Internet Governance

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Internet Society Urges Congress to Press Ahead with IANA Steward Transition

In a letter to key Congressional leaders, the Internet Society's CEO, Kathryn Brown, has urged Congress to allow the IANA stewardship transition to proceed without delay. The contract between the US Commerce Departments National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is set to expire on September 30. more

Australian Government Opposed to Creation of Adult-Themed TLDs

Andrew Colley of Australian IT reports the AusRegistry, the operator of Australia's Top-Level Domain (.au), has revealed that it has been approached by various groups planning to submit applications to ICANN for the creation of adult-themed generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) such as .xxx and .sex. According to the report, the Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has opposed the idea syaing: "The government does not support the creation of the .xxx TLD." As it has been reported extensively on CircleID, previous attempts to create adult related TLDs (such as .xxx) have so far been rejected by ICANN. 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

Can Legislatures Safely Vote by Internet?

It is a well understood scientific fact that Internet voting in public elections is not securable: "the Internet should not be used for the return of marked ballots. ... [N]o known technology guarantees the secrecy, security, and verifiability of a marked ballot transmitted over the Internet." But can legislatures (city councils, county boards, or the U.S. Congress) safely vote by Internet? Perhaps they can. To understand why, let's examine two important differences between legislature votes and public elections. more

ICANN CEO, U.S. Ambassador Talk Up Multistakeholder Model As a Cure to Concerns About Prism

Kevin Murphy reporting in Domain Incite: "ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade and a US ambassador today both talked up the multistakeholder model as a cure to concerns about PRISM and related surveillance programs. But the US warned against using the spying scandal to push internet governance into the hands of 'centralized intergovernmental control'... Chehade and Ambassador Danny Sepulveda, US coordinator for international communications and information policy, were speaking at the opening ceremony of the Internet Governance Forum in Bali, Indonesia." more

Rally Organized by Coalition Against Mass Surveillance in Washington, DC

A coalition, called StopWatching.Us, which includes over a hundred advocacy organizations and companies is working to organize "the biggest mass protest of the NSA's surveillance programs to date" in Washington, D.C. The coalition consists of organizations and companies such as ACLU, Access, Demand Progress, Electronic Frontier Foundation, FreedomWorks, Fight for the Future, Free Press, Mozilla, reddit, Restore the Fourth and Thoughtworks. more

Second Master Class in Internet Governance and Policy by InterConnect

InterConnect announces a second date for its "Master Class on Internet Governance" starting 17 – 21 November 2014. InterConnect provides the following information regarding the course. more

Milton Mueller on Whether NSA Revelations Have Anything to Do With Internet Governance

In a blog post today in IGP, Milton Mueller writes: "t's not surprising that the [NSA] revelations sent ripples through the world of Internet governance. Although there seemed to be no direct connection between the controversies, the native internet institutions -- already worried about their alleged competition with the ITU -- seem to have felt as if they might be tarred with the NSA brush. On October 7, 2013, we got the Montevideo statement. In it, the ICANN President, all 5 RIR Directors, the IAB Chair, the IETF Chair, the Internet Society President, and the W3C Chief Executive Officer made two key points..." more

U.S. Cautiously Encourages IANA Reform

Milton Mueller reporting in IGP: "On January 23 Daniel Sepulveda, the State Department's Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, gave a notable speech in Washington on Internet governance. This is the first US official statement on the topic since the NSA spying scandal broke and altered the landscape. Entitled 'Internet Governance 2020 - Geopolitics and the Future of the Internet,' the speech signaled the Obama administration's openness to reform as long as it is conducted within a multistakeholder framework..." more

WSIS+20: IGF, EC, GDC and the Future of Digital

The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) convened by World leaders in 2003 and 2005 following the realization of the crucial roles of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) (also known in the industry as the Internet) played in economic growth and development. Since 2005, ICTs have added more than $10tr to the global economy (Oxford Economics, 2020). more

AFRINIC’s Election Crisis Exposes Why RIR Oversight Must Evolve

What might look like a routine procedural dispute over votes is, in fact, a glaring reminder that Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are now geopolitical pressure points - and that ICANN's oversight of RIR governance must evolve to meet these risks. On 23 June 2025, AFRINIC, the RIR that serves Africa, attempted to hold long-delayed elections to restore stability after years of legal battles and board paralysis. Yet instead of restoring trust, the process imploded almost immediately. more

ICANN Announces Members of Its Strategy Panels

ICANN has announced a list of over 40 diverse practitioners, subject matter experts, and thought leaders as members of the ICANN Strategy Panels to support development of the organization's strategic and operational plans. more

Internet Society Calls for Restoration of Full Internet Access in Turkey

Internet Society President and CEO, Kathy Brown, issued the following statement in light of recent Internet disruptions in Turkey. more

AI: The Squandered Opportunity in India

India's AI summit promised a Global South rethink of digital governance. Instead, a weak declaration and Delhi's accession to America's Pax Silica exposed widening power asymmetries, leaving countries like Brazil outside the real circuitry of control. more

The Unprepared gTLD Applicant of 2026

The gTLD race is not just about technical readiness. Governance strategy, institutional stamina, and adversarial foresight will define success in ICANN's 2026 round, where geopolitical resistance, not DNS errors, threatens survival. more

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