Policy & Regulation

Fake Domains, Real Harm: The Data Behind India’s DNS Abuse Crisis

New data on DNS abuse reveals most malicious domains remain active beyond 24 hours, while a handful of registrars host the bulk of infrastructure, leaving India's population of first-generation internet users uniquely exposed to fraud.

dotBrand Domains as Trust Infrastructure in the Age of AI

As AI agents automate phishing, impersonation and domain abuse at machine scale, the Brand Registry Group argues that dotBrand domains are evolving from marketing assets into trust infrastructure underpinning cybersecurity, identity and interactions across the internet.

Time Sovereignty: Internet Policy and Defense Frameworks for Critical Infrastructure Synchronization Under Geopolitical Conflict

As power grids depend on microsecond precision, states must treat time synchronization as sovereign infrastructure, hardening satellite, fiber and orbital defenses against hybrid attacks that could trigger catastrophic blackouts through resilient sovereign time defense frameworks.

The Cavalry Has Finally Arrived: ICANN Enters the Courtroom to Defend the RIR System

ICANN's court intervention in AFRINIC's winding-up case widens a local corporate dispute into a global Internet governance test, exposing weaknesses in RIR protections and strengthening calls for ICP-2 reforms to safeguard registry continuity.

Africa Is Becoming a Real World Test Environment for AI Governance

Africa is rapidly emerging as a critical testing ground for AI governance, where fast adoption, evolving digital ecosystems, and uneven institutional readiness are exposing regulatory gaps with global implications.

Facilitation Without Responsibility: ICANN and the Missing Warning Question - Part 3 of 3

ICANN's AFRINIC episode shows how support can harden into perceived authority. A standing RIR Boundary Protocol would force early warnings, role disclosure and procedural safeguards before regional engagement drifts into governance redesign.

The Internet Is Fragmenting - Most of the People Who Should Notice Aren’t Looking

The internet is fragmenting across cables, routing systems and governance. Most network engineers, focused on regional operations, are missing how technical infrastructure and state power are reshaping a once interoperable network.

The Quiet Value of .gov.ccTLD: Restricted SLDs as Trust Infrastructure

An official-looking renewal notice reveals how open namespaces shift verification burdens onto users. Restricted government domains like .gov.au function as trust infrastructure, embedding authority into the namespace and reducing fraud, confusion, and verification costs.

Facilitation Without Responsibility: ICANN and the Missing Warning Question - Part 2 of 3

ICANN's Smart Africa engagement shows how proposals can gain authority without formal endorsement, raising harder questions about CAIGA, ICP-2 and whether regional partnerships need earlier safeguards when RIR governance begins to shift under institutional cover.

Procedural Resilience or Technological Rigidity? Reassessing Article 19’s DNS Abuse Framework in the Post-MLAT Era

As cross-border cyber enforcement falters, critics argue Article 19's DNS abuse framework prioritizes procedural purity over user protection, leaving courts too slow to counter AI-driven phishing, rapid-flux domains, and increasingly automated online threats.