Satellite Broadband, Stimulus Funds and Network Neutrality

At the IP Satellite Summit in Washington this week, a panel composed of satellite service providers and product vendors discussed whether or not they would pursue the economic stimulus funds set aside for broadband development. While the service providers agreed that there are viable business models for satellite broadband service without the stimulus money – of course, they were delivering service before the current economic collapse and talk of the stimulus money – the consensus seemed to be that they would apply for the grants to further develop, deploy and perhaps even subsidize their service offerings... more

Societies Running on Quicksand: A Critical Look at Today’s Networks

The last few weeks have reinforced the importance of modern communication networks to societies. Health care providers, schools, governments, and businesses all rely on networks that enable us to connect and collaborate remotely. Had we encountered a similar pandemic ten years ago, we would not have been able to continue our activities on the level that is possible today. more

Rewiring Internet Governance: Step One Is About ICANN (Part 1)

It is time for some straight talk about governance. The word "governance" used here means authority. It does not merely mean rules, or coercion, or any other weasel-worded definitions that deflect our attention from the art of good governance as distinct from self-serving opportunism and illusory power sharing. Politics, as Theodore Lowi reminded us, is ultimately about "who gets what". Quibbling with endless essays about who rules the root is useful, but not demonstrative. more

Disruptive Google Fiber Is Shaking up the Telco World

The Google Fiber project is receiving international attention. This in itself is a good thing, since it brings the benefits of high-speed FttH infrastructure to the attention of large numbers of people in business and government who will not have to deal with such developments on a regular basis... At the same time we have to look at Google Fiber from the point of view of operating in the American regulatory environment. Yes, we can all learn from its disruptive model, and particularly when the results of the more innovative elements of the services begin to kick in; but for other reasons there is no way that this model can be replicated elsewhere. more

Iranian Protesters Urged Not to DDoS Gov Sites, Could Backfire as Country’s Networks Are Centralized

In the midst of heavy demonstrations in the street of Iran against current regime and controversial election results, online activist have began organizing online attacks against government websites. Activists are asking supporters to use tools currently being spread via Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites to participate in the attack. However as one blogger writes, the attack might in fact back fire in a country like Iran where network infrastructure is relatively centralized... more

Donuts Holder of the Largest Portfolio of New TLDs Acquired by Abry Partners

Donuts Inc., a global leader in new top-level domains (TLDs), has announced that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Abry Partners, a private equity firm. more

As WHOIS Transitions to RDAP, How Do We Avoid the Same Mistakes?

In 1905, philosopher George Santayana famously noted, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." When past attempts to resolve a challenge have failed, it makes sense to consider different approaches even if they seem controversial or otherwise at odds with maintaining the status quo. Such is the case with the opportunity to make real progress in addressing the many functional issues associated with WHOIS. We need to think differently. more

The ITRs and Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a top-of-mind issue with calls for individual vigilance, national legislation, and international treaties to address gaps that are exploited causing significant harm and financial loss on a daily basis. The vast majority of these calls are well-intentioned though even among the best-intentioned, some are poorly directed. Such is the case with all of the proposals that would introduce security into the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). more

Big Internet Outages - There Is No Such Thing as a Routine Software Upgrade

Last year I wrote about big disruptive outages on the T-Mobile and the CenturyLink networks. Those outages demonstrate how a single circuit failure on a transport route or a single software error in a data center can spread quickly and cause big outages. I join a lot of the industry in blaming the spread of these outages on the concentration and centralization of networks where the nationwide routing of big networks is now controlled by only a handful of technicians in a few locations. In early October, we saw the granddaddy of all network outages... more

.site Domain Names Eclipse .xyz in Dispute Proceedings

Despite the launch of more than 1,200 new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in recent years, .com remains - far and away - the top-level domain that appears most frequently in decisions under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). But, some new gTLDs are attracting more disputes, including .site, which has become the new gTLD that, so far this year, has appeared in the most UDRP decisions. The rise of .site represents a change from last year, when .xyz was the most-often disputed new gTLD. more

Questionable Impact for US House Hearing on New gTLDs

This morning, the US House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet led by Representative Goodlatte (R - VA) conducted a hearing on New gTLDs. Kurt Pritz, Senior Vice President from ICANN did his best to alleviate concerns about the risks posed to intellectual property rights and consumers as the result of the New gTLD Program and reiterated that the process to launch new gTLDs has been underway for 7 years. more

Maybe Email IS Dead - Part of It, Anyway

I tend to chuckle at every new proclamation that email is dead. Google Wave won't kill it. Twitter and Facebook aren't killing it; they're using it. RSS didn't kill it. Instant messaging didn't kill it. "Push media" (remember that?) didn't kill it. AOL and Compuserve and Prodigy didn't kill it; they joined it. And before that, usenet and email lived happily side-by-side. more

ISPs in UK Legally Obliged to Provide High-Speed Broadband Upon Request, Starting 2020

UK Government says internet providers will be legally required to meet user requests for speeds of at least 10Mbps starting in 2020. more

Halftime Is over for the New gTLD Applicants: Musings of a Hungry Marketer

As I sit in Schiphol airport awaiting the final leg of my journey home from ICANN Toronto, I'm thinking of all the work that lies ahead in the coming months. The sense of being caught in the holding pattern that descended over the industry after the Prague meeting and lasted into September, is evidently over. The wheels have thankfully begun to turn again on the path towards the new TLDs finally going live. more

DEFCON 1 Status at ICANN

Defense Readiness Condition (DEFCON) is a measure of the activation and readiness of the United States armed forces. The DEFCON scale is a numerical ranking from 5 (standard peacetime protocol) to DEFCON 1 (expectation of actual imminent attack). Today ICANN should find itself at a DEFCON 1 status with the announced pending departure of Doug Brent, ICANN's Chief Operating Officer, effect at the end of July. more