IGP: ICANN Gets "Securitized"

Milton Mueller posting on the Internet Governance Project today, writes: "This is no April Fool's joke: here is a bill that is almost a caricature of what the rest of the world fears about U.S. control of the Internet DNS root and ICANN. Legislation unveiled today by Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, would require a Presidentially appointed cybersecurity advisory panel to ensure that national security would not be compromised before approving the renewal or modification of the contract between the U.S. government and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. According to a summary of the bill, it would 'make sure that ICANN does not succumb to foreign pressure' to end its relationship with the U.S. government." more»

The Evolution of the ITU's Views on Internet Governance (2006-2012)

Someone was talking the other day about the ITU and what they think about the issue of Internet Governance. I know what the ITU Secretariat wrote in a paper some years ago (Bulgaria was one of the governments heavily criticizing the errors and flaws in the ITU paper), but also decided it might be interesting to show how this question has evolved in the words of the ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure, by finding out how his positions on that issue, and on the role of the ITU have changed through the years. more»

Integrating the GAC More Effectively

We all may have breathed a sigh of relief when the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and the Board concluded their eleventh-hour negotiations on new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) with some measure of success, but we can all agree that panicked policymaking is, at best, less than optimal. ICANN needs to integrate GAC input more effectively. The Final Report recently issued by the Joint Working Group (JWG) of the ICANN Board and the GAC contains several thoughtful and productive recommendations. more»

US, UK, Canada and Other Countries Will Not Sign UN Telecom Treaty

The U.S., U.K. and Canadian delegations to a worldwide telecom treaty-writing meeting will not ratify a resolution approved by the majority of countries because regulations will include provisions on Internet governance and content. Negotiations at the International Telecommunication Union's World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) in Dubai ended Thursday with disagreements about ITU regulation of the Internet and censorship of the Web. Negotiations were still ongoing late at night Dubai time, and a final version of the resolution was expected Friday. more»

The Global Internet Through a Local Lens

As the Internet grows, those countries and societies with mature systems of content development, innovation and entrepreneurism will continue to be better positioned to meet these needs. At the same time, such countries are also better positioned to take advantage of the efficiency, and capacity of the Internet to amplify and extend their cultural reach and economic capacity. The implication of this amplification and extension of cultural reach and economic capacity from developed markets, is that it can drown out indigenous content and restrict local economic opportunities in developing and under-developed markets. more»

Open Systems Lead to 'Economies of Scope'

The 'economies of scope' is an appealing concept implying that if we share knowledge in an open way we can create new, healthy economies that do not just depend on 'scale'. As we have seen, over the last decade in particular, some of the companies that are trying to achieve exponential growth can endanger the economy and society in general - the global financial crisis surrounding the large financial institutions, the scandals around News Corp, the political lobbying (bullying) by the super rich and the destruction of the environment by some developers. more»

Internet Society Releases Paper on "What Really Matters About the Internet"

Internet Society has released a paper today highlighting the importance of understanding what is important and unchanging about the Internet. more»

World Anti Counterfeiting Day… Staggering Costs Fueled by the Web

Established in 1998 by the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GACG), "World Anti Counterfeiting Day" is held annually in June to raise awareness of the international impacts of counterfeiting and piracy. According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the cost of counterfeiting is a $600 billion a year problem. MarkMonitor estimates the cost of online counterfeit trade at $200 billion annually. 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»

ITU's Landmark Decisions

The ITU, through its Council acting as the executive body of the Member States, made a "landmark decision" to make available to the public "the main [WCIT] conference preparatory document" and to establish a publicly accessible page "where all stakeholders can express their opinions" on the preparatory document or other WCIT-related matters. more»

Supercookie Debate Offers a Transparent Opportunity

Recent articles in the press have outlined how sites including MSN and Hulu are now using an advanced version of the old cookie file to track user behavior. These "supercookies" are very hard to detect and delete, and can track user behavior across multiple sites, not just one. These tricky little trackers have lawmakers pressing the FTC to investigate, and the IAB scrambling to defend industry practices. more»

Public-Private Cooperation Policy for Cyber Security Suggested by Commissioner Kroes

At a speech during the Security and Defense Agenda meeting on 30 January Vice-President of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes, showed how the Commission envisions public-private cooperation on cyber security. more»

Bruce Schneier: The Threat of Cyberwar Grossly Exaggerated

Security expert Bruce Schneier in a blog post today writes: "It's about who is in charge of cyber security, and how much control the government will exert over civilian networks. And by beating the drums of war, the military is coming out on top. ... General Keith Alexander, the current commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, hypes it every chance he gets. This isn't just rhetoric of a few over-eager government officials and headline writers; the entire national debate on cyberwar is plagued with exaggerations and hyperbole." more»

ICANN to Work With VeriSign, US Government, to Address Core Internet Security Issue

ICANN announced today that it will work with the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and VeriSign on the goal of an operationally Signed Root Zone as soon as feasible in 2009. "We've been working towards a signed root for more than three years. In fact, ICANN has operated a root zone signing test bed for more than two years. So ICANN is aware of the urgency around signing the root to enhance stability and security" Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN said. more»

ICANN Starts Off 40th International Meeting in SF, New TLD Outcome Remains Unclear

Kevin Murphy reporting in DomainIncite: "The big deal this week is ICANN's ongoing consultation with its Governmental Advisory Committee [GAC], which remains the biggest hurdle before ICANN can approve the [new top-level domains] program. ... ICANN senior vice president Kurt Pritz said that the board and GAC met for one hour yesterday, but that they still have not agreed on the 'bylaws' designation." more»