Addressing 2015 - Last One Standing!

Time for another annual roundup from the world of IP addresses. What happened in 2015 and what is likely to happen in 2016? This is an update to the reports prepared at the same time in previous years, so let's see what has changed in the past 12 months in addressing the Internet, and look at how IP address allocation information can inform us of the changing nature of the network itself. more

Birthplace of the World Wide Web CERN Launches home.cern

As many internet industry participants would be aware, the development of the World Wide Web is attributed to a project team at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, commonly known as CERN. CERN, one of the world's largest and most respected centres for scientific research, is a leader in technological development and the furthering of our collective understanding of science and technology. more

Internet Governance Outlook 2016: Cooperation & Confrontation

In 2015 we saw many agreements on Internet Governance. 193 Governments agreed in the UN General Assembly on the WSIS 10+ Outcome Document. They agreed to extend the mandate of the IGF for ten years. They agreed to strengthen the multistakeholder approach. And they agreed to make more efforts to bring the next billion users online until 2020. The UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) agreed on a number of confidence building measures to strengthen cybersecurity. more

Global IPv6 Deployment Now Passes 10%!

Global IPv6 deployment just passed a major milestone over the past few days when Google's IPv6 adoption statistics showed over 10% of users connecting to Google's sites coming in over IPv6. Considering that only two years ago I wrote here on CircleID about IPv6 passing the 3% adoption mark, this is a great amount of growth to see! If you look on the "per-country" tab of Google's stats you will see that in some countries deployment is much higher. For example, around 25% in the USA, Portugal and Germany, 31% in Switzerland and 44% in Belgium. more

2015 New gTLD Year in Review (Infographic)

The 2015 infographic reflects some of the intriguing highlights of the new gTLD industry... Revenues are based on the average retail price over four registrars (101domain, eNom, GoDaddy and United Domains) at the end of December 2015. In the case where a TLD was unavailable at all four registrars, one or more alternative registrars were used for the average price. Top five TLDs launched in 2015 are based on TLDs entering into General Availability after January 1st and based on volume, not revenues. more

2016 Predictions: What to Expect for the Next Year in New TLDs

Last week I published a blog looking back on the year that was 2015 and reflecting on some of the challenges and achievements for new TLDs. Turning our gaze forward, I think 2016 is shaping up to be the biggest and best year that we've enjoyed to date and will surpass many expectations as we continue the push towards mainstream adoption of these wonderful, innovative digital assets. more

ICANN Accountability Progress Made in Second CCWG Draft Proposal

The December 21 deadline for submission of public comments on the latest CCWG-Accountability draft proposal is quickly approaching. In this second draft of the proposal, great strides have been made toward addressing the accountability issues that members of the community have raised (notably, Lawrence Strickling's recent remarks). As I have previously emphasized, any plan to ensure the accountability of the ICANN Board of Directors must be closely scrutinized before ICANN pursues its implementation. more

Cheers! Registries and Registrars Doing the Right Thing by Patients

Domain name registration is a hot industry. Registrars represent a growing multi-billion dollar industry with the keys to the Internet for any organization hoping to have a web presence. Further, because of their role as one of the gatekeepers to the Internet, registrars have the unique ability and are often asked to take action against illegal activity online. This fact was highlighted in the report released this week by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the 2015 Out-of-Cycle Notorious Markets List. more

Verisign’s Perspective on Recent Root Server Attacks

On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2015, some of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) root name servers received large amounts of anomalous traffic. Last week the root server operators published a report on the incident. In the interest of further transparency, I'd like to take this opportunity to share Verisign's perspective, including how we identify, handle and react, as necessary, to events such as this. more

Encryption = good : Backdoor = bad

Every time there is a tragic attack on people or property, there is a cry from various authorities or politicians for law enforcement to get unfettered access to all kinds of communication tools. But that would cause far more harm than good, and is a really bad idea. The argument goes something like this: 'These bad actors hide behind encrypted communications to plan their evil deeds...' more

Internet Root Servers Hit with Unusual DNS Amplification Attack

On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, several of the Internet Domain Name System's root name servers received high rate of suspicious queries, reaching as high as 5 million queries per second, according to a report released by the Root Server System Advisory Council. The incident has been categorized as a unique type of DNS amplification attack. more

Security Firm Predicts Unprecedented Series of New gTLD Failures by 2017

The cybersecurity firm, IID, is anticipating an unprecedented series of domain registry failures due to lack of gTLD popularity by 2017 in the form of bankruptcies and abandonment, leading to demise of websites relying on them. more

Officially Compromised Privacy

The essence of information privacy is control over disclosure. Whoever is responsible for the information is supposed to be able to decide who sees it. If a society values privacy, it needs to ensure that there are reasonable protections possible against disclosure to those not authorized by the information's owner. In the online world, an essential technical component for this assurance is encryption. If the encryption that is deployed permits disclosure to those who were not authorized by the information's owner, there should be serious concern about the degree of privacy that is meaningfully possible. more

Vehicle Manufacturers Tell Govt to Stay Off Regulating “Internet of Cars”

Major car manufacturers in U.S. are asking Congress to stay away from any type of increased regulation unless "absolutely necessary" as the industry evolves to take advantage of the "Internet of cars." more

Sony Uses Brand TLD ‘.sony’ for Bond Game Site

Sony is using it's newly secured brand Top-Level Domain, '.sony' for a game site as part of the promotion for its latest Bond movie. more