Google Serving 25 Percent of Consumer Internet Traffic Through North American ISPs

Google is now serving close to 25 percent of all consumer internet traffic running through North American ISPs, according to a report from Wired. "That's a far larger slice of than previously thought, and it means that with so many consumer devices connecting to Google each day, it's bigger than Facebook, Netflix, and Instagram combined. It also explains why Google is building data centers as fast as it possibly can. Three years ago, the company's services accounted for about 6 percent of the internet's traffic." more

If Demand Is Growing, Why Is Networking World Such a Depressing Place Right Now? Let’s Dig Deeper…

Over at the ECI blog, Jonathan Homa has a nice article about the importance of network planning: In the classic movie, The Graduate (1967), the protagonist is advised on career choices, "In one word – plastics." If you were asked by a young person today, graduating with an engineering or similar degree about a career choice in telecommunications, would you think of responding, "network planning"? Well, probably not... more

Can Cellphones Capture the Broadband Market?

Linda Hardesty wrote an interesting article in FierceNetwork that asks the question, "What if, in ten years, young people don't subscribe to fixed broadband at all?" Her story is based on a U.K. research group that predicts that within ten years, there will be a lot of young people who will never have subscribed to a landline broadband product. more

Measuring Digital Rights for the Attainment of Internet Universality

Measuring the information society in order to achieve development goals is a challenge and a necessity to ascertain progress made in terms of ICT sector development and socio-economic growth. Many intergovernmental, governments, non-profit and private organisations have sought to tackle the challenge through setting targets, defining indicators, and applying research methods to measure progress. Nevertheless, ambitious goals and targets relate mostly to the achievement of physical connectivity to ICT... more

Open Access for Apartment Buildings

San Francisco recently passed an interesting ordinance that requires that landlords of apartments and multi-tenant business buildings allow access to multiple ISPs to bring broadband. This ordinance raises all sorts of regulatory and legal questions. At the most recent FCC monthly meeting, the FCC jumped into the fray and voted on language that is intended to kill or weaken the ordinance. more

U.S. Nuclear Power and Other Energy Companies Hacked by Russians According to Government Officials

Russian government hackers are reported to be behind latest cyber-intrusions into the business systems of U.S. nuclear power and other energy companies with efforts to assess networks. more

Loving to Hate Our Big ISPs

The American Customer Satisfaction Survey (ACSI) was released earlier this summer that ranks hundreds of companies that provide services for consumers. Historically cable companies and ISPs have fared poorly in these rankings compared to other businesses in the country. The running joke reported in numerous articles about this survey is that people like the IRS more than they like their cable company (and that is still true this year). more

Broadband Speed and Market Signaling: Strategic Constraints in U.S. ISP Policy

Despite early dismissals from cable giants, consumer demand and real-world use cases proved the value of gigabit broadband. Today, slow uploads and strategic pricing continue to signal an industry reluctant to embrace speed. more

China Has Delayed Controversial Internet Filtering Software Requirement

China is to delay a controversial plan requiring all new computers sold in the country to be equipped with an internet filtering software, state media says. The filter, called Green Dam Youth Escort, was to have been required from Wednesday, but the industry ministry said computer makers needed more time. more

So Many Nonprofits Have Trusted Dot Org for So Long

ICANN's Board will meet soon, perhaps even tomorrow, to discuss the dot-org domain sale. It is a pivotal inflection point in the history of Internet governance. When Internet Society (ISOC) was awarded the dot-org domain over ten other bids in 2002, evaluators voiced concerns about their ability to steward it. The report explains: Some on the Committee expressed concern, however, that ISOC's associations extend only to the networking/connectivity community and not to a broader base... more

Hacking Group Anonymous Claims Responsibility for Massive Cyberattack on Turkey

The hacking group Anonymous has claimed responsibility for a massive cyberattack on Turkish internet servers over the past week, saying it will continue its assault if Turkey "doesn't stop supporting" Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil). more

Yellow Parking Violation Fliers on Windshields Get Drivers to Visit Malicious Website

Security expert and malware analyst, Lenny Zeltser has examined a creative malware distribution method in the real world where fliers placed on windshield of cars scare drivers into visiting a malicious website. Zeltser writes: "Several days ago, yellow fliers were placed on the cards in Grand Forks, ND. They stated: 'PARKING VIOLATION This vehicle is in violation of standard parking regulations. To view pictures with information about your parking preferences, go to website-redacted' ... If you went to the website, you'd see several photos of cars on parking lots in that specific town..." more

Evolving ICANN Carries Great Promise for Internet Users

The headlines out of ICANN's meeting in Beijing may be all about new domains, but it is the quiet, systemic evolution of ICANN itself that holds the greatest promise for Internet users globally. ICANN President Fadi Chehadé opened the meeting by announcing that it was ICANN's "season to evolve," and setting forth a series of programs, restructuring efforts and policy initiatives intended to make ICANN more responsive to the needs of its stakeholders, and by extension, to the needs of all Internet users, everywhere in the world. more

ICANN’s 20th Anniversary Blog Collection

In the weeks leading up to ICANN63, CircleID in collaboration with ICANN invited community members to send their thoughts reflecting on the early days of ICANN and some of the points over the last 20 years that stand out in their memory. And the response was tremendous! Thank you, everyone, for your responses and thoughtful contributions. Below you will find the collection of blogs that we have featured in past weeks. Enjoy! more

Distributed Reporting of Web Filtering

Today the Berkman Center announced a new project that might be of interest to readers. Since 2002 I've studied Internet filtering around the world, most recently as part of the OpenNet Initiative. Last year with support of the MacArthur Foundation we published "Access Denied," a study of filtering in about 40 states. Our work so far has been centralized... We're now complementing that effort with a distributed reporting system... more