Milton Mueller, reporting today on the Internet Governance Project (IGP) website: "Although you may not have heard about it yet, there are plans afoot for an Internet Governance Forum for the U.S. The location has been set for Washington, DC at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The date is set at October 2. The purpose of the affair is to debate, discuss and seek out common ground on some of the issues facing the global Internet Governance Forum operated by the United Nations, which will be held in Egypt November 15-18." more
In a previous post, I spoke of Amazon's use of customer and market data in restraint of trade, but they are not alone. For example, leaked internal documents show that plans to sell access to user data were discussed for years and received support from Facebook's most senior executives. Facebook gave Amazon extended access to user data because Amazon was spending money on advertising and partnered with them on the launch of the Fire smartphone. more
Having researched and written about the 100 year history of U.S. State Department's institutional machinations in the telecom/cyber sector, taught law school graduate courses, and worked with its bureaus and staff over the past 45 years, the latest twists and turns seem to repeat past mistakes. The fundamental problem is that the U.S. is the only country whose Foreign Ministry is given a significant role and engaged in telecom and cyber matters in global venues. more
United Nations Human Rights Council today adopted resolutions condemning measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access or dissemination of information on the Internet in violation of international human rights law. more
The transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions is finally in the history books. After almost two years of working groups and multiple rounds of meetings, most of us want to take a long vacation and never hear the acronym "IANA" again. However, the transition is just the beginning. Now is the time for the multistakeholder community to exercise its new authorities and responsibilities to ensure ICANN remains accountable to every internet user. more
During a conference, "Internet of Things," in France, the U.S. Department of Commerce made the announcement that it will hold a public consultation on the different proposals to cryptographically sign the DNS root zone file, and determine who will hold the root zone trust anchor for global DNSSEC implementation, says Milton Mueller on the Internet Governance Forum blog. The blog, titled "Commerce Department asks the world to comment on its plans to retain control of the root," continues... more
Philip Corwin of the Internet Commerce Associations reports: "In a stunning rebuke of ICANN's assertion that it had achieved sufficient accountability and professional stature to justify termination of its unique relationship with the U.S. government, the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce as well as the Chairman of its Internet Subcommittee, along with eight other Committee members, dispatched a joint letter on August 4th to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke urging that the relationship between ICANN and the U.S. be made permanent and strengthened." more
"Preserving a Free and Open Internet," is the title of a post published today by Kent Walker, Google's SVP and General Counsel. more
Michael Geist reporting in his blog: "The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression has released an important new report that examines freedom of expression on the Internet. The report is very critical of rules such as graduated response/three strikes, arguing that such laws may violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Moreover, the report expresses concerns with notice-and-takedown systems, noting that it is subject to abuse by both governments and private actors." more
Shalini Singh reporting in the Hindu: "The raging controversy over possible excessive state regulation of the internet based on the IT Rules 2011 is now likely to be dwarfed by discussions in Geneva later this week over India's proposal to the United Nations General Assembly, for government control of the Internet... In its proposal submitted to the General Assembly in New York on October 26, 2011, India has argued for a radical shift from the present model of multi-stakeholder led decision-making, to a purely government-run multilateral body..." more
As the time ticks away on Senator Cruz's ersatz Doomsday clock, possibly accompanied by the fat sound of Mic Michaeli's analog synthesiser riff, it is easy to dismiss all his arguments as the ravings of a disappointed Cecil Underwood. Some in the ICANN community have described Cruz as a skilled orator. This isn't precisely accurate. He is certainly a competent orator but his outstanding skill is that he is a brilliant courtroom advocate. more
In preparation for the upcoming ICANN 53rd meeting in Argentina, Lawrence Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator, reminds the community that "one of NTIA's top priorities continues to be the transition of NTIA's role related to the Internet Domain Name System." more
Early this morning in Syria, the Internet was almost entirely down for four hours. It was the ninth such outage since 31 July 2016 -- each one lasting from approximately 4am to 8am local time. more
InterConnect announces the first in a developing series of new Master Classes on "Internet Infrastructure and Governance" starting June 30 through July 3, 2014. more
Today, the Biden Administration released the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which outlines the use of all available resources to protect the United States' security, safety, and economic prosperity. more
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