Is the Internet Dying?

There are indications that the Internet, at least the Internet as we know it today, is dying. I am always amazed, and appalled, when I fire up a packet monitor and watch the continuous flow of useless junk that arrives at my demarcation routers' interfaces. That background traffic has increased to the point where it makes noticeable lines on my MRTG graphs. And I have little reason for optimism that this increase will cease. Quite the contrary, I find more reason to be pessimistic and believe that this background noise will become a Niagara-like roar that drowns the usability of the Internet. And the net has very long memory... more

Analyzing The Inbox of a Spammer’s Domain

Consider this scenario: you need a domain name for your site so you go to your favorite domain registrar's website and upon a quick search find that your third choice is actually available! You quickly pull your credit card and register the name. Everything is good and you can't wait to have your new domain start pointing to your site and represent your official email address. But not so fast -- some of the recent events are revealing that, these days, when you are registering a domain name there is one more critical thing you need to do: check under the hood! more

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

RIR Gainers and Leakers: How Policy Choices Shape the Future of the IPv4 Ecosystem

Diverging policies and fee structures among Regional Internet Registries are reshaping the global IPv4 market. RIPE has emerged as a liquidity hub, while others leak resources, risking long-term instability and financial fragility. more

A Threat to Europe’s Digital Human Rights Stewardship

In a contemporary era when the human rights, democracy, and the rule of law are under attack, Europe has asserted itself as the leading global digital steward for maintaining those values. However, doing so through its Digital Sovereignty initiatives is significantly dependent on the ability to produce timely technical standards that underpin the implementing legislation. 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

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

Do You Need a License to Look for Spam?

Jay Fink had an interesting little business. If you lived in California, you could give him access to your email account; he'd look through the spam folder for spam that appeared to violate the state anti-spam law and give you a spreadsheet and a file of PDFs. You could then sue the spammers, and if you won, you'd give Fink part of the money as his fee. more

Who Is Really Behind the Plan to Block .Web?

In May of this year, I questioned whether the continued legal maneuvering of a company called Altanovo Domains Ltd. (Altanovo) could further delay the launch of .web. After reading its second Independent Review Process (IRP) complaint, and ICANN's response, it seems that the unfortunate answer is a resounding "yes," or at least that is Altanovo's intent. more

The Standards Paywalls Fall: Everyone Benefits

Yesterday -- in a unanimous decision of the US Federal Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (CADC) in ASTM v. Public.Resource.Org --- some of the worst standards paywalls came tumbling down. The court definitively determined that where governmental authorities incorporate private organisation technical standards into law by reference, non-commercial dissemination of those standards "constitutes fair use and cannot support liability for copyright infringement." more

We Can Have Forever URLs

A Forever URL is one that never expires. You own it and needn't worry about forgetting to renew it. The term itself is inspired by the US Forever Stamps, which you can use even if the postal rate goes up. This article looks at the underlying mechanisms for linking such information and is aimed at a technical audience. The DNS isn't just about websites; it is fundamental to how we connect endpoints, be they websites, devices, documents etc. more

Hal Lubsen, Industry Leader and Former CEO of Afilias, Has Passed Away

Hal was an American entrepreneur and a visionary leader who managed and grew successful companies. He had a special impact on the domain name industry, where he founded domain retailer DomainBank and, in 2000, domain registry, Afilias. Hal grew Afilias into an industry leader and was also instrumental in founding Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit that manages the .org domain. more

The Technical Problems of the UN’s Internet Governance Forum Will Not Simply Solve Themselves

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has, for several years, experienced technical problems that have nothing to do with the local staff or host countries of the event. In fact, the volunteers who were part of the local staff of its 17th edition, held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, were constantly overcompensating for issues with a great deal of goodwill.  more

The DNS at the IGF

It's unclear what this means in the long run. Do bad actions and actors go undetected? Do we lose our visibility into network management? What is a "secure" network, and how do we secure it using traditional techniques of network perimeter traffic inspection when all the network traffic is opaque? If we can't see inside the DNS anymore, then how can we tell if (or when) the DNS has been captured by one or two digital behemoths? more