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Driving DNSSEC: The Need for Integration of All the Functions Needed

DNSSEC continues to gain momentum as network operators and domain owners watch and learn from early adopters. The learning process is made easier by efforts such as the ongoing work conducted by researchers at Sandia labs to methodically identify and categorize the kinds of problems that are occurring. more

Trust - The Key to Cloud Computing Growth in Europe

The European Commission is optimistic about the future of cloud computing in the region and predicts it will not only save on data storage costs, but create new jobs and boost GDP. The European Union's cloud computing strategy was finally unveiled last week and is expected to boost GDP by around AUD$200 million (about 1 per cent) and create almost four million jobs in just under a decade. This is the first concerted effort by the EU to increase the popularity of cloud computing among businesses. more

DNSSEC Deployed for .COM, Internet’s Largest Top-Level Domain

DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) has been deployed for .COM, Internet's largest domain extension with more than 90 million registrations. The announced was made today by VeriSign, the registry operator for .COM. more

GigaNet Announces Global Scholar Network, Issues CFP

The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet), an emerging scholarly community initiated in Spring 2006, has issued a call for proposals (CFP) to speak at its first conference to be held on 29 October 2006 in Athens, Greece prior to the inaugural Internet Governance Forum meeting. more

New gTLD Round 2 Update – Where Are We Really At?

Many industry onlookers and potential future applicants may be aware of the significant step the New gTLD Round 2 Program took recently when ICANN's policy body, the GNSO Council, unanimously approved the recommendations put forward in the final report from the community-led Subsequent Procedures Working Group and sent it to the ICANN Board for approval. more

The Role of a Cybersecurity Czar

For years now, there have been calls for a high-level cybersecurity official, preferably reporting directly to the president. This has never happened. Indeed, there is a lot of unhappiness in some circles that President Obama has not appointed anyone as "czar" (or czarina), despite the early fanfare about the 60-day cybersecurity review. There are many reasons why nothing has happened... more

Helping Banks Fight Phishing and Account Fraud, Whether They Like It or Not

On Wednesday, Project Honey Pot filed an unusual lawsuit against "John Does stealing money from US businesses through unauthorized electronic transfers made possible by computer viruses transmitted in spam." Their attorney is Jon Praed of the Internet Law Group, who is one of the most experienced anti-spam lawyers around, with whom I have worked in the past. more

Zoom Cryptography and Authentication Problems

In my last blog post about Zoom, I noted that the company says "that critics have misunderstood how they do encryption." New research from Citizen Lab show that not only were the critics correct, Zoom's design shows that they're completely ignorant about encryption. When companies roll their own crypto, I expect it to have flaws. I don't expect those flaws to be errors I'd find unacceptable in an introductory undergraduate class, but that's what happened here. more

IPv6 and IP Convergence: Are International Treaties About to Govern the Internet?

Contributing to international telecommunications standards, not in the IETF but in a more august and imposing body, the ITU-T, part of the United Nations, was quite an experience. Still called CCITT in those days, it was formal and solemn; everybody was part of and sat with their national delegation, countries were aligned in alphabetical order; nobody spoke out of turn, every word was simultaneously translated in the three official languages of the time and we wore suit and tie.  more

DNA Auction Plan to Reinvest Money Into Industry

Love them or hate them, auctions are an unavoidable reality of the new Top-Level Domain (TLD) Program. By their very nature, they create winners and losers. All that is in doubt is where the money goes -- to the losing parties under a private auction model or to ICANN under their auction of last resort. There are pros and cons for both models. But what if there was another way? more

Neustar Announces New President and CEO Succeeding Lisa Hook

Neustar Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors have appointed Charles Gottdiener as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. more

Thoughts from ICANN’s Global Domains Division Summit in Vancouver

Last week, several hundred commercial parties involved in the ICANN ecosystem gathered in Vancouver for their annual Global Domains Division (GDD) meeting. Over 600 individuals took part in the meeting which brought together representatives from ICANN's contracted parties. This meeting differs from traditional ICANN meetings as no policy work takes place and discussions are more focused on commercial and operational matters. more

Excessive Offers to Sell Domain Names: Evidence of Bad Faith or Bona Fide Business Practice?

Not infrequently heard in domain name disputes are cries of shock and gnashing of teeth that domain name holders may lawfully offer their inventory at excessive prices. Take for example TOBAM v. M. Thestrup / Best Identity, D2016-1990 (WIPO November 21, 2016) (<tobam.com>). Respondent accused Complainant of bullying which Complainant denied... more

New LIRs and Their IPv6 RIPEness

The RIPE NCC's membership grew steadily over the course of 2012. In Q3, the RIPE NCC received 417 requests to become a Local Internet Registry (LIR); the highest number we have seen so far. This surge in membership growth exceeds the previous record set 12 years ago during the dotcom bubble in 2000. One reason for the surge is probably the anticipation of the last /8 of IPv4 addresses. more

White House Launches Big Data Research and Development Initiative

The Obama Administration has announced today a "Big Data Research and Development Initiative." The initiative, has committed to more than $200 million in new funding spearheaded by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and National Science Foundation (NSF), along with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Science, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), seeks to "advance state-of-the-art core technologies needed to collect, store, preserve, manage, analyze, and share huge quantities of data; harness these technologies to accelerate the pace of discovery in science and engineering, strengthen our national security, and transform teaching and learning; and expand the workforce needed to develop and use Big Data technologies." more