Google’s “Deeply Disturbing Invasion of Privacy” Being Investigated by Connecticut AG

What happens to companies when they get too big for their own good? Do they inadvertently do things that potentially harm our privacy (think Facebook)? Or, do they simply make mistakes that violate our privacy? Well, last month Google revealed that its Street View cars "mistakenly" captured content flowing over wireless networks -- a potential invasion of privacy. more

AFNIC Publishes New Issue Paper on “the Secondary Market in Domain Names”

Loic Damilaville writes to report: Today AFNIC is publishing its new issue paper on the secondary market in domain names. The paper -- written to inform individuals as well as businesses -- gives a detailed account of the concept of "secondary market", the valuation mechanisms used, and the main players involved. The secondary market covers over-the-counter sales of already registered domain names, as well as the market in "second-hand domain names" and the ecosystem made up of the various players involved in these matters. more

Trademark Owner Loses Two Domain Name Disputes - On Same Domain Name

I've said many times that winning a domain name dispute under the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) is much more challenging than under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). But, that doesn't mean trademark owners should take the UDRP for granted. One complainant learned that lesson an especially hard way -- first by losing a URS determination and then by losing a UDRP decision on the same domain name. more

Munich’s New Domains Conference Reveals Urgency to Act Now

Whoever said there wasn't enough room in Munich this time of year for anything but the mighty Oktoberfest clearly underestimated the draw of the new Top-Level Domain Program and the interest within Europe. The NewDomains.org conference held in Munich over the past two days confirmed three important insights for me; one: there is a large audience of brands and entrepreneurs who still have little awareness about the new Top-Level Domain program; two: those that are aware of the program and would like to participate are seriously behind schedule in preparing their application and strategy to submit to ICANN during the application window from 12 January to 12 April 2012. more

With the New US CTO, Why Not a New OCA: Office of Connectivity Advocacy

We need a positive strategy for assuring connectivity. Instead of trying to fix telecom we should be working to take advantage of what we have and build vital, even if mundane applications like telemedicine and broaden our access to information while empowering communities. By realizing the value in our existing infrastructure and encouraging the creativity we can provide immediate benefits to our economy and our safety. We need a "Connectivity Strategy" with a champion... more

Independent Study Shows Very Low Number of Geographical Indications Disputes Within European Domain Names

The EU is reforming its legal framework concerning geographical indications (GI) protection and has put forward provisions expanding GI protection to domain names in two recent legislative proposals concerning agricultural products and craft/industrial products. In order to support greater GI protection on the internet, both proposals mandate the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to establish a "domain name information and alert system." more

A New Definition of Broadband?

FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel has circulated a draft Notice of Inquiry inside the FCC to kick off the required annual report to Congress on the state of U.S. broadband. As part of preparing that report, she is recommending that the FCC adopt a new definition of broadband of 100/20 Mbps and establish gigabit broadband as a longer-term goal. I have a lot of different reactions to the idea. more

Domain Security: An Underused Cybersecurity Strategy and First Line of Defense in Your Zero Trust Model

Domain security is a critical component to help mitigate cyberattacks in the early stages - your first line of defense in your organization's Zero Trust model. According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), most cyberattacks - including ransomware and business email compromise (BEC) - begin with phishing. Although losses due to ransomware now exceed billions annually, most ransomware protection and response measures don't adequately address phishing risks in the early stages of an attack because they don't include domain security measures to protect against the most common phishing attacks. more

Fadi Chehadé Named as ICANN’s New President and CEO

Fadi Chehadé has been named as the next President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Chehadé, age 50, is a citizen of Lebanon, Egypt and the United States. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Egyptian parents and left the then war-torn country in 1980 at the age of 18. He speaks fluent Arabic English, French and Italian. Chehadé succeeds current President and CEO Rod Beckstrom, who announced last August that he would leave ICANN at the end of his contract, which expires on 1 July. Chehadé will join ICANN on October 1 or earlier. Between July 1 and when Chehadé begins, Chief Operating Officer Akram Atallah will be the CEO. more

Solar Storms Threaten Broadband and Power Grids: Understanding the Impacts and Preparations

Many readers will have seen recent news that the aurora borealis, or northern lights, were visible deep into the South for several days. This phenomenon is caused by a geomagnetic storm that is caused by strong solar flares. Solar flares can cause problems on Earth by emitting clouds of magnetized particles and hot plasma. more

The Second Machine Age Calls for Vision and Leadership

This post I've been pondering on for a long time, but never found the right angle and perhaps I still haven't. Basically I have these observations, thoughts, ideas and a truckload of questions. Where to start? With the future prospects of us all. Thomas Picketty showed us the rise of inequality. He was recently joined by Robert J. Gordon who not only joins Picketty, but adds that we live in a period of stagnation, for decades already. "All great inventions lie over 40 years and more behind us", he points out. more

Data Based Decision Making

A new report was released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, part of the US Department of Commerce... It is a 68 page report with a wealth of data to help understand the factors that differentiate levels of adoption and to try to understand the reasons for non-adoption of residential broadband. In the US, people who don't use the internet represent two thirds of non-users of broadband... more

Silencing the Cold War Hype: Understanding the Road to .ECO

With ICANN's announcement that the application window for new TLDs will be opening in January 2012 there has been an influx of media coverage directed at our bid for .ECO, as well as the bids of many other organizations the world over. To date, many articles related to our bid have drawn immediate reference to the involvement of Mikhail Gorbachev and Al Gore. more

ICANN Suspends Digital Archery

Today, ICANN announced the temporary suspension of the Digital Archery system. ARI Registry Services applauds this development, as it's a clear signal ICANN is listening, considering and acting upon constructive feedback from the community. We encourage ICANN to not only reassess the Digital Archery system, but also the need to proceed with batching at all. more

Privacy in the Age of COVID-19

The Washington Post reports that a recent poll conducted shows that 3 out of 5 Americans are unable or unwilling to use an infection-alerting app developed by Google and Apple. About 1 in 6 adults can't use the app because they don't own a smartphone -- with the lowest ownership levels for those 65 and older. People with smartphones evenly split between those willing versus unwilling to use such an app. more