On Friday, 23rd June, Caribbean telecommunications operators (telcos) held a meeting in Miami to fine tune their strategy to force Big Tech companies to contribute financially to regional telecoms network infrastructure. Hosted by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), and taking a similar perspective to the "fair share" proposal currently being debated in the European Union, regional network operators are arguing that over-the-top (OTT) service providers are responsible for 67 percent of the total Internet traffic in the Caribbean, but make no contributions or investments toward local delivery networks. more
Project Liberty's Institute sat down with Dave Clark, an early contributor to the TCP/IP protocols that built and run the Internet, and one of the expert advisors on DSNP, the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol. Dave Clark is Senior Research Scientist at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. more
A significant segment of the IoT ecosystem, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 23.7 percent (forecast period: 2022 -- 2032). This fast growth is indicative of how rapidly IoTM is integrating into modern society, which has understandably attracted the attention of regulators. The widespread use of IoTM devices means that their malfunction or dysfunction can affect the health and lives of many. more
For a long time, arguments about the meaning of "DNS Abuse" prevented fruitful discussions within the ICANN community on when and how it is appropriate to act at the level of the DNS to address abuses online. The proposed amendments to RA and RAA agreements represent a significant and welcomed step in the right direction. As Secretariat of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network (I&JPN), we strongly encourage their adoption... more
OpenXDR is one of the most cost-effective SIEM alternatives that help businesses detect and mitigate threats within hectic modern architectures. A single cyber incident impacts every aspect of a business -- from system downtime, revenue losses, and reputation damage to disrupted operations. more
The Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA) recently achieved a major milestone: We celebrated our 20-year anniversary, serving millions of customers around the world who otherwise would not afford, access or trust ordering their daily maintenance medications where they live. Founded in 2002 by a group of Canadian pharmacists who recognized the potential of the Internet to provide safe and affordable access to medications... more
The Registration Operations Workshop (ROW) was conceived as an informal industry conference that would provide a forum for discussion of the technical aspects of registration operations in the domain name system and IP addressing. The ROW series is being co-sponsored by Verisign and ICANN and organized by Cofomo, and we are looking forward to an engaging set of talks, panel discussions, and conversations with individuals involved with the operation of domain name registrations systems. more
As the current global geopolitical space becomes less friendly to Human Rights1, are there potential offsetting trends supporting them? Yes, but... it will require initiatives from the Global South for AI data-driven policies supportive of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), demonstrating the value of SDGs and Human Rights combined. more
Are Human Rights, both traditional and digital, at risk of becoming an empty promise? (a) The political environment for Human Rights has notably deteriorated since the United Nation's (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. How have things changed? more
The pace of generative AI development has been astonishing to the degree that the normative space has been unable to keep up. As governments start looking into some implementations of the technology, such as ChatGPT, more advanced techniques and products continue to emerge by the day. Society is changing in irrevocable ways, and it is paramount that the Internet Governance community turns its attention to this question. more
The Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP) is a product developed by Project Liberty, an international non-profit founded by Frank McCourt, with the goal of transforming how the Internet works, who owns and controls personal data, and who benefits from the digital economy. The McCourt Institute, as the research and digital governance arm of Project Liberty, aims to support the development and management of DSNP. more
How bad is the human security weakness problem? Verizon's 2022 Data Breaches Investigations Report says 82 percent of data breaches have human involvement. This involvement can mean misconfigurations, poor security policy implementation, negligence, and falling prey to social engineering schemes. Essentially, a vast majority of data breaches have penetrated cyber defenses because of human carelessness, inconsistencies, and gullibility. more
Despite previous attempts1 I think it is safe to say that the discussion about Human Rights in ICANN was, until recently, fairly dead, even taboo. Nowadays, there seems to be a renewed demand for ICANN to have a future, and it needs to take Human Rights considerations seriously. During the ICANN Cancun meeting, representatives from several stakeholder groups mentioned HR and how they might support ICANN by informing its policy-making processes. more
In the latest twist of the US-China spat, President Trump has his sights on TikTok, the short-form video-sharing platform and ByteDance subsidiary. On July 31, President Trump threatened to ban TikTok because it was a threat to US national security. On August 6, he made good on his threat when he signed an Executive Order to that effect. President Trump tightened the screws with an August 14 Executive Order requiring ByteDance to divest its assets in the US and destroy any TikTok data on its US users within 90 days. more
Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell is calling for Caribbean policymakers and business leaders to recognise the significance of artificial intelligence technologies. Artificial intelligence, or AI, refers to the ability of computer systems to do tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. more