Internet Governance

Internet Governance / News Briefs

Google Adopts 'Palestine' Label for the Region's Search Page

Google has changed the tagline on the homepage of its Palestinian edition from "Palestinian Territories" to "Palestine". The change, introduced on 1 May, means google.ps now displays "Palestine" in Arabic and English under Google's logo. more»

China and the United States Agree on Forming Joint Cybersecurity Working Group

China and the United States will set up a working group on cybersecurity, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday, as the two sides moved to ease months of tensions and mutual accusations of hacking and Internet theft. Speaking to reporters in Beijing during a visit to China, Kerry said the United States and China had agreed on the need to speed up action on cyber security, an area that Washington says is its top national security concern. more»

SPECIAL: Updates from the ICANN Meetings in Beijing

CircleID in collaboration with the team from Dyn Inc. and ICANN Wiki, brings you video blogs and updates from the 46th ICANN meeting in Beijing, China (7-11 April 2013). Stay tuned as we keep this page updated through out the meetings. more»

NCUC Workshop: One World, One Internet? New gTLDs & Competition in a Changing Global Environment

The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) has organized and is holding a policy workshop, One World, One Internet? New gTLDs & Competition in a Changing Global Environment, next week in Beijing at ICANN-46. The program, which brings together top Western and Chinese experts, will explore pressures for integration versus fragmentation of the Internet and implications for ICANN, as well as different competition and regulation perspectives as they relate to new gTLDs. more»

Who Runs the Internet? ICANN Attempts to Clarify the Answer With This Map

ICANN has released a "living" graphic aimed to provide a high-level view of how the internet is run attuned for those less familiar with the inner workings of the internet infrastructure ecosystem. more»

NTIA Asks New gTLD Applicants to Submit Public Interest Commitments

Kevin Murphy reporting in Domain Incite: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration said today that all new gTLD applicants, even those that have not already been hit by government warnings, should submit Public Interest Commitments to ICANN. In a rare comment sent to an ICANN public forum today, the NTIA suggested that applicants should use the process to help combat counterfeiting and piracy. ... NTIA said that applicants should pay special attention in their PICs to helping out the "creative sector". more»

Internet Society's President and CEO to Step Down in February 2014

Internet Society President and Chief Executive Officer Lynn St. Amour today announced that she will leave the Internet Society in February 2014 at the conclusion of her contract. St. Amour joined the Internet Society in 1998 as Executive Director of its Europe, Middle East, and Africa division. She became Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer in 1999 and was appointed President and CEO in March of 2001. more»

2012 WCIT Meeting Beginning of Long Internet Cold War Between Authoritarians and Liberal Democrats

In his commentary, The Internet Yalta Alexander Klimburg, Fellow and Senior Adviser at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, argues that the December 2012 meeting of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) may be the digital equivalent of the February 1945 meeting of the Allied powers in Yalta: the beginning of a long Internet Cold War between authoritarian and liberal-democratic countries. more»

France Orders ISP to Stop Blocking Online Advertisements, No Right to Edit Web Content

In a potential test case for Europe, the French government on Monday ordered a big Internet service provider to stop blocking online advertisements, saying the company had no right to edit the contents of the Web for users. The dispute has turned into a gauge of how France, and perhaps the rest of Europe, will mediate a struggle between telecommunications providers against Internet companies... more»

FTC Chief Concerned Over Most New gTLD Bids

Kevin Murphy reporting in DomainIncite: The US Federal Trade Commission is still "looking at" ICANN's new gTLD program amid concerns that most of the applicants applied defensively, it has emerged. ... "We have been very, very concerned about ICANN and their dramatic expansion of the domain names, which we think will cause consumer confusion and even worse lead to more areas where malefactors can hide from the law while defrauding consumers," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said. 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»

Internet Society Expresses Concern over Direction of WCIT

In light of final developments during the WCIT meetings, the following statement was released from the CEO and President of Internet Society, Lynn St. Amour on Wednesday, December 12, 2012: "At the conclusion of today's plenary, the Internet Society is concerned about the direction that the ITR'S are taking with regards to the Internet. The Internet Society came to this meeting in the hopes that revisions to the treaty would focus on competition, liberalization, free flow of information and independent regulation..." more»

ICANN's Chairman and CEO Invited to the World Conference on International Telecommunications

Kevin Murphy reporting in DomainIncite: "ICANN's chairman and CEO have been invited to the World Conference on International Telecommunications next week, as "special guests" of the International Telecommunications Union. It's a token gesture of friendship at best, with the invitation only good for the opening ceremony, rather than any substantive policy discussions. But it's a contrast to the ITU's treatment of former ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom..." more»

Google Says ITU Is the Wrong Place to Make Future Internet Decisions

Google has launched a "Take Action" page to urge people to speak out amidst the gathering of the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) taking place next month in Dubai to update global telecom rules for the first time since 1988. Google and others have raised concern as some countries may see this as an opportunity to set up new rules for the internet. more»

ICANN Board Starts New Initiative to Tackle gTLD Registration Data Challenges

The ICANN Board of Directors has directed the Chief Executive Officer to launch a new effort to re-examine the purpose of collecting, maintaining and providing access to generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) registration data. The move follows the recommendations of a review team that examined implementation of WHOIS data policy. more»

Industry Updates

DotConnectAfrica Trust Responds to ICANN GAC Objection Advice on Its .Africa Application

DotConnectAfrica Participates at the ICANN 46 International Meeting in Beijing, China

DotConnectAfrica Clarified Its .africa Bid at the Innovation Africa Digital Summit in Addis Ababa

IBCA Called for Inclusion of African Businesses at ICANN Africa Strategy Meeting in Addis Abeba

DCA Registry Services Participates in ICANN Africa Strategy Meeting, Addis Ababa

ICANN Prioritisation Draw, GAC Early Warnings

DotConnectAfrica E-Participates at the Baku IGF 2012 - Contributes to ITU Changes

Verisign Issues Statement on .com Registry Agreement Renewal

ICANN 45: New gTLDs Not Far Away Now

DotConnectAfrica Participates in ICANN-45 Toronto, Unveils New IBCA Initiative at ICANN Public Forum

Comments by DCA TRUST on ICANN Multi-Stakeholder Model and DCA's Contribution to ICANN Africa

SPECIAL: Updates from the ICANN Meetings in Toronto

SPECIAL: Updates from the ICANN Meetings in Prague

DCA Trust and UniForum SA Have Both Applied for the Same 'Africa' Geographic Name String

Afilias Becomes First European Company to Gain Observer Status With the Global Network Initiative