8 Domains, $9.65M: Second Applicant Auction a Success

We at Innovative Auctions were happy to see the successful completion of the second Applicant Auction earlier today. Winners will pay a total of $9,651,000 to resolve contention for eight new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). The winners for the eight contention sets included in this week's auction were... more

Neustar Launches KickStart America Campaign with .US Domain

Neustar, Inc. begins a "Kick-start America" campaign for the .US Top-Level Domain. Companies of all sizes -- locally-based or doing business in the United States -- are encouraged to demonstrate their local presence with "America's Address." more

I’m Impressed by Fadi

I could have ignored yesterday's ICANN New gTLD Applicant Update Webinar and just read summaries from the usual respected news and industry sources. However, with three hours slotted and likely questions regarding ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé's somewhat eyebrow-raising comments at the regional ICANN Registry-Registrar meeting in Amsterdam last week -- led me wanting to hear it all myself. more

More Denial of Service Attacks

There are quite a lot of NTP-amplified denial of service attacks going around at the moment targeting tech and ecommerce companies, including some in the email space. What does NTP-amplifed mean? NTP is "Network Time Protocol" - it allows computers to set their clocks based on an accurate source, and keep them accurate. It's very widely used - OS X and Windows desktops typically use it by default, and most servers should have it running. more

Nuking Silicon Valley

The new head of the U.S. Executive Branch took several actions this week that have profound collateral consequences for Silicon Valley as well as its scientific and technical communities. Presumably, he thought it was payback time for not supporting him. Perhaps he thought that producing automobiles domestically for non-Muslim U.S. citizens to drive around a walled nation is the way to future economic success. No matter, the effects of actions taken this week are the equivalent of nuking Silicon Valley. more

DNSSEC Maintenance - Just Like Mowing the Lawn

DNSSEC is a hot topic. It's a technology newly unleashed on popular networking, which has led to countless articles and posts on the subject, including right here on CircleID. The way a lot of articles try to get your attention is to talk about a technology, like DNSSEC, in a way that makes the technology either seem really significant or really complicated. That is why a lot of articles about DNSSEC make it sound like something huge, complicated, and scary. But it's not. more

Here is the DNSSEC Activity at ICANN 58 in Copenhagen March 12-15, 2017

Want to learn more about the current state of DNSSEC? Want to see demos of new software to secure email? Curious about the potential impact of the Root Key Rollover happening this year? Next week in Copenhagen, Denmark, ICANN 58 will include some great technical info about DNSSEC and DANE happening in several sessions. Here is the plan... more

The .BEST Acquisition: 3 Months After

The .BEST new gTLD Registry was acquired 3 months ago by Cyril Fremont, a French Entrepreneur from Paris, and a team of investors. I took the time to meet with Cyril in the latest ICANN63 meeting in Barcelona to ask him a few questions about his future new gTLD project, three months after it was acquired from the previous owner... .best has just released the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) of the social network. The ".best" social network will be officially present at the next Namescon... more

Likely and Behind the Scenes Changes at the FCC

It should come as no surprise that the Federal Communications Commission will substantially change its regulatory approach, wingspan and philosophy under a Trump appointed Chairman. One can readily predict that the new FCC will largely undo what has transpired in previous years. However, that conclusion warrants greater calibration. more

Thoughts About U.S. Government’s Decision on IANA Transition

Last week the government of the United States made an announcement that sent shockwaves through the Internet governance world. The National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), a division of the Department of Commerce, publicly stated that it will not be renewing its contract with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) past its September 2015 expiry date. The importance of this announcement cannot be underestimated. more

Cruz Is Back Now with a Countdown Clock To “Doomsday”

Senator Cruz' crusade against the IANA transition is back in full swing. With the deadline for the expiry of the IANA contract approaching both he and other anti-transition types have been working hard on their campaigns to block the transition. The latest addition to the Cruz website is a special lander page featuring a countdown clock... Yes, that's an image of President Obama shaking hands with China's Xi Jiping. more

Names, Numbers and Beyond…

Couple of weeks ago I started a new initiative called "Names, Numbers and Beyond". I started this as I genuinely think we are facing big issues due to the uncontrolled and non-standard growth of the IP and Name space used today and tomorrow. To keep in control and make everything manageable, parcelling out IP address space and the use of tight naming standards/policies is necessary to make networks work better and make them achievable. more

Might Satellite Constellations Learn to Avoid Debris?

The European Space Agency (ESA) reported that as of January 2019 there were about 5,000 satellites in space and 1,950 of them are still functioning. Hopefully, those functioning satellites have fuel and thrusters that will enable them to de-orbit and (mostly) burn up in the atmosphere when their useful life is finished. The remaining 3,050 are slowly drifting, along with a lot of debris. The ESA estimates that there have been over 500 break-ups, explosions, collisions, or anomalous events... more

An Open Internet Is Critical for UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, a significant focus of the United Nations will center on the future of global development, including negotiating a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at guiding policy in achieving dignity, well-being, and equality for all the world's people -- especially the poor and underserved. The currently proposed SDGs consist of an ambitious set of 17 goals and 169 specific targets. more

Paul Mockapetris to Serve as Senior Security Advisor to ICANN’s Generic Domains Division

ICANN has announced that Paul Mockapetris, inventor of the Domain Name System (DNS), has agreed to serve as Senior Security Advisor to the Generic Domains Division and its President, Akram Atallah. more