ICANN Paris: Seeking Comments from Internet Users in North America

Ahead of next week's ICANN meeting in Paris, I would like to consult users, At-Large Structures (ALSs) and others involved in internet governance in North America. As one of the three regional representatives on the ICANN At-Large Advisory committee, I want to make sure individuals, users and ALS's are given the chance to summit their own questions, suggestions and items to the agenda of the upcoming meeting. I'd be happy to receive your comments, and/or schedule a chat with you Mon-Thur, from 13:00-18:00 EDT. Leave a comment to this post, or leave me a message. more

US Congress Re-Launches Treaty Talks on Internet Economy

Final echoes of the US Senate committee's questions of Facebook this week will only fade in the UN Security Council where, in a few years, Member States will adopt a treaty on regulation of the Internet Economy. By opening wide the door to questions on privacy, revenue, security and purpose, Congress showed its well-placed concern and signaled that others can too. more

Three Layers of China’s International Strategy on Cyberspace

China's newly released International Strategy on Cyberspace is marked by three distinctive layers with different degree of priority: (1) sovereignty (or cybersecurity, or UN Charter), (2) globalization (or digital economy, or WTO rules), and (3) fundamental freedoms (or human rights, or UDHR). The good point of the strategy is that it tries to make the three layers peacefully co-exist in one document. The failure, however, lies in the intentional ranking of relevance/importance of the three layers... more

Approved: Apple Patent to Allow Disabling iPhone Cams via Infrared Emitters - Censorship Fears Ensue

The patent for a technology to disable iPhone cameras -- filed by Apple in 2009 -- won approval from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office on Tuesday. While logical to counter bootlegging, idea has raised censorship concerns amongst groups such as freedom of expression advocates. more

Nepal Internet Connectivity Crucial for Coordination of Relief Efforts

Doug Madory writes to report: "Saturday's earthquake in Nepal, which claimed the lives of at least 4,000 victims and injured many more, took a toll on the country's Internet connectivity, which was already one of the least developed in the region. A recent evaluation of Internet infrastructure in South Asia commissioned by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) classified Nepal's international connectivity as 'weak' and its fixed and mobile infrastructure as 'limited'." more

Trust Binding

A few months ago, there was a lot of discussion that despite its claims, Zoom did not actually offer end-to-end encryption. They're in the process of fixing that, which is good, but that raises a deeper question: why trust their code? (To get ahead of myself, this blog post is not about Zoom.) If Zoom has the key but doesn't abuse it, there isn't a problem, right? Let's fast-forward to when they deploy true end-to-end encryption. Why do we trust their code not to leak the secret key? more

Help Shape the Future of the Internet

This year, the Internet Society celebrates its 25th anniversary. Our own history is inextricably tied to the history of the Internet. We were founded in 1992 by Internet pioneers who believed that "a society would emerge from the idea that is the Internet" -- and they were right. As part of the celebration, this September we will launch a comprehensive report that details the key forces that could impact the future of the Internet. The report will also offer recommendations for the Future and we need your input. more

Top Broadband Stories of 2021

Every year I write a blog talking about the trends that I think we're likely to see in the coming year. But 2021 was such an unusual year for all of us that I thought it would also be useful to talk about what we accomplished in the industry over the last year while fending off a pandemic. All in all, it was quite a year. more

Developing Fully Informed, Generally Acceptable Procedures for Online Access to Medicines

Earlier this year, The Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP) released findings from their 2021 survey on American Perceptions and Use of Online Pharmacies. According to ASOP's data, U.S. residents' use of online pharmacies to purchase prescription medications continues to increase yearly. In 2021, 42% of Americans purchased medications from online pharmacies, either for themselves or family members under their care. This is a significant increase of 7% since just last year.  more

Symantec Chosen as Verification Agent for .bank and .insurance TLDs

fTLD Registry Services, LLC has announced an agreement with Symantec Corporation to provide verification services for the ".bank" and ".insurance" generic top-level domains. According to the report, Symantec will be responsible for adding a layer of protection to the new domains by verifying the eligibility of companies requesting domain names, making sure the person requesting the domain name is authorized by the company and ensuring the name requested by the company complies with fTLD's policies. more

Reducing the Risks of BYOD with DNS-Based Security Intelligence; Part 2: Taking Control

In part 1, I talked about some of the risks associated with BYOD. But there are actions you can take to greatly reduce this risk. One effective method for limiting the risk of BYOD is to employ DNS-based security intelligence techniques. DNS-based security intelligence makes use of an enterprise's caching DNS server to monitor and block DNS queries to known botnet command and control (C&C) domains. more

Nominations Open for Public Interest Registry (PIR) Board of Directors

Would you be interested in helping guide the future of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit operator of the .ORG, .NGO and .ONG domains? Or do you know of someone who would be a good candidate? If so, the Internet Society is seeking nominations for four positions on the PIR Board of Directors. The nomination deadline is Monday, February 16, 2021, at 18:00 UTC. more

Twitter Files Lawsuit Against U.S. Government Over National Security Data

Twitter has filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court seeking to publish its full Transparency Report. In a blog post released this afternoon, Twitter's vice president, Ben Lee writes: "Our ability to speak has been restricted by laws that prohibit and even criminalize a service provider..." more

The Early History of Usenet, Part IX: Retrospective Thoughts

Usenet is 40 years old. Did we get it right, way back when? What could/should we have done differently, with the technology of the time and with what we should have known or could feasibly have learned? And what are the lessons for today? A few things were obviously right, even in retrospect. For the expected volume of communications and expected connectivity, a flooding algorithm was the only real choice. more

Leveraging DNS for Subscriber Loyalty

There has been a lot of talk about how the DNS can provide network-based security, and how DNS is in the best position to detect malware traffic before it does any harm. But what does this mean for end users? How does it make their online lives easier and more secure? DNS servers that are aware of sites that host malware, perform phishing activities (harvesting bank details, for instance) and other nefarious misbehaviors, can prevent end users from ever going to those sites. more