam? Certain New gTLDs Rapidly Outpacing Legacy TLDs in Terms of Abuse

Would you like to hear about how to treat your psoriasis? Where to get a cheap oil change? How to flatten your belly? Achieve a stronger sexual life? Cheap toner? Annuities? Herpes? Bed bugs? Free energy? Varicose-Veins? Herpes? Saggy skin? Arthritis? Overactive bladder? Drug addiction? Herpes? No? Well, that's too bad, because that you are going to hear about it whether you like it or not. Many of the messages about these and other subjects are being carried to you via new gTLDs. more

Legacy or Not to Be?

Over the years, most communication service providers will build up their information systems bit by bit. Every so often as new services are required, a new process and vendor product is installed. Several years later, there can be many legacy processes and vendor products chosen and designed by many different people. Generally, each implementation team is diligently aware of these legacy processes and vendor products. But in a lot of cases the whole enterprise architecture becomes very convoluted and complicated. more

The CCT Review Needs You!

Come join the discussion on Wednesday 17:15 UTC. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? As ICANN approaches its 18th birthday, it marks its ascension to adulthood and independence with a new framework of accountability. As we attempt to modernize and empower the organization with oversight of the DNS, the question of "who watches the watchmen?" is on the tip of everyone's tongue. more

Chinese Drawing Even With English on Global Websites

Over the past decade Simplified Chinese has grown to become one of the most popular languages on global websites, second only to English. According to the Web Globalization Report Card, which has long monitored languages supported by the world's leading brands, Chinese was seen on only about six out of ten websites in 2006. Today, it is seen on virtually every global website. more

Blocking and Filtering in Collaborative Security Context - A Reflection on RFC 7754

The other day, I planned to take my 15-year-old son to the movie theatre to see "Hateful Eight" in 70mm film format. The theatre would not allow him in. Under article 240a of the Dutch penal code, it is a felony to show a movie to a minor when that movie is rated 16 or above. Even though I think I am responsible for what my son gets to see, I understand that the rating agency put a 16-year stamp on this politically-incorrect-gun-slinging-gore-and-curse-intense-comedy feature. more

Macro Observations Facing Email Infrastructure

Last month I attended the 36th annual M³AAWG conference in San Francisco, where esteemed members of the online messaging and anti-abuse community come together to make the Internet a safer and more secure environment. The sending community is highly influential especially among Email Service Providers (ESPs) and truly dominated the two-macro conversations that I participated in. These conversations have the industry in somewhat of a transition. more

Senate Letter to ICANN Board Showcases Critical Misunderstanding of What ICANN Is

Today's new U.S. Senate letter to ICANN - the latest in a series of letters on the work of the ICANN technical communities - is disturbingly well crafted. If taken at face value, it even seems to lend credence to the idea that ICANN is potentially a perpetuator of the limiting of free speech, and it could be seen as a break in the narrative that i2Coalition perpetuates, that the IANA transition is a positive step in strengthening multistakeholderism over dangerous multilateralism when it comes to Internet governance. more

What Your ISP (Probably) Knows About You

Earlier this week, I came across a working paper from Professor Peter Swire - a highly respected attorney, professor, and policy expert. Swire's paper, entitled "Online Privacy and ISPs", argues that ISPs have limited capability to monitor users' online activity. The paper argues that ISPs have limited visibility into users' online activity for three reasons: (1) users are increasingly using many devices and connections, so any single ISP is the conduit of only a fraction of a typical user's activity; (2) end-to-end encryption is becoming more pervasive, which limits ISPs' ability to glean information about user activity; and (3) users are increasingly shifting to VPNs to send traffic. more

CEO Chehade, Senator Cruz, and the IANA Transition End Game

On February 4, 2016, U.S. Senator (and Republican Party Presidential nomination contender) Ted Cruz, joined by Senators James Lankford and Michael Lee, dispatched a letter to ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade stating that "we were surprised and dismayed to learn that you have agreed to co-chair a high-level advisory committee for the World Internet Conference, which is organized by the Chinese government, while you serve as the Chief Executive Officer of ICANN under contract with the United States Government". The letter continued by posing a series of nine questions... more