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The Summit of the Future: A Hope for the Future

The Summit of the Future (SotF) was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on September 22 -- 23, 2024. World leaders, in the presence of stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, academic/technical communities, and youths, endorsed a landmark Pact for the Future of mankind. The Pact for the Future (P4F) (A/RES/79/1) was a significant, consensus-driven but non-binding document agreed upon by world leaders specifically on September 22, 2024. more

The Hidden Costs of Digital Convenience

In today's digital age, the Internet is a ubiquitous presence in our lives, playing a pivotal role in how we communicate, work, learn, and entertain ourselves. However, the convenience and benefits of the Internet come with a hidden cost to the environment, which is often overlooked by end users. This article explores the environmental impact of online activities and highlights the importance of adopting more sustainable digital practices. 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

Your Data or Your Life? Towards the Acceptance of Digital Technologies and Data in Medicine

There is currently a heated discussion going on in Europe, and particularly here in Germany, about the use of COVID-19 digital tracing apps, a discussion that shows us how much the Internet has become a matter of life and death. The uses for such apps are undeniable, but the idea of deployment still meets with popular resistance. Sensitized by countless leaks and hacks, and chafing under restrictions in their freedom of movement, people are concerned that even the last zones of privacy are to be monitored, and that the personal data collected could be misused. more

Keep Your Pants On: Governments Want Suspenders for Secure Routing

The difficulty of applying a hierarchically organized PKI to the decentralized world of Internet routing is being fully exposed in a new Internet-draft. The document represents a rational response to an RPKI that closely ties address resources to a handful of Internet governance institutions, nicely illustrates how governments and national security policy are influencing Internet security, and portends substantial costs for network operators and beyond if adopted widely more

International Environmental Leaders Call for Community Protection of Dot Eco Domain

More than 50 major environmental groups have called on ICANN to protect the .ECO domain, representing a ground swell of public interest and support. Their letters are included with Big Room's community-priority .ECO application to ICANN... "This is one of the highest-level global mobilizations of the environmental community in history. Over 190 countries, more than 1,000 entities and over 10 million individual members are represented." more

Internet Society’s Contribution to the WSIS+10 Written Consultation

Today we at the Internet Society submitted our contribution to the United Nations General Assembly's 10-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+10) that will take place in New York in December. The goal of this meeting is to set the agenda for the UN - and through that the agendas of nations around the world -- with regard to the future of the "Information Society". more

Is Technology the Problem?

We do live in turbulent times. There is such a lot happening, with many people feeling overwhelmed and lost. One of the reasons given why we do have these problems is technology. I would argue against that. In all reality, technology is a tool that we can use, and yes, we all know that we can use it for the wrong reasons (cars kill people, atom bombs, killer robots, chemical and biological warfare and so on). However, we have learned to live with it, and in general, the outcome from science, innovation and technology has been positive. more

China Sets Up Internet Oversight Body, Has Authority to Investigate and Punish

Caixin reports that the State Council, China's cabinet, has set up an office to regulate internet activity, according to an announcement released on May 4 via an official website. The new department, called the State Internet Information Office, will supervise online content management and process approvals of businesses involved in online news reporting, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua. The new agency is reported to have the authority to investigate and punish online content-providers if necessary. more

US Government to ICANN - Move Quickly

David Redl has written to ICANN in relation to the ongoing work around whois and GDPR. The letter, which was shared with the GNSO Council last night, is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it offers the carrot in relation to what's been done so far, but then there's the not so veiled threat, which isn't a revelation by any means, of "domestic legislation." more

Encryption and Child Sexual Abuse Prevention

Just over one week ago, the New York Times published a major investigation into the intractable problem of illegal sexual images of minors being exchanged online. Despite flaws in the story and its companion pieces, the main take-away that Internet companies have failed to adequately address the problem has resonated widely. Prostasia Foundation too has been critical of some of the Internet platforms called out in the article. But at the same time, we need to be realistic about how much responsibility we can (or should) place on tech firms to solve this problem. more

US House Hearing Scheduled on Internet Stability, IANA Transition

The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, April 2, 2014 on "Ensuring the Security, Stability, Resilience, and Freedom of the Global Internet." more

The .ORG Debate Should be About What Its Users Want

I watch the controversy over the proposed sale of the .ORG domain with a mixture of bemusement and concern. Some in the ICANN community – mostly those who resent that the Internet ever became commercialized – oppose the sale of the Public Interest Registry to the for-profit company Ethos for $1.1 billion. The basis of their concern is that the domain for non-profits should be in the hands of a non-profit and that the new owners might increase the current $9.93 fee PIR charges for a domain. more

Is It Time for a Data Sharing Clearinghouse for Internet Researchers?

Today's Senate hearing with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg will start a long discussion on data collection and privacy from Internet companies. Although the spotlight is currently on Facebook, we shouldn't forget that the picture is broader: companies from device manufacturers to ISPs collect network traffic and use it for a variety of purposes. more

Are We Facing the Splinternet?

One of the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine is that Russia has largely stopped participating in many large worldwide web applications. Russia has blocked Facebook and Twitter. Other applications like Apple, Microsoft, TikTok, Netflix, and others have withdrawn from Russia. The European Union is in the process of trying to block Russian-generated content, such as the state-owned news outlets of RT (formerly Russia Today) and Sputnik. more

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