The Threat from Within - US v. Fowler, SDFL 2010

The security vendor-phobe at the head of the conference bangs on the podium with his shoe declaring that "The greatest threat comes from within! (buy our product for your network's salvation)." Fear as a marketing strategy can never be underestimated. Particular when the fear is of the misunderstood. Media helps stoke the flames of fear-marketing with stories of fired or disgruntled IT staff who reportedly effectuate their revenge on former employers by bricking systems. more

ICANN vs. the Federal Reserve

The Internet is about to go independent. After years of support and supervision, the U.S. Government is about to irrevocably relinquish its control over the Internet by transferring its authority to an independent corporation named ICANN. As part of this push, the current chairman of ICANN posted this article to the Wall Street Journal... What's truly amazing about this piece, is how well it's done... It was only after digesting this piece, that I remembered we are talking about ICANN here. more

Business Logic Vulnerabilities Are the Hidden Menace in Modern Software

The first things that usually come to mind when talking about software development risks are bugs and security issues that have not been detected or those that have been discovered but left unaddressed. Some may also point out poor code quality reviews and the use of third-party components and dependencies laced with malicious code. more

The IANA Transition’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Thursday, September 8, 2016 was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for the prospects of the IANA functions transition being completed by October 1, 2016. Indeed, that same date - but in 2017 - may be the earliest that the handoff from NTIA to ICANN can be completed, given what last Thursday. The day began with the announcement that Sen. Ted Cruz would be making his first Senate floor remarks since exiting the Republican Presidential race, and that the talk's focus would be a continuation and escalation of his long-standing opposition to "Obama's Internet giveaway". Shortly after 11 am, Sen. Cruz began speaking from his Senate desk... more

Is There a Role for ICANN in Satellite Internet Governance?

A recent invitation to participate in a webinar to discuss ICANN's Role in Satellite Internet Governance as an enabler of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 prompted me to consider this issue. As a legal scholar with expertise in telecommunications infrastructure, I had much to say and discuss about the new mega-constellation phenomenon and its potential role in achieving SDG9, which, for me, is a multifaceted and fascinating subject. more

Can ICANN Survive Today’s Global Geo-Political Challenges Under Its Existing Narrow Mandate?

Recently, the Presidents of four Latin American countries slammed ICANN over its .amazon domain name decision. This added to a long list of geo-politically infused challenges which ICANN needed to render final decisions on after all delay tactics or deferments had already been fully exhausted. It is clear that ICANN is facing unprecedented challenges as it tackles issues that go beyond its current narrow mandate. more

Germany’s Leading ISP Deutsche Telekom Under Cyberattack, Close to 900K Customers Affected

Close to a million Deutsche Telekom customers have had trouble getting online since Sunday afternoon which the company on Monday confirmed to be the result of an "outside" attack. more

The Costs of a Dysfunctional Relationship - Part 1

"The current Board-GAC relationship is dysfunctional and has been so for several years." Never has this line from the ATRT Report seemed so apt as now, when the ICANN board and the GAC are preparing to meet in Brussels. Part 1 of this blog will describe their impasse over the introduction of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs). Part 2 will analyze that impasse and offer recommendations to begin resolving it. more

Faceobook on Connecting the World from the Sky

Facebook has announced more details on how its Connectivity Lab is working to connect the world from the sky with drones, satellites and lasers. more

Internet Society Posting Updates from ITU Plenipot 2014 in Busan

If you are, like me, not in Busan, South Korea, for the 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference but are curious about what is going on there, my Internet Society colleagues on our public policy team have been posting regular updates to the Internet Society's blog and to the @ISOCPolicy Twitter account... Given that I work in the technology side of Internet Society's work and don't have the cycles to keep up-to-date with everything going on there in Busan, I've found these updates very helpful in understanding some of the major events happening at the ITU Plenipot 2014. more

Live Video Stream of IGF-USA On Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Coming up on this Wednesday, July 16, 2014, the 2014 Internet Governance Forum - USA (IGF-USA) will take place at George Washington University in Washington, DC. I'm told by one of the people involved that there are around 500 people currently registered to attend. The agenda looks quite amazing... If you are, like me, unable to attend in person, the good news is that we can follow along through a live video stream... more

ICANN Chair Elections Test Its Institutional Integrity

The ICANN Board will soon be considering candidates for election to the position of ICANN Chairperson and Vice Chair, which compels me to remind both the Board and the ICANN community of the fact that one of the members pursuing the Chairmanship is the subject of an on-going Australian Freedom of Information Act, which was initiated by the irregularities that brought about this individuals dismissal from the .au Domain Administration. more

Another Day, Another Two Million Dollars

ICANN just published the results of the auction for .HOTELS and .HOTEIS. The high bidder (I'm not sure "winner" really applies here) was Booking.com, who will use .HOTELS. The $2.2M they paid, along with the prior results, notably the $25 million Google paid for .APP, brings the total in ICANN's auction pot to about $60.5 million. There's a few more auctions scheduled for CAM, PHONE, and SHOP/SHOPPING, along with yet to be scheduled auctions for DOCTOR, INC, LLP, and LLC. more

In Response to CADNA: Cybersquatting is Not Criminal But a Civil Matter

The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) recently released a statement that implied that cybersquatting is a criminal activity. It said, "CADNA has been working diligently to further international and national policies that combat the practice of cybersquatting... As brands continue to learn about the prevalence and practice of online criminal activities..." While, Internet Commerce Association (ICA) vigorously opposes cybersquatting, it is important to note that cybersquatting is a civil matter, not a criminal one. There is a good reason that cybersquatting is a civil matter... more

Preparing for GDPR’s Impact on WHOIS - 5 Steps to Consider

With GDPR coming into effect this May, it is almost a forgone conclusion that WHOIS as we know it today, will change. Without knowing the full details, how can companies begin to prepare? First and foremost, ensuring that brand protection, security and compliance departments are aware that a change to WHOIS access is on the horizon is an important first step. Just knowing that the ability to uncover domain ownership information is likely to change in the future will help to relieve some of the angst that is likely to occur. more