Policy & Regulation

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A Trebuchet Defence in the Age of the Augmented Reality Cyberwarrior

I've been ruminating on this for a while, this follow-up that was a decade in the offing. My article Trench Warfare in the Age of The Laser-Guided Missile from January 2007 did pretty good in terms of views since I wrote it. Less so in terms of how well the ideas aged or didn't, but that's the nature of the beast. Everything gets worse, and simultaneously, better, and so here we are: Using embarrassingly ancient approaches to next-generation threats. Plus ça change. more

EU Considers Integrating New Norms of Cyberwar Into Security Policies

"The European Parliament has been asked to adopt a new set of 'norms' about online conflict," reports Simon Sharwood in The Register. more

Thoughts from ICANN’s Global Domains Division Summit in Vancouver

Last week, several hundred commercial parties involved in the ICANN ecosystem gathered in Vancouver for their annual Global Domains Division (GDD) meeting. Over 600 individuals took part in the meeting which brought together representatives from ICANN's contracted parties. This meeting differs from traditional ICANN meetings as no policy work takes place and discussions are more focused on commercial and operational matters. more

GDPR, ICANN, and Registrar WHOIS

On Friday I was on a surprisingly interesting session at Rightscon 2018 in Toronto about GDPR and WHOIS. The panel consisted of Eleeza Agoopian from ICANN staff; Avri Doria who was recently appointed to the ICANN board; Elliot Noss who runs large registrar Tucows; Stephanie Perrin who has done a lot of privacy work for the Canadian government and as an ICANN volunteer, and me; Milt Mueller, who is now at Georgia Tech, moderated. more

A Short-Term Suspension of GDPR Enforcement on WHOIS May Be Necessary, Says U.S. Government

Implementation of European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is a major concern of our government, said David Redl during a meeting held on Thursday in Washington DC. more

The Latest on GDPR and WHOIS

GDPR. It's the four-letter "word" everyone is talking about, and there are lots of questions still swirling around the topic. We wanted to provide a summary of where we are and what we believe the next ten days will bring... GDPR enforcement will begin May 25, 2018. After this date, those found in violation of the regulation can be fined up to 4% of annual global turnover or 20 Million Euros, whichever is greater. more

Human Rights in the Digital Age, Online Pharmacies, and the “Brussels Principles”

"Human Rights in a Digital Age" is the theme of this year's RightsCon conference in Toronto. An essential human right is access to safe, affordable prescription medications. The Internet makes this possible, our organization has proven it's achievable and sustainable over an extended period of time, and our proposed "Brussels Principles" provide the framework to take our proven success internationally. Across the Globe, to people everywhere. more

FCC Says Net Neutrality Rules to Cease on Jun 11

The Federal Communications Commission announced today that the landmark 2015 U.S. net neutrality rules will end on June 11. The FCC said the new rules will take effect 30 days from Friday, and confirmed to be Jun 11 according to Reuters. more

Policymakers to Discuss Data Privacy at Caribbean Internet Governance Forum

Data privacy will be among the items topping the agenda at an upcoming Caribbean Internet Governance Forum to be held by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) in Suriname this month. The meeting is part of an effort by several Caribbean countries to establish and strengthen policies to ensure that Internet users' personal information is collected, shared and used in appropriate ways. more

Internet Platforms Collecting User Data are Digital Sweat Factories, Says EU’s Data Protection Chief

"The digital information ecosystem farms people for their attention, ideas and data in exchange for so called 'free' services," says Giovanni Buttarelli, the European data protection supervisor. more

Over 100 US Mayors Sign Pledge to Hold ISPs Accountable for Net Neutrality Violations

A net neutrality pledge initiated by mayors from New York City, Austin, and Portland, is now signed by more than 100 US mayors. The signed pledge holds ISPs accountable for net neutrality violations, despite the FCC's vote to repeal the regulations late last year. more

EFF: Net Neutrality Not Dead Yet

A number of news sources marked Monday, April 23, as the day Net Neutrality died. EFF in response posted a blog clarifying that the case is not true. more

A Climate of Change for the Caribbean Internet

Spring storms with winter qualities clobbered North America this week, threatening Canada with slow-moving storms, and pounding the United States with near-record snowfall in the midwest, low temperatures in the south and tornadoes further east. You could say change was in the air. And although the unseasonable weather didn't reach as far south as Florida, the climate of change still dominated the atmosphere at the fifteenth regional meeting of the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG). more

GDPR and WHOIS - We’ve Heard from the Article 29 Working Party, Now What?

Well, here we are on Friday the 13th and I couldn't think of a better way to spend the day than providing an update on GDPR, WHOIS and ICANN. There's lots to cover, so let's dive right in. As we have been talking about for a number of months now, the EU's new General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) will become enforceable on May 25th. The ICANN community has been struggling with how GDPR will impact the WHOIS system. more

US Congress Re-Launches Treaty Talks on Internet Economy

Final echoes of the US Senate committee's questions of Facebook this week will only fade in the UN Security Council where, in a few years, Member States will adopt a treaty on regulation of the Internet Economy. By opening wide the door to questions on privacy, revenue, security and purpose, Congress showed its well-placed concern and signaled that others can too. more