Software Defined Networks and Integration of Wifi with 3G/4G for R&E Networks

A number of R&E networks such as SURFnet, JANET, AARnet, etc. are actively promoting mobile services and looking at integration of campus Wifi with 3G/4G networks using Eduroam. Mobile wireless services promises to be major service offering for R&E networks as the Internet of Things and Machine to Machine (M2M) becomes increasingly critical for research. Applications such as personal medical devices on (or in) the body, environmental sensors, traffic monitors and even garbage truck tracking will need such networks. more

Will We See IPv6-Enabled Consumer Devices at CES This Week?

What kind of IPv6 support will we see in consumer devices at the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES) happening in Las Vegas this week? The show is already underway and much of the tech media is already writing in breathless prose about the latest tablets, notebooks and zillions of other consumer devices making their debut at CES. While the bright-shiny-object-chasing side of me definitely notices those articles, my own interest is on a deeper and far more technical level. more

Broadband Access: What Should We Regulate?

Network Neutrality is a hot topic in the US. The FCC held hearings in my neighborhood recently (while I was in Asia). Now I see Professor Susan Crawford will be testifying next Tuesday at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on "Net Neutrality and the First Amendment." I look forward to her remarks, but I worry that the whole discussion will be focused on "IP Pipes," that is connectivity at network layer 3. This distracts us from the fundamental problem... more

Google Fiber in Havana - Wishful Thinking?

This post is conjecture, but it is informed conjecture... Consider the following: When Google Fiber started in Kansas City, most people assumed that it was a demonstration project, intended to spur investment by the incumbent US Internet service providers (ISPs). Few thought that Google wanted to become a retail ISP. Google Fiber garnered a lot of publicity and Google, began speaking of it as a real, profit-making business. They announced other cities and started laying fiber in some of them. more

Unpacking the Framework to Address DNS Abuse

As the Internet has grown, so too have the abuses that go along with one of the world's most transformative technologies. For all of the positives the Internet brings, negatives like phishing, malware and child exploitation are a reality online. As of December 9, 2019, 48 registrars and registries have signed onto the "Framework to Address Abuse." This initiative was launched last month by a number of domain name registries and registrars, just prior to the ICANN meeting in Montreal. more

A Month in Africa Charts the Promise and Perils of Internet Governance

There may be no better illustration of how far we've come in Internet governance, than this: twice in the past 30 days, the global Internet community has gathered in sub-Saharan Africa to plot a path to bring the Internet to its next billion users. Just weeks after wrapping up the sixth annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Kenya, Internet stakeholders from around the world traveled back to Africa for ICANN's 42nd meeting in Dakar, Senegal. more

ICANN and EuroDIG Sign Memorandum of Understanding on Multistakeholder Model of Internet Governance

ICANN and the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further encourage collaboration and cooperation between both organizations in their efforts to further promote and strengthen the multistakeholder model of Internet governance in Europe. more

What Is Email Appending and Why Is It Bad?

MAAWG recently released a document on email appending, criticizing the practice and describing it as abusive. But what is email appending? ... This definition is alright but I didn't find it as helpful as it could be. I looked it up on some other sites and I have a better description. more

Limitations, Delays, and Laches as Defenses in Cybersquatting Claims

In passing the baton for combating cybersquatting to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recommended that "claims under the administrative procedure [should not] be subject to a time limitation" (Final Report, Paragraph 199). ICANN agreed and the UDRP contains no limitation period for making a claim. The absence of a limitation period does not necessarily forego applying equitable defenses for delay, but the consensus of Panels appointed to decide disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) is that they are not applicable in countering cybersquatting claims. more

NTIA Seeks Nominations to Serve on the Online Safety and Technology Working Group

In the midst of the election season, Congress passed a plethora of Internet related laws. Most involved child protection. One involved webcaster protection. Wasting no time, the impact of the new laws is already being felt through federal agency implementation. On Friday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in the Department of Commerce released the following notice... more

OneWeb’s Offer to Sell a Share of Their Satellite Internet Service to Russia

OneWeb has a contract to launch Internet-service satellites on Russian-made Soyuz rockets and has a joint venture with Gonets, a Russian satellite operator, as a marketing partner in Russia. However, the Russian government has expressed concerns about security, dragged their feet on spectrum allocation and complained about US sanctions. This led OneWeb to make two concessions. more

The Growing Security Concerns… Don’t Have Nightmares

Anyone concerned about the security of their computers and the data held on them might sleep a little uneasily tonight. Over the past few weeks we've heard reports of serious vulnerabilities in wireless networking and chip and pin readers, and seen how web browsers could fall victim to 'clickjacking' and trick us into inadvertently visiting fake websites. The longstanding fear that malicious software might start infecting our mobile phones was given a boost... And now a group of researchers have shown that you can read what is typed on a keyboard from twenty metres away... more

Provoking National Boundaries on the Internet? A chilling thought…

The impact of the recently revealed US government data collection practices may go well beyond the privacy ramifications outlined in the Internet Society's statement: expect a chilling effect on global, resilient network architecture. As governments of other countries realize how much of their citizens' traffic flows through the US, whether or not it is destined for any user or service there, expect to see moves to curtail connections to and through the US. more

ICANN’s Economic Study - It Depends

Economists aren't very good at predicting things, as any one with money in the stock market can attest. The most powerful economist in the United States, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, is on record predicting a continuing climb in housing prices -- just prior to their precipitous decline. And yet their crystal balls still hold some allure for those who need to present "evidence" about the future. Such is the case with ICANN and the new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program. more

What Trademark Owners Need to Know to Avoid Reverse Domain Name Hijacking

A cybersecurity company recently attempted reverse domain name hijacking for an exact match domain name of its brand, and in so doing, failed in both its bid to take ownership of the domain and potentially damaged their reputation by using this somewhat nefarious tactic and abusing the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) process. more