ICANN Submits Transition Plan to US Government

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board Chair Dr. Stephen D. Crocker today submitted to the U.S. Government a plan developed by the international Internet community that, if approved, will lead to global stewardship of some key technical Internet functions. The news was confirmed today at a press conference finalizing the ICANN 55 meetings in Morocco. more

Overreaching Trademark Owners and the Misguided Better Right Theory of Domain Name Ownership

In Blogs devoted to news from the domain name industry and domainers, there is great glee in reporting about overreaching trademark owners. The reason for the glee, I think, is that it's a form of collective sigh from domainers and the domain industry that the UDRP is working as it should, which means that Panels are careful in their assessments of parties' rights. more

Australian Football League Kicks Off Sporting Code .Brands

I can't lie -- I absolutely LOVE Aussie football and have kicked a ball around since I was three years old. In fact, I always will. My ongoing love for the game is as certain as death, taxes and the fact that my beloved Melbourne Demons club will give me both incredible highs and heartbreaking lows each and every year. For most Aussies, a sporting life is very much the way of life... Today is one of those wonderful times when you get to blend your professional and personal passions. more

Legacy or Not to Be?

Over the years, most communication service providers will build up their information systems bit by bit. Every so often as new services are required, a new process and vendor product is installed. Several years later, there can be many legacy processes and vendor products chosen and designed by many different people. Generally, each implementation team is diligently aware of these legacy processes and vendor products. But in a lot of cases the whole enterprise architecture becomes very convoluted and complicated. more

The CCT Review Needs You!

Come join the discussion on Wednesday 17:15 UTC. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? As ICANN approaches its 18th birthday, it marks its ascension to adulthood and independence with a new framework of accountability. As we attempt to modernize and empower the organization with oversight of the DNS, the question of "who watches the watchmen?" is on the tip of everyone's tongue. more

In Memory of Ray Tomlinson, April 23, 1941 - March 5, 2016

Internet pioneer, Ray Tomlinson has passed away. He died at his home yesterday morning from a suspected heart attack at the age of 74. While best known as the creator of the email messaging system, Tomlinson made tremendous contributions to the field of computing science, evolution of the Internet, and ultimately how the world communicates today. more

Chinese Drawing Even With English on Global Websites

Over the past decade Simplified Chinese has grown to become one of the most popular languages on global websites, second only to English. According to the Web Globalization Report Card, which has long monitored languages supported by the world's leading brands, Chinese was seen on only about six out of ten websites in 2006. Today, it is seen on virtually every global website. more

Blocking and Filtering in Collaborative Security Context - A Reflection on RFC 7754

The other day, I planned to take my 15-year-old son to the movie theatre to see "Hateful Eight" in 70mm film format. The theatre would not allow him in. Under article 240a of the Dutch penal code, it is a felony to show a movie to a minor when that movie is rated 16 or above. Even though I think I am responsible for what my son gets to see, I understand that the rating agency put a 16-year stamp on this politically-incorrect-gun-slinging-gore-and-curse-intense-comedy feature. more

Macro Observations Facing Email Infrastructure

Last month I attended the 36th annual M³AAWG conference in San Francisco, where esteemed members of the online messaging and anti-abuse community come together to make the Internet a safer and more secure environment. The sending community is highly influential especially among Email Service Providers (ESPs) and truly dominated the two-macro conversations that I participated in. These conversations have the industry in somewhat of a transition. more

Senate Letter to ICANN Board Showcases Critical Misunderstanding of What ICANN Is

Today's new U.S. Senate letter to ICANN - the latest in a series of letters on the work of the ICANN technical communities - is disturbingly well crafted. If taken at face value, it even seems to lend credence to the idea that ICANN is potentially a perpetuator of the limiting of free speech, and it could be seen as a break in the narrative that i2Coalition perpetuates, that the IANA transition is a positive step in strengthening multistakeholderism over dangerous multilateralism when it comes to Internet governance. more

What Your ISP (Probably) Knows About You

Earlier this week, I came across a working paper from Professor Peter Swire - a highly respected attorney, professor, and policy expert. Swire's paper, entitled "Online Privacy and ISPs", argues that ISPs have limited capability to monitor users' online activity. The paper argues that ISPs have limited visibility into users' online activity for three reasons: (1) users are increasingly using many devices and connections, so any single ISP is the conduit of only a fraction of a typical user's activity; (2) end-to-end encryption is becoming more pervasive, which limits ISPs' ability to glean information about user activity; and (3) users are increasingly shifting to VPNs to send traffic. more

ICANN 55 Next Week In Marrakech - What to Expect

As you may know, ICANN holds three public meetings every year. The most recent one, ICANN 54, was held in Dublin... So the next ICANN meeting is being held in Marrakech, Morocco starting Saturday, March 5th through March the 10th. Up until now all three meetings were the same length and had the same basic structure. However, from this year onwards, that'll change. How that will play out in reality, however, is anyone's best guess. more

Decoding the Cellular IoT Acronym Alphabet Soup

Do you know what all these acronyms and abbreviations mean related to cellular networks and the Internet of Things (IoT)? MTC, Cat-0, Cat-1, Cat-M1, LTE-M, NB-IoT, EC-GSM, LPWA, eDRX, PSM... I certainly didn't, but Tuomas Tirronen at Ericsson Research wrote a blog post titled "Cellular IoT alphabet soup" where he explained all of this for those of us who might be interested. more

Three Reasons Why Apple Didn’t Have to Unlock a Phone

The US government is demanding Apple unlock iPhones in about a dozen cases beside the San Bernardino one. In a strikingly similar case, Judge James Orenstein in Brooklyn rejected the government's request for three separate reasons. In the decision the judge refers several times to the San Bernardino case, and it is clear he expects this decision to be an important precedent for that one. more

The IANA Stewardship Transition: All Eyes Turn Toward ICANN 55 in Marrakech

When in March 14, 2014, the NTIA announced its intention to step away from its historical oversight role over the IANA functions, something extraordinary happened. A global dialogue immediately ensued. The first part of this dialogue is expected to come to an end in the forthcoming ICANN annual meeting in Marrakech next week. After two years of vigorous discussions, the Internet community says it is now ready to move to the next part of the process - implementation. more