ITU and the Increasing Controversy Over Internet Governance

The Council of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is set to talk Wednesday about the Union's contribution to follow-up of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the third Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Turkey has tabled a resolution on strengthening the ITU's role in the IGF. The discussion comes at a time when a tense debate between the ITU and its critics has arisen over the best governance models for the internet. more»

Governments Concerned Over Introduction of New Geographical Top-Level Domains

There has been a lot of argument at the 33rd meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Cairo, which ends on Friday, about the rules for introducing new top-level domains. If certain governments have their way, ICANN will have to wait before introducing country or regional names as top-level domains (TLDs). They want the procedure for introducing new country domain names (ccTLDs, such as .uk) in non-Latin alphabets to be adopted first. This emerges from a report delivered by the Latvian diplomat Janis Karklins, chairman of ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) at the meeting in Cairo. more»

ITU Secretary General: "ICANN and ITU a Difficult Marriage"

During the ICANN meeting in Cairo, discussions regarding the role of government within the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have taken a new turn after Hamadoun Touré, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), labeled the ICANN Government Advisory Committee as "cosmetic," reports Rebecca Wanjiku of the IDG News Service. "The GAC is merely advisory, and ICANN may choose to take the advice or not, Touré noted at a public meeting in Cairo... Touré equated the relationship between ICANN and ITU to a difficult marriage where the spouses must live together and raise a family." more»

Egyptian Minister Demands ICANN to Become an Independent Organization

At the start of the 33rd meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Cairo, Tarek Kamel, Egypt's Minister for Communications and Information Technology, has called for ICANN to become an independent organization. Referring to the imminent expiry of ICANN's contract with the US Government next September, he said he expected ICANN to become a genuinely-independent, transparent and stable organization. Kamel is considered to be an important advocate of ICANN in the Arab world. more»

ICANN Terminates EstDomains, Seeks Bulk Transfer of Customers

In follow up to reports on ICANN's termination of notorious domain name registrar, EstDomains due to fraudulent activities, the Internet oversight agency is now preparing to transfer domain names of its customers to other registrars... However the question asked by experts is whether any other registrar would have an interest in inheriting EstDomains questionable domain names. more»

ITU Criticized For Its Role in Cybersecurity Standardization

At EuroDIG, the first European Dialogue on Internet Governance, the scientists and experts of the Council of Europe have sharply criticised the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for acting behind closed doors in its initiatives towards cybersecurity standardization. Bertrand de la Chapelle, godfather of the first EuroDIG on behalf of the French government, said EuroDIG should tell the ITU to allow all interest groups to participate in discussing new technology standards. The recent meeting in Strasbourg emphasized the idea of cooperation between governments, the industry and users as one of the central points to be presented at the UN Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad. more»

ICANN Released Its Draft for New Top-Level Domains, 45 Day Comment Period Now Open

In follow up to its earlier announcement this year regarding the relaxation of rules for the introduction of new Top-Level Domains, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) yesterday released a draft version of the Applicant Guidebook for those interested in applying for a new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD). Although application comes with a hefty entry fee of close to $200,000, the development of new gTLD introductions will be of particular interest to trademark owners as well as any other company involved with domain names. Among various issues, the guidebook aims at addressing concerns such as who would qualify for '.apple' or '.amazon' gTLDs. more»

U.S. Department of Commerce Seeking Public Comments for Deployment of DNSSEC

During a conference, "Internet of Things," in France, the U.S. Department of Commerce made the announcement that it will hold a public consultation on the different proposals to cryptographically sign the DNS root zone file, and determine who will hold the root zone trust anchor for global DNSSEC implementation, says Milton Mueller on the Internet Governance Forum blog. The blog, titled "Commerce Department asks the world to comment on its plans to retain control of the root," continues... more»

Investigation Reveals Massive Security and Privacy Breaches Affecting Chinese Version of Skype

Canadian human-rights activists and computer security researchers have released a report on the extensive surveillance system in China that monitors and archives text conversations that include politically charged words. The research group, called Information Warfare Monitor, is a joint project of The SecDev Group, and the Citizen Lab, at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. The following are introductory excerpts from the study... more»

ICANN Faces Questions on Accountability and Outside Takeover

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held a meeting today in Washington, D.C. discussing concerns over the organizations takeover by governments and other outside entities as well as the need for further accountability to Internet users. ICANN's current oversight agreement with the U.S. government comes to an end in a year and there are no plans to sign a new agreement according to ICANN officials. However in the past few years, representatives of other countries have called for an international organization to oversee the 10-year-old ICANN. In order to steer clear of outside takeovers, ICANN proposes remaining in the U.S. where it can take advantage of the countries relatively strong antitrust and competitive laws. more»

10 Years of ICANN

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, was officially incorporated on 30 September 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation. Headquartered in Marina Del Rey, California, United States, ICANN was assigned to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks originally performed directly on behalf of the U.S. government by other organizations, such as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Back in 1998, there was only one domain name registrar; now there are over 900 ICANN-accredited registrars in the world and over 168 million domain names registered. more»

U.S. Cybersecurity Faces Challenges, Says GAO

The U.S. federal government cybersecurity team with primary responsibility for protecting the computer networks of government and private enterprise is facing challenges, according to a draft Government Accountability Office (GAO). Keith Epstein, a correspondent in BusinessWeek's Washington bureau reports: "...GAO draft report describes US-CERT as bedeviled by frequent management turnover, bureaucratic challenges that prevent timely sounding of alarms, a lack of access to networks across wide swaths of critical terrain, and an inability to fill large numbers of positions with qualified workers." more»

Rising Concerns Over UN Anti-Cyberattack Plan: Could End Internet Anonymity

Recent reports suggest that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations agency, is "quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government," aimed at preventing Internet attacks which could also put an end to anonymity on the Internet. At an up coming ITU meeting in Geneva next week, telecommunication experts will be discussing draft recommendation of "IP Traceback" use case and requirements, looking at ways to identify the source of packets sent across IP (Internet Protocol) networks. more»

Global Survey of Internet Activists Hears Calls for Online Bill of Rights

Kenneth Corbin reporting on InterneNews: "On the eve of what could be a seismic shift in government, talk has been heating up about tech policy in the United States. But it's worthwhile to remember that it is the World Wide Web, and in that spirit researchers from Elon University and the Pew Internet and American Life Project canvassed the world's leading Internet activists to get an idea of what a global tech policy should look like. Pew today released the responses from the attendees of the second annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF), held November in Rio de Janeiro. A solid majority (66 percent) of respondents said there should be some form of global Internet bill of rights...." more»

Cyber Security Commission Compiling Recommendations for the Next U.S. Presidency

During a panel discussion at the Black Hat conference, four members from a U.S. private organization called "Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency," established by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), sought input from the security community as part of their mandate to "develop recommendations for a comprehensive strategy to improve cyber security in federal systems and in critical infrastructure". more»