EURid, the registry manager of Europe's .EU top-level domain, released its Annual Report today, revealing that in 2018 the total net registrations decreased by 130,305 (from 3,815,055 to 3,684,750). more
Several weeks ago ICANN issued clarifying questions to approximately 50 of the 1,930 new gTLD applications submitted last spring. Some of our clients were selected for this pilot effort and we've had the opportunity to review seven sets of clarifying questions totaling approximately 30 individual questions. ICANN has indicated that in late November they will begin issuing Clarifying Questions to the balance of applicants. more
"Internet freedom has declined for the sixth consecutive year, with more governments than ever before targeting social media and communication apps as a means of halting the rapid dissemination of information, particularly during antigovernment protests," according to the Freedom on the Net 2016 report released by Freedom House. more
Three months after implementation of the European Union's (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center has expanded and updated its already helpful web page with important questions and answers about how the GDPR is impacting the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). more
Leading French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's campaign confirmed on Friday a "massive" computer hack that dumped its campaign emails online less than two days before the election. more
On many occasions I have written about the dangers of electronic communications in relation to data retention laws, government e-spying and other activities undermining our democracy and our liberty. To date governments still have to come up with evidence that all of this spying on their citizens has prevented any terrorist attacks. Terrorism has been given as the key reason for the government's spying. more
Contrary to what some financial analysts would have us believe, it is highly unlikely that the price increases for mobile broadband services which were recently announced by AT&T will be replicated by other mobile operators around the world. The mobile market in the US is one of the least regulated and therefore one the most monopolised markets in the western world. more
The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) limits parties' submissions to complaints and responses; accepting "further statements or documents" is discretionary with the Panel (Rule 12, Procedural Orders), although the Forum (in Supplemental Rule 7) but not WIPO provides for supplementing the record with the proviso that "[a]dditional submissions must not amend the Complaint or Response." For some panelists, Rule 7 contradicts the Policy. more
Wout de Natris: "In this decision OPTA revokes the registration of Diginotar as a so called Trusted Third Party. Diginotar issued certified certificates for digital signatures. The security breach by Iranian hackers over the summer, which Diginotar did not report to the authorities, lead to severe credibility issues for all Diginotar certificates issued before. This included Dutch government websites, but also led to severe breaches of privacy for Iranian end users, in multiple countries. As a result of OPTA's decision all certificates issued by Diginotar have to be revoked, while at the same she is forbidden to issue new ones. more
U.S. Subcommittee on Communications & Technology and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade have announced a joint hearing to examine recent cyberattacks. more
Measuring the performance of broadband networks is an important area of research, and efforts to characterize the performance of these networks continues to evolve. Measurement efforts to date have largely relied on inĀhome devices and are primarily designed to characterize access network performance. Yet, a user's experience also relies on factors that lie upstream of ISP access networks, which is why measuring interconnection is so important. more
Decentralization is a big trend in IT, and everyone has their own definition of what "decentralization" really means. With more organizations fully embracing a work-from-anywhere culture, decentralization has moved past being a fad and turned into a necessity. Decentralized cybersecurity is nothing new. Many of us have been doing it since before the pandemic. more
The public cloud services market in the mature Asia/Pacific (AP) region is on pace to grow 8.7 percent in 2015 to total $7.3 billion, up from $6.7 billion in 2014, according to new research from Gartner. more
Time to brush the dust off your Computer II notebooks. Are voicemail, electronic fax, and call forwarding enhanced services or telecom services? Today's case: FTC v. American eVoice, Ltd... The FTC brought an action against Defendants claiming that they were engaged in cramming, adding unwanted voicemail, electronic fax, and call forwarding services to consumers bills to the tune of $70 million. more
The introduction of New gTLDs has increased the rate at which individuals and businesses are getting online today and we're already seeing mainstream adoption of New gTLDs. By going the extra mile to spread awareness about their extensions among the masses, New gTLD Registries are bringing attention to their value propositions and, more importantly, are sharing the idea of 'getting online' to audiences. more