Looking Ahead: ICANN’s Upcoming Policy on DNS Abuse Mitigation

ICANN is finalising a policy to curb DNS abuse, aiming to preserve internet stability while defending freedom of expression. With regulatory pressure mounting, the multistakeholder model faces a critical test. more

What Prevents IPv6 Deployment in Europe

ZDNet UK has an article on IPv6 and what may slow down its deployment. Jay Daley, from Nominet points out to the fact that the current IPv6 allocation policy used by RIPE NCC is geared towards ISPs. This is a complaint I have heard time and time again. Under the current policy, you have to show to RIPE NCC that you are going to allocate 200 address blocks to your customers before you are allocated a /32 block. Obviously, a large corporate network cannot afford to renumber every time it switches ISPs... more

FTC Announces Internet of Things Challenge, Offers $25,000 for Best Technical Solution

The Federal Trade Commission is challenging the public to create an innovative tool to help protect consumers from security vulnerabilities in the software of home devices connected to the Internet of Things. more

ISOC Joins Opposition to Stop Online Piracy Act

In a letter released on Monday, the Internet Society Board of Trustees has expressed concern with a number of U.S. legislative proposals that would mandate DNS blocking and filtering by ISPs to protect the interests of copyright holders. "Policies mandating DNS filtering undermine the open architecture of the Internet and raise human rights and freedom of expression concerns," says Internet Society (ISOC). more

.Mobi Premium Name Auction Off to Wild Success at TRAFFIC in Miami

I'm in attendance at the the TRAFFIC EAST 2006 show, in Hollywood [Miami], Florida. There has been a lot of buzz here about the .Mobi top level domain, ranging from the talk of early registrants hoping to create the next big mobile portal to those that were keen to see implementations of mobile content. There was a domain name auction this evening where flowers.mobi sold for $200,000.00 (USD), and fun.mobi for $100,000.00 (USD) from a long list of domain names in the com, net, info, org, us and mobi extensions. more

Global 5G Connections Expected to Reach 1.9 Billion by End of 2023 and 5.9 Billion by End of 2027

The fifth generation of wireless cellular networks, "5G", has seen remarkable growth in the last year, reports industry trade organization 5G Americas. more

New Type of DDoS Attack Targets Vulnerability in Universal Plug and Play Networking Protocol

A new type of DDoS attack takes advantage of an old vulnerability with the potential to put any company with an online presence at risk of attack warn researchers. more

ICANN’s Recent .amazon Decision Denounced by Presidents of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia

The presidents of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia have criticized the recent ICANN decision to grant global retailer Amazon the rights to the .amazon top-level domain. more

Clearing up the “logjam”: ICANN Must Drop its Request for a Unilateral Right to Amend the Agreements

A very rare thing happened in the GNSO Council meeting this week - the ICANN community spoke with one voice. Registries, registrars, non-commercial interests, new TLD applicants, IP owners and businesses unanimously and unambiguously agreed that giving ICANN a "unilateral right to amend" the registry and registrar agreements is not compatible with ICANN's bottom-up processes and poses a fundamental threat to the multi-stakeholder model. There is true consensus that this change should be rejected. more

The Pay-To-Play Reality of ICANN’s Inclusion Illusion

ICANN's chairman says meetings offer special "circumstantial opportunity"; recent estimates peg average annual expense for attending at $30,000 per person. Oops - he's done it again. The latest blog update from ICANN's current board chair needs - no, it demands - a spotlight on what is revealed in plain and unashamed language. Indeed, this communique - along with another recent blog post that I've previously commented on - captures in exquisite relief what has gone terribly, horribly wrong at ICANN. more

ICANN and Legalities

Bret Fausett points to two lawsuits against VeriSign and ICANN for violating U.S. anti-trust laws. They state the obvious: VeriSign and ICANN made an agreement that is to the large financial benefit of the two corporations and the financial detriment of nearly everyone else. The proposed contract is absurd, but so is ICANN's request that people comment on it before ICANN approves it. Anyone familiar with legal negotiations could see that there is no room for significant negotiation on the part of ICANN. more

Lack of ccTLD Growth in Africa Only Partially Due to Internet Penetration

ICANN says that, "the lack of ccTLD growth in africa is due to Internet penetration". However, Gideon Rop of DotConnectAfrica and an Internet Governance expert in the African landscape, expressed a different opinion during the Africa DNS forum in Nairobi. more

Japan Post Launches Digital Codes to Replace Traditional Addresses

Japan Post said Monday that it has launched a "digital address" system that links seven-digit combinations of numbers and letters to physical addresses. more

Here’s How We Can Truly #SaveDotOrg

Many of my friends in the civil-liberties and Internet-law communities have been criticizing the Internet Society's agreement to sell the Public Interest Registry, which administers the .ORG top-level domain. I'm a free-speech guy, so I support their right to raise all these criticisms. But they often ask me directly – knowing that my track record as an Internet civil-libertarian is longer than most – why as a member of the Internet Society (a.k.a. ISOC) board I decided to join the board's unanimous approval of the deal. more

3 Processes That Ensure IoT Cybersecurity Compliance

IoT devices have ingrained themselves into almost every aspect of modern life. From home assistants to industrial machinery, it's hard to find a device that isn't connected to a network and gathering data. Despite widespread adoption, IoT cybersecurity compliance remains surprisingly low. A big reason for this is the unique challenges IoT devices pose to operators. more