Hacking Increasingly Becoming a Physical Concern

If this past quarter's stories are any indication, we could very well be seeing the rise of a new wave of threats that will affect people in a more pronounced and physical level, reports Trend Micro in its Q2 Security Roundup Report. more

Efforts to Curb Cyber Espionage Will Further Fragment Internet Regulatory Environment

Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington at the end of September, the White House reportedly is ready to announce sanctions against Chinese entities allegedly involved in industrial espionage. more

Working Group Gets Cold Shoulder in Talks to Formally Appoint Internet Community Within ICANN

Kieren McCarthy reporting in the Register: "The process to bring greater accountability to domain-name overseer ICANN descended into farce last week when the organization's board tried to skewer plans to force it to answer to the internet community while simultaneously claiming it supported the idea. more

Internet Society Submits Comments on IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal

Internet Society submitted its comments today in response to the Call for Public Comment by the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group. "The Internet Society has consistently advocated for the globalization of the IANA functions, said President and CEO Kathryn Brown in a related post today. "We firmly believe that the global community is ready now to assume this important stewardship role and that a successful completion of this process is a critical step in providing additional confidence in the collaborative and multistakeholder Internet governance model." more

Challenges for .brands - Launching Your .brand

One of the consistent themes of this blog series is that despite similarities across .brand TLDs, no two brands will settle on the exact same strategy and process for moving their TLD to launch. As I discussed last week, an implementation plan ensures that each required action is documented, responsibility for it is assigned and a more detailed project plan can be developed to take this process further. more

ICT Sectors Are Merging Into a New Wholesale Platform for the Networked Economy

There certainly is a lot of interest in the IoT (personal devices) and M2M (industrial applications) market. But what we are seeing is only what is happening on the surface. Most of the IoT and M2M activities are taking place unseen. For example, all new electronic devices (smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, game consoles) are now IoT devices. Wearable technology has also become a thriving part of the IoT industry, with an ever-broadening range of possible uses and devices, including smart watches, glasses, clothing items, skin patches, and even implants for health monitoring. more

U.S. Preparing Sanctions Against Chinese Firms and Individuals over Cyberespionage

The Obama administration is developing a package of unprecedented economic sanctions against Chinese companies and individuals who have benefited from their government’s cybertheft of valuable U.S. trade secrets. The U.S. government has not yet decided whether to issue these sanctions, but a final call is expected soon, perhaps even within the next two weeks. more

The Mobile App Trap

The Apple App Store was seven years old as of Friday, 10 July, marking a key -- and possibly critical -- evolution in how we use the Internet. First, the numbers, which are truly astounding -- there are now more than 1.4 million apps available, which have been downloaded more than 100 billion times. And that's just Apple. Add in Android and the other platforms, and we start talking about a new app economy, generating billions in revenues for developers from around the world. more

Google Ordered to Remove Search Results of ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ Removal Stories

Google has been ordered by U.K.'s Information Commissioner's office to remove nine links to current news stories about older reports which themselves were removed from search results under the 'right to be forgotten' ruling. more

Newly Released “Domain Name Arbitration” Book Offers Guide for Navigating UDRP

Legal Corner Press, LLC recently announced the publication of Domain Name Arbitration: Asserting and Defending Claims of Cybersquatting Under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, authored by Gerald M. Levine, intellectual property attorney, with Foreword by Hon. Neil A. Brown QC, former member of the Australian Parliament and a UDRP panelist. more

Challenges for .brands - Transforming Ideas Into Strategy

The importance of engaging with all the necessary stakeholders in your .brand TLD and ensuring you have company-wide buy-in cannot be understated. But once you have all these players in a room together, what's next? Every brand launching its own TLD will move through the process differently. Unfortunately for those managing this project, there is no single, 'off-the-rack' strategy that will suit every .brand TLD's individual requirements. more

The Mission Has Already Crept

ICANN's mission, and the avoidance of "mission creep", is currently the subject of intense debate in the Internet community. Multiple cross-community working groups are dealing with the proposal by an agency of the United States government, NTIA, to give up the last vestiges of its control of the IANA function. Many of the new organizational structures under consideration purport to deal with ICANN's expanding mission. more

IANA Contract Extended by One Year, Announces Department of Commerce

United States Department of Commerce on Monday announced the official date for privatization of the DNS to be September 30, 2016 -- formerly set to expire on September 30, 2015. more

Costly Domain Name Price Comparison Sites

Price comparison sites, including those for domain registrations, are supposed to benefit buyers. Do they? Recent theory and practice suggest a friend-and-foe relationship. Comparison sites introduce an entire layer of costs, notably including the sites' marketing costs. more

Networking Firm Loses $46.7 Million to Fraudulent Wire Transfer

Ubiquiti Networks Inc., a San Jose based maker of networking technology, has disclosed that cyber criminals stole $46.7 million via a "business email compromise fraud involving employee impersonation." more