Internet Governance

ICANN’s Picture of Itself

ICANN has released its draft new budget. The document gives us a good look at how ICANN sees itself. It's arguably an internally inconsistent view. ...This budget calls for ICANN to have almost 60 staff members by the end of the next fiscal year. Expenses under this budget are predicted to be twice those of last year ($16 million v. $8 million). more

Human Rights and Standards Development Organizations

Do human rights come into the picture when technology and policy work are involved? If so, where? This is a question that has come up multiple times during the last dozen years, and occasionally even before, in Internet Governance discussions. These discussions have included debates on whether human rights were specifically applicable to protocol design or to the organizations developing protocol standards. more

Now Is the Time to Act: The Technical Community Must Engage in Support of Multistakeholderism

Over the next two years, several global dialogues about our shared digital future are taking place -- and big changes could be in the cards. An intensive series of negotiations will see United Nations (UN) Member States weigh in on the future of digital cooperation -- and multistakeholderism finds itself under the spotlight. The multistakeholder model allows everyone who has a stake in the internet to meaningfully engage in discussions and decisions about its future on equal footing, but a number of critics are calling for change. more

Unraveling the Layers of Internet Fragmentation: A Deeper Dive Into Global Connectivity

During the ICANN79 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in March 2024, the North America School of Internet Governance (NASIG 2024) convened with an over-encompassing theme, "Confronting Truth, Trust, and Hope in Internet Governance." A pivotal panel discussion titled "Can We Survive Digital Fragmentation?" underscored the essentiality of global connectivity and the urgency to understand and address the layers of fragmentation impacting the internet's universal fabric. more

In Search of an Agenda for a New Netmundial

With the strong possibility of a new Netmundial-style event being organized under the stewardship of CGI.br in 2024, the Internet governance community ought to reflect upon the benefits that this could bring to all stakeholders. In a scenario of uncertainty over the several processes affecting the future of the global network, there is value in taking another look at the original event's collaborative outcomes document, which summarized much of what was then understood to be core principles of Internet governance. more

The Times Stand Still: Internet Shutdowns, the Irony of the Multistakeholder Process and Realpolitik

Governments worldwide increasingly resort to shutting down the Internet as a political tool to control information and silence dissent. This alarming trend is not limited to developing nations grappling with civil unrest or political transition. Indeed, it is gaining traction in developed nations, suggesting a global phenomenon transcending geographical boundaries and socio-economic development levels. more

A Netmundial+10 Could Help Redefine Pathways for Internet Governance in the Global South

The original Netmundial was a unique Internet governance event that took place in 2014 and set out to map new avenues for global cooperation around the theme, uniting diverse stakeholders to discuss the future of IG in a broad manner. It was initially convened by the Brazilian government and ICANN as an answer to the Snowden revelations of global Internet espionage performed by various nations (primarily the USA), in part due to these two actors being directly affected by the implications of the revelations. more

Fragment or Not Fragment – Is This the Question? Will the “One World-One Internet” Survive Today’s Geopolitical Stress Tests?

In today's world, it has become axiomatic that drastic change can occur overnight. One of those cherished concepts at risk is the idea of "One World – One Internet." In the wake of the war in Ukraine, the geopolitical tensions on the existing Internet have increased. If the "One Internet" will survive the 2020s is increasingly an open question, as good, bad, and not-very-helpful intentions strive to pull it apart. more

In AI, We Trust!?

When it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is a widespread fear that AI machines will "take over" and dominate humanity. Today, we should be concerned when governments and digital corporations use AI to replace trust as the fundamental value and principle in the digital domain. more

Kleinwaechters Treasure Map

Wolfgang Kleinwaechters Internet Governance Outlook on CircleID each year sums up the drama of internet governance as it is played out on the global stage. We assume that all players on the internet governance stage work under the premise that despite all our differences, ultimately, we are united in our quest for "freedom from fear and want" based on the quality and dignity of all human beings, as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). more

Internet Governance Outlook 2023: Will “Digital Coop-Frontation” Become the “New Normal”?

In 2022, the Internet world was shaken by big contradictions. On the one hand, efforts to constitute a stable and secure framework for a safe cyberspace made substantial progress. The UN got a new Tech Envoy. The UN-based Internet Governance Forum (IGF) got a "Leadership Panel." The UN negotiations on cybersecurity and cybercrime produced constructive interim results. more

Unleashing the Potential of Internet Governance Professionals

Internet Governance is a complex and constantly evolving field that touches upon many aspects of the global digital landscape. It encompasses everything from technical standards and protocols, to policy and regulatory issues, to the social, economic, and cultural impacts of the internet. With such a wide range of stakeholders and interests at play, it's no wonder that the community of Internet Governance professionals is so diverse. more

ICANN’s Changing of the Guard – Part 1

On the 21st of December, ICANN announced that Goran Marby had stepped down as ICANN's sixth CEO. As the ICANN Board commences its search for its next CEO, I thought it would be useful to look back at ICANN's selection process for its previous CEOs and how each tended to be driven by the unique challenges confronting ICANN at that time. more

ICANN, RIPE, and ISP War Crime Complicity Exposure

The recent horrific actions undertaken by Vladimir V. Putin and complicit Russian actors against the sovereign nation of Ukraine and its people are widely regarded as war crimes on a profound scale not seen in Europe since World War II. The costs in lives and property are enormous. It has recently resulted in a condemning UN Resolution. At some point, there will be reckoning for Putin and those who aided and abetted his actions through our domestic and international legal systems. more

ICANN, Ukraine and Leveraging Internet Identifiers

Ukraine's representative to ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) has sent a letter to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to remove Russian-administered top level domains (.RU, .SU and .рф) from the DNS root zone. In a separate letter, Ukraine's representative also asked RIPE NCC to withdraw the right to use all IPv4 and IPv6 addresses by all Russian members of the regional IP registry for the European region. more