What Would You Like to Ask at the ICANN Public Fora in Mexico City?

ICANN has its 34th international public meeting in Mexico City on 1-6 March i.e. in just over a fortnight. One of the consistent concerns I hear in my role as general manager of public participation for the organization is that there is not a way for people to ask questions to the staff and the Board. I don't think that's really true but I do accept that the formats used are not liked by a large number of people... more

Business Logic Vulnerabilities Are the Hidden Menace in Modern Software

The first things that usually come to mind when talking about software development risks are bugs and security issues that have not been detected or those that have been discovered but left unaddressed. Some may also point out poor code quality reviews and the use of third-party components and dependencies laced with malicious code. more

Beyond WHOIS: CircleID and Edgemoor Research Institute Second Event on ‘Filling the Gaps’

Experts at a CircleID and Edgemoor Research Institute webinar debated the challenges of domain registration data access in a post-GDPR world. Panelists explored the tension between privacy laws and legitimate data requests, the role of automation in disclosure decisions, and the need for a scalable, trust-based framework to balance compliance, cybersecurity, and enforcement interests. more

EU Lawmakers Call for Further Talks to Strengthen Proposed US Data Transfer Pact

EU lawmakers are pushing for additional negotiations to strengthen a proposed data transfer agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States. They argue that the current agreement still has shortcomings that must be addressed. The potential delay in reaching an accord is concerning for the thousands of companies that rely on the agreement. more

US Telcos Withdrawing from DSL and Telephony Markets - A Case of Lobbying Power and Poor Regulation

During the last few months the US's main DSL providers AT&T and Verizon have begun retracting from the DSL and landline market in many rural and less commercially viable areas while concentrating on their wireless LTE ambitions. DSL and voice telephony provide relatively low returns, which can be whittled away through network maintenance costs, while LTE promises to deliver proportionately higher profits, based on exorbitant charges by data volume.  more

Overcoming DNSSEC Challenges: A Guide for TLDs

Despite offering robust protection for the Domain Name System, DNSSEC suffers from poor adoption due to its complexity, cost, and operational risks. Automation and algorithmic improvements now offer practical solutions for broader deployment. more

New Ad Fraud Schemes Utilize Alpha-Numeric Domains

The breach of the Democratic National Committee e-mail system and a massive digital advertising fraud believed to be run by alleged actors in Russia share a common thread beyond their ability to capture the news cycle. Although each event targeted a different weakness in brand/online security platforms, the common denominator is the use of fraudulent domain names. more

Rewiring Internet Governance: Summing up ICANN Policy Walking Backward Into the Future (Part 4)

So-called "globalization" and its corollaries which are trade policy and, thus, foreign policy intersect with telecommunications. This ought to be obvious and it is not new. For example, in December 2011, OECD adopted its "Recommendation of the Council on Principles for Internet Policy Making", the latter which apparently connects with an earlier U.S. cyberspace strategy based on something called the "Internet Freedom Agenda" dated 21 January 2010... more

New gTLD Community Objection Standing Analysis

The notion of community has been debated since the inception of the ICANN New gTLD Program. However, as far as we know no one has yet taken a holistic approach to analyzing the wealth of information generated by the experts who participated in the ICANN New gTLD community objection process. As a community applicant for .eco on behalf of the environmental community, Big Room Inc. has a keen interest in understanding how independent experts are interpreting the ICANN notion of community. more

No Broadband - Lower Real Estate Sales

A survey conducted by US company Comcast Business Class found 90% of building owners and property managers felt that broadband is the most important selling point in the commercial real estate market behind price, parking and location. more

Is There a Role for ICANN in Satellite Internet Governance?

A recent invitation to participate in a webinar to discuss ICANN's Role in Satellite Internet Governance as an enabler of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 prompted me to consider this issue. As a legal scholar with expertise in telecommunications infrastructure, I had much to say and discuss about the new mega-constellation phenomenon and its potential role in achieving SDG9, which, for me, is a multifaceted and fascinating subject. more

Work in Progress: Preparing the Next Round of New gTLDs

There are now more than a thousand new Internet suffixes alongside "the originals" (not talking vampires here, but rather .COM et al). These additional web address endings are called "new gTLDs". Since Internet technical coordinator ICANN's 2012 call for applications for the creation of new gTLDs, and their roll-out starting in 2014 when suffixes such as .BARCLAYS (brand TLD), .NYC (geo TLD) and .SKI (generic TLD) became active, the question of another round of applications has been asked repeatedly. more

Transparency Meets Sustainability: Announcing the SDIA Open Data Hub

Last month, the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance (SDIA) announced our Open Data Hub, a resource that's meant to boost transparency, trust, and data availability to help researchers, industry, and society realize a sustainable digital economy. It is essentially our answer to the challenge recognized across the sector: that the lack of reliable data is one of the most foundational issues we face in creating a sustainable ICT ecosystem. more

Loon Balloons Restore Internet After a Massive Earthquake Strikes Remote Parts of Peru

On Sunday, when a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck remote parts of Peru’s Amazon region, at the request of the government of Peru and Telefónica, Alphabet re-directs a group of its Loon balloons to the impacted area to restore Internet access. Within 48 hours, people on the ground had wireless broadband communication, reports Alphabet. more

3 Billion Internet Users by End of 2014, Two-Thirds from Developing World

Releasing new statistics today, the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) announced that by end of 2014, there will be nearly three billion Internet users -- two-thirds of them from the developing world -- with mobile-broadband penetration approaching 32 per cent. Moreover, people from developing countries make up for more than 90 per cent of those who are not yet using the Internet. more