Internet 2008 in Numbers

In a blog post today, Royal Pingdom has posted a variety of statistical answers to questions for 2008 such as: How many websites were added? (A: 31.5 million) How many emails were sent? (A: 210 billion per day) How many blog posts were published? (A: 329 million) Other numbers include total number of Internet users in the world which, according to June 2008 data, is recorded at 1,463,632,361 with Asia having the highest percentage of users (39.5%) followed by Europe as the second largest (26.3%) and North America as the third (17%). Numbers have been gathered using a wide variety of sources from around the Web. more

Cloud-Edge Collaboration: The Inevitable Future of AI Computing

Over the past decade, cloud computing has experienced explosive growth, evolving from its nascent stage to widespread adoption and fundamentally changing how businesses and individuals use information technology. At the same time, traditional on-premise computing, while still having its use cases, has been progressively integrated with, and often even controlled by, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) in many aspects. more

Lawsuit Against IANA Transition Dropped

Four US states attorneys general have quietly thrown in the towel in their attempt to have the IANA transition blocked," reports Kevin Murphy this morning in Domain Incite. more

It’s Time to Change the US’ Cuba-Internet Strategy

In a post last week, I advised Cuban President Díaz-Canel that investment in fixed broadband Internet would benefit both the Cuban people and his regime. This week, I've got advice for US President Biden -- don't try to out-pander the Republicans and call President Díaz-Canel's bluff by offering support for fixed broadband. What won't work... more

ICANN Needs to Tighten Director-Conflict Policies, Says CEO

ICANN needs to strengthen conflict-of-interest policies for its board of directors, said Rod Beckstrom, CEO, in his opening remarks during the organizations 43rd public meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica. "It is time to further tighten up the rules that have allowed perceived conflicts to exist within our board. ... ICANN must place commercial and financial interests in their appropriate context," said Beckstrom, who plans to step down in July. "How can it do this if all top leadership is from the very domain name industry it is supposed to coordinate independently?" more

ICANN Releases Call for Public Input for NTIA’s Stewardship Transition of IANA

On 8 April 2014, ICANN released the "Call for Public Input: Draft Proposal, Based on Initial Community Feedback, of the Principles and Mechanisms and the Process to Develop a Proposal to Transition NTIA's Stewardship of the IANA Functions." more

IRAN Nuclear Deal; the Flag of Changes? the End of Civil Society Isolation? or What?

The crucial importance of Iran Nuclear Deal and, hopefully, the imminent expectation, for reaching to an indisputable solution and agreement among 5+1+ Iran (as well as the other parties who claim to have interest in this matter) all have created a special climate and proper ground for all the activists and the observers in order to seriously sit and make a review of the actual situation and the potentials of the main player of the field, say Iran, or Civil Society of Iran... more

Ed Felten Named FTC’s First Chief Technologist

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has named Edward Felten, a Princeton professor of computer science and public affairs, as its Chief Technologist, effective January 1. Felten's main role will be to provide advice on technology policy issues. more

Unlike Earlier Revolutions, AI Is Threatening the Professional Class

Unlike past technological shifts, artificial intelligence is automating high-skilled professions before low-skilled ones. This reversal challenges long-held assumptions about job security, expertise, and governance, forcing policymakers to rethink regulation, trust, and digital sovereignty. more

Open, Inclusive Internet Depends on Enriched Debate About Policy Creation, Says Global Business

At the ninth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Istanbul, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS) have welcomed the reaffirmation of the IGF's relevance and continued importance as well as the opportunity to work collaboratively with other stakeholders to further improve it. more

Internet Activity in Britain Stored for a Year Under New Surveillance Law

The internet activity of everyone in UK will have to be stored for one year by Internet service providers, under the new surveillance law plans. "This duty would include forcing firms to hold a schedule of which websites someone visits and the apps they connect to through computers, smartphones, tablets and other devices. Police and other agencies would be then able to access these records in pursuit of criminals -- but also seek to retrieve data in a wider range of inquiries, such as missing people." more

Obama, Xi Reach ‘Common Understanding’ on Curbing Cyber Espionage

resident Obama announced today that he has reached a "common understanding" with Chinese President Xi Jinping on curbing economic cyber espionage, but threatened to impose U.S. sanctions on Chinese hackers who persist with cyber crimes. more

Granular Regulation: A Future-Ready Framework for Effective AI Governance and Beyond

Granular regulation offers a new governance framework for AI, blending flexibility with enforceability. By translating broad principles into risk-sensitive, technical mandates, it overcomes the rigidity of rule-based models and the vagueness of principle-based approaches. more

AFNIC Examines the 50/50 Theory for New TLDs

AFNIC recently conducted a test examining validity of the claim that the number of domain names registered by the end of the 1st day of the public opening of a TLD amounts to 50% of the stock that the TLD will achieve by the end of its 1st month, and that the latter number will represent 50% of the stock at the end of the 1st year. more

Trojans Fastest Growing Category of Data-Stealing Malware

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) recently reported that the number of sites infecting PCs with password-stealing crimeware reached an all time high of 31,173 in December 2008 - an 827 percent increase from January. And according to a report just released by Trend Micro's Focus Report, 93 percent of data-stealing malware have been identified as Trojans in the first quarter of 2009. more