In September 2017, I wrote an article [1] about the new domain extensions in German and got very good feedback and was asked to translate it into English in order to make it available for a broader audience. I wanted to comply with this request, but unfortunately, it took a while to revise and translate my article... In June 2011, ICANN gave the starting signal for about 1,400 new top-level domains (TLD) to make the existing namespace bigger and more diverse. more
UK Government says internet providers will be legally required to meet user requests for speeds of at least 10Mbps starting in 2020. more
Lately, the word blockchain is gaining a lot of attention from businesses, investors and governments, especially around how it could transform how we do business today. As the world looks up to Blockchain technology for radical transformations in many industries and sectors, I want to take a look at how it could help governance in Africa.
The African continent is plagued with corruption, bad governance, mismanagement and lack of accountability. more
Primary suppliers see sales go up. ADTRAN's sales in the most recent nine months were $445M, up from $399M the year before. Calix sold $372M, up from $327M. At analyst meeting this year, both said demand had picked up. Clearfield, a supplier of fiber optic gear, was up 8%. Pai claimed, "the impact has been particularly serious for smaller Internet service providers." It was a primary justification for his Net Neutrality decision. more
The success of the internet demonstrates that we now depend on network operators to assure that services like telephony work. The carriers are pushing back on neutrality because their business model is threatened by a level playing field. We should be encouraging innovative internet-native business models rather than working to preserve an industry threatened by innovation. more
The Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines on Thursday to repeal landmark 2015 rules, setting up a court fight over a move that could recast the digital landscape. more
Like the poetic prose of Bob Dylan, the reality of modern technology cannot be ignored: "the times they are a-changin'." Transitioning from the novelty of the Internet, society is embracing connected technology as the new digital frontier. Dominated by the Internet of Things ("IoT"), the future will be one of increased interconnection of wireless and computing devices in everyday objects, allowing these devices to send and receive personal data. IoT's limits appear boundless, extending from physical devices and home appliances to vehicles and medical implants. more
As I noted last month, this Friday, December 15, 2017, at 15:00 UTC is the deadline to nominate someone for the Internet Society's Board of Trustees. Anyone who supports the mission of the Internet Society is welcome to submit a nomination (for yourself or for someone you think should be considered). The Internet Society serves a pivotal role in the world as a leader on Internet policy, technical, economic, and social matters, and as the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have announced plans to coordinate efforts for online consumer protection following the adoption of the proposed 'Restoring Internet Freedom Order'. more
A look into the past reveals that continuous developments in weaponry technology have been the reason for arms control conventions and bans. The banning of the crossbow by Pope Urban II in 1096, because it threatened to change warfare in favour of poorer peasants, the banning of poisoned bullets in 1675 by the Strasbourg Agreement, and the Geneva protocol banning the use of biological and chemical weapons in 1925 after world war 1, all prove that significant technological developments have caused the world to agree not to use certain weapons. more
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) published a post today pointing out that the FCC continues to ignore the technical parts of a letter sent to it earlier this year by nearly 200 Internet engineers and computer scientists. more
Recently, a colleague in the Bellisario College of Communications asked me who gets a freedom boost from the FCC's upcoming dismantling of network neutrality safeguards. He noted that Chairman Pai made sure that the title of the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is: Restoring Internet Freedom. My colleague wanted to know whose freedom the FCC previously subverted and how removing consumer safeguards promotes freedom. more
As we enter the seventh round of the net neutrality fight, advocates continue to make the same argument they've offered since 2002: infrastructure companies will do massive harm to little guys unless restrained by strict regulation. This idea once made intuitive sense, but it has been bypassed by reality. ... When Tim Wu wrote his first net neutrality paper, the largest telecoms were Verizon, AT&T, and SBC; they stood at numbers 11, 15, and 27 respectively in the Fortune 500 list. more
The largest and most important global information infrastructure today by any measure is clearly the global mobile network and all of its gateways, services, and connected devices. That network is standardized, managed, and energized by a combination of the 3GPP and GSMA. The level of 3GPP industry involvement and collaboration today probably exceeds all other telecom, internet, and assorted other bodies put together... and then some. more
We've all heard too much about NN, which I've been reporting for 20 years. I support it because I don't want Randall Stephenson of AT&T deciding what I should watch on TV. The long-run effect is negative. The claims from some people who agree with me are ridiculous. "According to former FCC commissioner Michael Copps, ending net neutrality will end the Internet as we know it." Michael knows I respect him, but... more
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