Network Neutrality Becoming a Major Concern for Europe’s Governments

There is no single definition of network neutrality, though generally it is recognised as the principal that there should be no restrictions by fixed and mobile ISPs, or governments and the like, in providing consumers with access to internet networks. Nor should there be restrictions or discrimination against associated content and platforms. A number of European regulators and governments are now making forthright statements defending the principal. more

Is Nomulus the Answer?

Google announced Nomulus: a tool to operate a new generic Top-Level Domains technically. In the world of new gTLDs, this announcement sounds like it is going to replace, or come as an alternative to backend registries. It could, but this sounding is incomplete... To create domain names ending in a brand new Top-Level Domain, an applicant had to submit an application to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) during the first round of the new gTLD program... more

Why Most People Haven’t Heard of the DNS Root Server System

At the ICANN 81 meeting in Istanbul on 10 November 2024, I gave a presentation about the DNS Root Server System, in an effort to increase understanding of the Root Server System (RSS) and Root Server Operators (RSOs). The talk was intended for the members of the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), but much of this explanation may be of interest to general audiences. more

Red Sea Region Suffers From Multi-Day Internet Outage Following an Undersea Cable Cut

Damage to a single submarine cable has left the entire Red Sea region disconnected from the Internet. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Ethiopia have all suffered from the last week's cut of the so-called Falcon cable. more

Broadband - The American Way

There have been some interesting discussions recently regarding the status of broadband in the USA. On the one hand there are those who maintain that most people have access to high-speed networks, in particular HFC services based on the DOCSIS 3.0 standard. Theoretically, the standard can deliver speeds of 100Mb/s, or higher, but in practice most customers subscribe to, or have access to, far lower speeds. more

Rx for Dublin Progress: Board Transparency, Specificity, and Community Acknowledgement

In just a few days the ICANN 54 meeting will be up and running in Dublin, and schedule revisions are being implemented to devote even more time to discussion of accountability measures to accompany the transition of IANA stewardship. These developments come in the wake of the ICANN's Board pronouncement that it will not support either the "sole member" model (SMM) devise by the CCWG-ACCT (CCWG) after ten months of intensive labor, or even the "designator" model that it was considering as a possible fallback. more

The Net Neutrality Reversal Order: Why the FCC Will Prevail

It is now out -- all 539 pages entitled "Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order, and Order" (Reversal Order). As someone who has dealt with this subject matter at a working level over the past 40+ years, it seems clear that the FCC will readily prevail here and the protagonists need to move on. (Admittedly that is wishful thinking given the appellate revenue to be made and press blather opportunities.) The document from a Federal Administrative Law perspective is very thorough and well-crafted. more

ChatGPT Used to Create Polymorphic Malware

ChatGPT, the newly released language model, has quickly gained popularity and is used for various tasks, from automation to music composition. While having useful features like fast and easy-to-use code examples, it also has the ability to create sophisticated malware without malicious code. more

Conclusion: SLD Blocking Is Too Risky Without TLD Rollback (Part 4 of 4)

ICANN's second level domain (SLD) blocking proposal includes a provision that a party may demonstrate that an SLD not in the initial sample set could cause "severe harm," and that SLD can potentially be blocked for a certain period of time. The extent to which that provision would need to be exercised remains to be determined. However, given the concerns outlined in Part 2 and Part 3 of this series, it seems likely that there could be many additions (and deletions!) from the blocked list given the lack of correlation between the DITL data and actual at-risk queries. more

ICANN’s Trademark Clearinghouse Launches March 26. But There Is Time Before the First Sunrise.

ICANN has announced that the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) will "launch" on March 26. Brand Owners: Brace yourself. Soon every trademark law firm and corporate registrar will be screaming at you: The Trademark Clearinghouse Is Here; You Need to Be Ready to Submit on March 26; Do You Have Your Act Together Yet? Here are some tips for brand owners to consider about ICANN's Trademark Clearinghouse. more

DNSSEC Deployed for .COM, Internet’s Largest Top-Level Domain

DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) has been deployed for .COM, Internet's largest domain extension with more than 90 million registrations. The announced was made today by VeriSign, the registry operator for .COM. more

Ottawa Alternative Telcom Policy Forum

I had the pleasure of chairing all of the sessions of the alt.telecom policy forum held in Ottawa this past weekend. It was a great meeting, and a multi-stakeholder meeting at that -- having key people from Academia, civil society, Government, as well as the internet business sector. more

Unlicensed Millimeter Wave Spectrum

I haven't seen it talked about a lot, but the FCC has set aside millimeter wave spectrum that can be used by anybody to provide broadband. That means that entities will be able to use the spectrum in rural America in areas that the big cellphone companies are likely to ignore. The FCC set aside the V band (60 GHz) as unlicensed spectrum. This band provides 14 GHz of contiguous spectrum available for anybody to use. This is an interesting spectrum because it has a few drawbacks. more

ICANN 46 Starts This Week In Beijing - Remote Participation Is Possible

The 46th meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) takes place this week in Beijing, China, and will bring together leaders from all over the world to discuss and debate a wide range of issues related to domain names and the surrounding industry. One can expect that the new gTLDs, a topic frequently discussed here on CircleID, will naturally consume a great amount of the discussion at ICANN 46. more

Celebrating the ITU’s Anniversary with “Abandonment”

The ITU is attempting to puff up some vestige of a value proposition this year by celebrating what its PR material purports to be the 150th anniversary. In reality, it has actually only existed as the ITU since 1934, and the pieces prior to that point stretch back 165 years to 1850. It was at that point that nations operating electric telegraph systems met at the first international meeting in Dresden to cobble together all the basic intergovernmental provisions that still exist today... more