How a DNS Proxy Service Can Reduce the Risk of VoIP Service Downtime

Consumers are embracing VoIP services now more than ever as they get used to calling over Internet application services such as Skype, Facetime, and Google Hangouts. Market Research Store predict that the global value of the VoIP services market is expected to reach above USD140 billion in 2021, representing a compound annual growth rate of above 9.1% between 2016 and 2021. more

Google Launches Storage Service, “Drive”

Google today launched a long-rumored "Drive" service to allow users store photos, videos, and other digital files in its massive data centers. Available immediately, first five gigabytes of storage per account of Google Drive is free and additional storage will be sold for prices starting at $2.49 per month for 25 gigabytes. more

Mobilizing Russian Population Attacking Georgia: Similar to the Estonian Incident?

It seems like the online Russian population is getting mobilized. Like a meme spreading on the blogosphere, the mob is forming and starting to "riot", attacking Georgia. This seems very similar to the Estonian incident, only my current guess is natural evolution rather than grass-roots implanted -- but I am getting more and more convinced of the similarities as more information becomes available. Determining exactly when the use of scripts by regular users started, is key to this determination. more

Russia Demands Facebook to Store Citizens’ Data on Russian Servers or Be Blocked

Russia threatens to block access to Facebook next year unless the company complies with a law that requires websites which store the personal data of Russian citizens to do so on Russian servers. more

The Next Internet Revolution Will Not Be in English

This visual depicts about half of the currently approved internationalized domain names (IDNs), positioned over their respective regions. Notice the wide range of scripts over India and the wide range of Arabic domains. I left off the Latin country code equivalents (in, cn, th, sa, etc.) to illustrate what the Internet is going to look like (at a very high level) in the years ahead. more

The Real Threat to the Single Root of the Internet Seems to Come from ICANN Itself, of All Places

The proposed final Guidebook for the New generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) and Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) gTLDs contains elements that raise grave risks to the ICANN single root of the Internet caused by none other than ICANN itself. Below is my intervention at the ICANN Cartagena Public Forum today. ICANN President and CEO Mr. Rod Beckstrom was prompt to reply and acknowledge the validity of my statement adding that ICANN is fully aware of the problem. more

President of Name Intelligence Responds to WLS Issue

Part of the stated reason for the high price point stated by Verisign was to "deter domain speculators" with a price that was high. If the price was set at $1, they claim, speculators would buy all the WLS subscriptions before any other people. So if Verisign is trying to really deter domain speculators then why are they not releasing information on who owns a WLS? Or limiting the number of WLS that a person can have. Seems like a shallow argument if the only deterring thing is raising more money for the Verisign monopoly rather than setting limits... more

Craigslist Gets a $40 Million CAN-SPAM Judgment

Classified ad site craigslist is famously protective of its contents. While they are happy for search engines like Google to index the listings, they really, really do not like third parties to scrape and republish their content in other forms. In 2013 craigslist sued a company called 3taps which had created an API for craigslist data. They also sued real estate site Padmapper, which showed craigslist and other apartment listings on a map, something craigslist didn't do at the time. more

Neustar Professional Services: Additional Expertise to Improve Productivity

While it would be nice if your company had IT staff members that were experts in every technology, that is just not realistic. And today, many companies face the challenge of finding the appropriate and specialized expertise that is required to deal with ongoing issues such as network optimization, performance degradations, network risks, and more. more

Marketo’s Path to Being Acquired

Happy Early Memorial Day. Once an ESP or marketing automation company declares itself for sale, there seems to be a mass exodus by investors, which sends up a red flag, (well in this case, a red & white striped flag). This past week there were rumblings about the potential suitors for Marketo. While it is rumored that German company SAP is the front-runner, there are many other potential suitors circling the marketing automation software company. more

WCIT-12 Disappoints, More Work to Be Done

In the end it was a disappointment that the treaty on International Telecommunications regulations (ITRs) that had been under negotiation for two weeks at WCIT-12 was not acceptable to 55 countries, and that, as a consequence, these countries did not sign the final version of the international treaty (89 did sign). After two weeks of sometimes fractious negotiation - 1,275 proposals were discussed in all - the contentious issues were significantly watered down. However the dissenting countries felt that the key issue - anything in relation to the internet - should not be included at all and, quite correctly, did not compromise on that. more

The Internet Community Says Thank You to ICANN for New TLDs

After more than six years of consultation and negotiation regarding the New Top-Level Domain Program, the ICANN Board this week approved the program to the pleasure of many within the Internet community. For this, we say thank you to ICANN on a job well done! The New Top-Level Domain (TLD) Program has been controversial at times and has fuelled many passionate debates within the Internet community. more

Another Big Step Forward for New TLDs

So after the initial reaction and "over-reaction" by some folks in the audience, I have been thinking about the implications of the ICANN resolution on new gTLDs at its Board meeting in Cartagena, Colombia. In short, the resolution and subsequent comments by the chair, Peter Dengate-Thrush have shown that there is positive momentum with respect to the program overall. "We have reached a turning point in the new gTLD program" he said. more

The IETF’s Job Is Complete - Should It Now Scale Up, Down or Out?

My assertion is that the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is an institution whose remit is coming to a natural end. This is the result of spectacular success, not failure. However, continuing along the present path risks turning that success into a serious act of wrongdoing. This will leave a social and political legacy that will tarnish the collaborative technical achievements that have been accumulated thus far. more

Which Comes First, the Trademark or Domain?

For years, the question of exactly when to register a domain name has been one asked by legal departments, as they've sought to formalize their internal processes. If you were to think about it logically, it would make most sense to register it after the trademark had been cleared. After all, why bother to register a domain, if you aren't going to use it to support a product, service or campaign? more