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
A group of security researchers have succeeeded in cracking over 320 million passwords which were made public in an encrypted blacklist. more
Information Society meeting this week must rebuke those nations that seek top-down, censorial control of the Internet, warns Kathryn Brown, president of the Internet Society. more
What defines a stakeholder in Internet governance? Is it a professional occupation, an ideology, or a specific methodology? One of the key themes emerging in the Netmundial+10 event has been that of stakeholder involvement, participation and representation in different IG mechanisms. The numeric increase in contributors to these processes since the original Netmundial is palpable. However, questions remain about the definition of a stakeholder and the premises under which these actors should engage in policy work together. more
Exponential growth in network bandwidth requirements has created a need for large CAPEX investments for most service providers. Unfortunately, each provider faces limits on all expenditures and must upgrade only what is needed, when it is needed. Nobody should waste time or money by performing unnecessary network upgrades. To avoid needless upgrading, providers must have all the data they can get from their network to guide them through the decision-making process. more
Under ICANN's ICP-2 framework, RIR emergency operations extend beyond technical redundancy to encompass legal relocation, policy divergence and geopolitical risk, exposing tensions between operational resilience and national sovereignty in safeguarding global internet governance. more
At the end of 2015, 3.2 billion people were estimated to be online -- up from 3 billion in 2014, according to the study conducted by Connectivity Lab at Facebook. The increase is "partly attributed to more affordable data and rising global incomes in 2014." more
In a bid to expand nationwide internet access, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a major $930 million grant initiative on Friday aimed at improving internet connections in remote parts of Alaska, rural Texas, and other regions with significant connectivity issues. more
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
As policymakers search for an IAEA for AI, lessons from ICANN and internet governance loom large, raising questions about multistakeholder legitimacy, mission creep, technical fragmentation and whether AI demands sector-specific regulation rather than grand global architectures. more
The United Nations has announced that the membership of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum has been renewed. A total of 56 members, 33 among them new, have been appointed. The Advisory Group members are from all stakeholder groups and all regions, representing Governments, the private sector, civil society, academia and technical communities. more
Democracy Now has a video discussion on the recent reports about telecoms in Europe aiding the Iranian government develop highly sophisticated Internet censorship mechanisms or deep packet inspection. The WSJ recently reported that the Iranian monitoring capabilities where "at least in part [provided] by a joint venture of Siemens AG, the German conglomerate, and Nokia Corp., the Finish cellphone compnay, in second half of 2008." (also see previous report: Iran's Internet Censorship Most Sophisticated in the World) more
The security flaw was discovered by the company's own security researchers in WikiLeaks' most recent disclosure of classified information, released last week. more
The U.S. government has long had a far-reaching control over the internet's technical center. What will happen now when ICANN's Board puts together a proposal on how to transfer responsibility for certain key functions within the domain name system to the internet community? Last week, ICANN had its 55th conference in Marrakech. The most important result of the meeting is that all parts of the so-called internet community approved that ICANN's Board will send a proposal to the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) which suggests how to transfer responsibility for certain key functions within the domain name system to the internet community... more
The draft String Similarity Evaluation Guidelines risk entrenching past failures of Internet governance. With opaque algorithms and no right of appeal, ICANN's credibility hangs on whether transparency and fairness are restored before final adoption. more