The Resurgence of Voice

One of the most interesting outcomes of the COVID-19 crisis has been a huge resurgence of telephone calls. While broadband usage is up 40% or more in some markets, the volumes of traditional voice calls have skyrocketed. Verizon says it's now seeing an average of 800 million calls per day, which is double the number of calls made on the last Mother's Day. Verizon also says the average length of calls has increased by one-third over recent averages. more

What Is the Business Case for 5G?

There is much hype around 5G, but none of it is new. We saw the same propaganda -- fueled by the manufacturers -- in the run-up to the launch of the 3G and 4G versions of the mobile technology. Driverless cars and a range of other IoT applications can indeed potentially open new revenue streams. The reality, however, is that these markets might not eventuate until somewhere between 2025 and 2030. more

Agriculture At High-Speed: Project Updates on Bridging California’s Rural/Urban Digital Divide

When farms are connected to the Internet, we all benefit. Agriculture that gains real-time information about plants, soil, atmosphere, and irrigation, dubbed "precision agriculture", can save farmers 20-30% of their water consumption while increasing productivity by 20-70%, according to Valley Vision. The San Francisco-Bay Area Internet Society Chapter is pleased to announce that we have started phase one of our collaborative project, "Bridging California's Rural/Urban Digital Divide with Mobile Broadband"... more

Microsoft and Financial Services Groups Disrupt Zeus Botnet Servers

Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit - in collaboration with Financial Services - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) and NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association, as well as Kyrus Tech Inc. - has executed a coordinated global action against some of the worst known cybercrime operations fueling online fraud and identity theft, said Microsoft in an announcement today. "With this legal and technical action, a number of the most harmful botnets using the Zeus family of malware worldwide have been disrupted in an unprecedented, proactive cross-industry operation against this cybercriminal organization." more

IPv4 Address Space Now Below 5%, Says NRO

The Number Resource Organization (NRO) announced today that less than five percent of the world's IPv4 addresses remain unallocated. APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry for the Asia Pacific region, has been assigned two blocks of IPv4 addresses by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). This latest allocation means that the IPv4 free pool dipped below 10% in January, just nine months ago. Since then, over 200 million IPv4 addresses have been allocated from IANA to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). more

Study Looks at the Amount of Spam Over IPv6

A study conducted by RIPE Labs indicates that about 1.89% of spam are received over IPv6. "With the increased deployment of IPv6, we were curious to see how much the amount of spam sent over IPv6 increases. We looked at the e-mail system of the RIPE NCC and produced some statistics that could be seen as an indication for the overall trend of spam sent over IPv6," says RIPE in a blog post explaining the analysis. Group also notes that the study was based on one week’s worth of data and that it excluded messages already rejected by blacklisting and greylisting. more

Getting New gTLDs’ Sales Drivers Right: Simulations Are Key

The new gTLDs won't survive unless registries learn simulation techniques, the only way to understand how sales drivers interact. Some of the new gTLDs have done dismally. Registry critics, including insiders, blame high registration prices, limited supply, and restrictions on usage, competition, and marketing messages. But these drivers connect with each other. You can't talk about prices without talking about price-setting mechanisms and the number of registrations. more

What’s Certain About the Regulatory Uncertainty Debate

Incumbent carriers, such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, have made countless "curtains for the Free World" assertions in the Network Neutrality debate. They claim that if the FCC reclassifies as common carriage aspects of Internet access, it will create "regulatory uncertainty" and "disincentive investment." Not one of the countless sponsored researchers funded by incumbents has provided a shred of empirical evidence to support these assertions. more

Measuring the Pulse of Our Networked Society

Ericsson has released its latest Mobility Report, providing a wealth of analysis and insights into current communications traffic and market trends. As one of the leading mobile infrastructure providers, Ericsson has performed in-depth data traffic measurements since the earliest days of mobile broadband, leveraging its large base of live networks in all regions of the world. more

DNSSEC Workshop Streaming Live From ICANN 51 On Wednesday, Oct 15

Want to learn about the state of DNSSEC usage in North America? Or what is new in DNS monitoring? Or where DNSSEC fits into the plans of operating systems? Or how DANE is being used to bring a higher level of security to email? All those questions and much more will be discussed at the DNSSEC Workshop at ICANN 51 happening on Wednesday, October 15, 2014, from 8:30 am to 2:45 pm Pacific Daylight Time (PDT, which is UTC-7). more

IANA and the Automation of the Root Zone Management

As an unwavering stalwart of ICANN's obligation to honor its commitments under the bylaws to "operate to the maximum extent feasible in an open and transparent manner" I make it a point to read the minutes of its board and committee meetings in large part because I spent most of my three years on the ICANN Board trying to get these documents timely published. In reviewing the recently published IANA Committee minutes the following item caught my attention. more

Fairness & Due Process Require Changes to ICANN’s “Updated Supplementary Procedures” to the IRP

The Updated Supplementary Procedures for Independent Review Process ("IRP Supplementary Procedures") are now up for review and Public Comment. Frankly, there is a lot of work to be done. If you have ever been in a String Objection, Community Objection, or negotiated a Consensus Policy, your rights are being limited by the current way the IRP Supplementary Procedures proposal is structured. With timely edits, we can ensure that all directly-impacted and materially-affected parties have actual notice of the IRP proceeding... more

DOC to ICANN: Time to End Double-Weighted Voting of Registries and Registrars

The US Department of Commerce and ICANN announced today an Affirmation of Commitments. One of the important elements of that document was in section 4, namely that "ICANN and DOC recognize that there is a group of participants that engage in ICANN's processes to a greater extent than Internet users generally." more

Non-Profit Organizations Send Joint Letter to ICANN Opposing the Removal of .org Price Caps

In a joint letter sent to ICANN on Monday, a group of non-profit organizations has opposed the removal of price caps in the .org Registry Agreement. more

ICANN Releases Guideline for Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure Reporting

ICANN has released a set of guidelines to explain its Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure Reporting. The guidelines serve two purposes, says ICANN: "They define the role ICANN will perform in circumstances where vulnerabilities are reported and ICANN determines that the security, stability or resiliency of the DNS is exploited or threatened. The guidelines also explain how a party, described as a reporter, should disclose information on a vulnerability discovered in a system or network operated by ICANN." more