Policy & Regulation

“Toll Free” Broadband Service: Double Billing Ripoff Or Better Than Best Efforts Premium Option?

Representatives of both AT&T and Verizon have stated that their companies will soon offer "toll free" broadband services. So far they have not provided much detail, but the prospect for customer and content provider surcharges should trigger concern, even outside the context of the network neutrality debate. First let's consider the frame the carrier reps use: "Toll Free." This is an old school "Bellhead" reference... more

Canadian Telcos Fast Tracking FttH to Combat Cable Operators

There are a number of stimuli which are pushing Canada's burgeoning FttH market, and the government and telcos alike have made significant steps to improve the reach and capacity of broadband infrastructure. These measures will show real benefits for consumers in recent years. From the government's side, its Economic Action Plan, launched in 2009 as a response to the global financial crisis, included a pledge to provide $225 million over three years towards its Broadband Canada Program, geared to extending broadband coverage to underserved communities. more

EFF: U.S. Cybersecurity Strategy Likely to Have Serious Implications for Canadians

EFF and several other civil society organizations have declared a 'Stop Cyber Spying Week' in protest of several controversial U.S. cybersecurity legislative proposals, including the bill currently before Congress and the Senate called CISPA... more

When No Action Is the Wisest Action (ICANN Does Good)

Although ICANN is now getting a lot of ridicule for the "glitch" in its TLD application System, it deserves some praise and respect for the results of its April 10 board meeting. In that meeting, the board showed the involved community - and the rest of the world - that it is no longer going to be stampeded by extra-procedural political pressure to make yet another round of hasty amendments to its new TLD program's policies and procedures. more

Is the New Top-Level Domains “Technical Issue” a Harbinger of Future gTLD Issues?

Does the "technical issue" announced today in ICANN's TLD Application System (TAS) and the subsequent extension of the submission deadline call into question the stability and integrity of the new gTLD program? This development underscores the notion that ICANN could consider a more metered and staged approach to the introduction of gTLDs... more

Fake Bank Site, Fake Registrar

In our continuing review of Rogue Registrars we have stumbled upon on a very elaborate fake banking site for "Swiss Bank" or "Bank of Switzerland". To the casual Internet consumer this site probably appears legitimate, but a number of clues tip off the fraud. Phishing sites are everywhere so this does not immediately raise eyebrows until you review the Thick WHOIS record for the domain. more

Spectrum Key to Broadband Utility

The explosion in mobile communications in the developing world has created social and economic changes that have exceeded all expectations and predictions -- even those made as recently as five years ago. There are still countries lagging behind, but now is the time to move on to the next stage -- and that means broadband. Already the developed world is showing an enormous appetite for mobile broadband, so the demand is most certainly there. The rapid development of low cost Smartphone, projected to approach $50 soon... more

Wither WHOIS!: A New Look At An Old System

No, that title is not a typo. The WHOIS service and the underlying protocol are a relic of another Internet age and need to be replaced. At the recent ICANN 43 conference in Costa Rica, WHOIS was on just about every meeting agenda because of two reasons. First, the Security and Stability Advisory Committee put out SAC 051 which called for a replacement WHOIS protocol and at ICANN 43, there was a panel discussion on such a replacement. The second reason was the draft report from the WHOIS Policy Review Team. more

Conflict of Interest Mingled Into ICANN’s DNA, Says Insider

"ICANN ethical conflicts are worse than they seem," says Beau Brendler, chairman of the North American Internet user advisory committee to ICANN (NARALO), in an op-ed post published today. Brendler writes: "Whatever might be said about outgoing ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom, Internet users worldwide should be thanking him. Last week in Costa Rica, at the organization's 43rd meeting, Beckstrom blew a harsh blast of cold Arctic reality into the room about the board's conflicts of interest. more

Slippery Territory: IOC and Red Cross in the New gTLD Program

We know from life: There is no rule without exception. The problem is, exceptions create space for interpretations and have the risk to undermine the rule. Take Article 19 of the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights from 1966. Article 19, paragraphs 1 and 2 define the individual right to freedom of expression. Paragraph 3 adds some exceptions where this right can be restricted to protect, inter alia, national security and public order. This is an understandable justification for a restriction, but it opens the door for misuse... more

Port 43 Failures Continue to Haunt

On February 16, 2012 ICANN took the new step of suspending the Registrar Alantron's ability to register new names or accept inbound domain transfers. This new compliance tool was used following Alantron's apparently inadequate response to a breach notice issued November 7, 2011. The issue in part concerns Alantron's perpetual problems with Port 43 WHOIS access which is required by the Registrar Accreditation Agreement. more

Most Abusive Domain Registrations are Preventable

As the WHOIS debate rages and the Top-Level Domain (TLD) space prepares to scale up the problem of rogue domain registration persists. These are set to be topics of discussion in Costa Rica. While the ICANN contract requires verification, in practice this has been dismissed as impossible. However, in reviewing nearly one million spammed domain registrations from 2011 KnujOn has found upwards of 90% of the purely abusive registrations could have been blocked. more

The Top 3 Emerging Threats on the Internet

Last week at RSA, Bruce Schneier gave a talk on the top 3 emerging threats on the Internet. Whereas we in the security field usually talk about spam, malware and cyber crime, he talked about three meta-trends that all have the potential to be more dangerous than the cybercriminals. Here are my notes. more

The Privacy Party and Leaving Dishes in the Sink

Boy, that was a great party the White House threw yesterday when their new online privacy rights were unwrapped and passed around. Most everyone hefted their shiny new rights, agreed they were nice, and talked about the need for swift adoption. But when the party was done, everyone filed out, turning a blind eye to the post-party cleanup and a sink full of dirty dishes. more

US-NL Cybercrime Treaty Signed

On Wednesday 22 February the United States and The Netherlands signed a "declaration of intent" on the cooperation on fighting cybercrime. This event was reported by the press as a treaty. At least that is what all Dutch postings I read wrote, with exception of the official website of the Dutch government. So what was actually signed? Reading the news reports some thoughts struck me. more