Comments

A New Chinese Broadband Satellite Constellation

• Comment posted Oct 02, 2020 11:02 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  We are not really dealing with "the internet" here, but apart from that quibble, the jurisdictional and extraterritorial challenges of radiocommunication have for the past 100 years created incentives to establish one's own national system.  In the case of China,…

The TikTok Ban in Context

• Comment posted Aug 26, 2020 2:39 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  However, it seems futile to attribute any rationality to someone like Trump who - as even his family note - is totally narcissistic and unhinged.  The ultimate challenge going forward is dealing with duality of all personal communication networks for…

Holding Trump Accountable Under Public International Law

• Comment posted Aug 11, 2020 10:38 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Late breaking news. WTSA-20 has been postponed to convene 23 Feb - 5 Mar.  Thus, with reference to the last paragraph in the article, the USA delegation will be that of the new Biden Administration.  This is good.

Addressing Anticompetitive Behavior in Internet Standards Bodies

• Comment posted Jul 30, 2020 6:13 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The bases for a cause of action largely revolve around procedural and process issues.  Merits are substantive issues - factually and legally.  It is not apparent that the court ever got to merits.  Again, this paper is directed at the…

• Comment posted Jul 30, 2020 5:00 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The order only dealt with the Internet Society as a party and the claim against it.  The merits of Glassey's cause of action appear never to have been reached.  The collective costs of the litigation were certainly very significant.  The…

Senate Report on 5G: Recipe for Disaster

• Comment posted Jul 23, 2020 10:50 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Basically, the U.S. government players have been duped into believing that 5G is all about commodity radio boxes for the purposes grabbing more spectrum.  It is an age-old trick in Washington.  I experienced it for years in the FCC.  However,…

China Will Remember the U.S. Huawei War for a Generation

• Comment posted May 22, 2020 4:43 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  As harmful to the U.S. as your analysis indicates, the ultimate harms go far further on every level.  The only benefit is the pandering to Trump's ego.  Just as his stupidity if not depravity have cost millions their lives in…

The Internet Turbocharged Globalization

• Comment posted May 12, 2020 1:31 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The assertion that "a small minority does not have broadband access" seems an understatement. The Pew Report which pegs the number at 20-25 percent seems more accurate, and that is not a small minority. Dumping on the UN for "managing…

The Evolution of 5G

• Comment posted May 09, 2020 6:16 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  There is really only one authoritative articulation of 5G.  It is the ongoing work and specifications of 3GPP and related bodies, coupled with the implementation requirements of GSMA, CableLabs, 5GPPP and other operator organizations.  PR announcements and lobbying activity promoting…

ICANN and Attorneys General: Ends, Means and Unintended Ends

• Comment posted Apr 30, 2020 7:21 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  If Ethos is incorporated in Mauritius, a CIFIUS filing, review, and approval might be necessary.  Did that occur?

ICANN Independence and Non-Profits on the Net – Get it Right and Go Forward

• Comment posted Apr 28, 2020 10:06 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  1. The intellectual property assets, systems, and products were created and owned by the U.S. government and paid for my American taxpayers over a 30 year period.  Those assets were conveyed to ICANN pursuant to a Department of Commerce Public…

Reflections on the .ORG Domain Registry Sale

• Comment posted Apr 28, 2020 9:45 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  There appears to be a dedicated wiki site for the International Ad Hoc Committee which prepared and advanced the MoU.  The site has wayback links to many of the original website pages and documents.  Most appear to be there -…

ICANN and Attorneys General: Ends, Means and Unintended Ends

• Comment posted Apr 28, 2020 11:47 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  As my history of this subject in the CircleID article as well as the CRC Handbook chapter note, what we are dealing with here is a relatively trivial names and numbers registry activity long maintained as a government function that…

• Comment posted Apr 27, 2020 10:59 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  All legal persons are incorporated somewhere and are accountable under the law of the jurisdiction to its government authorities.  The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (C2121683) exists as a § 501(c)(3) domestic nonprofit corporation operating pursuant to its…

A Short History of Internet Protocol Intellectual Property

• Comment posted Apr 22, 2020 7:02 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  I appreciate your interest as well Patrice.  You and Bob certainly have contributed significantly to the field, and have been passionate in evangelizing your views. The challenge with this subject is that there were multiple parallel internet universes that have…

Dear U.S.A. – Observations on the Cyber Solarium Commission Report

• Comment posted Apr 05, 2020 4:22 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Having been involved with the creation of ICANN at the very outset, many of those who partook realized that they had basically created an organism whose primary characteristics were to intake enormous resources and propagate itself.  Those resources now amount…

• Comment posted Mar 31, 2020 9:54 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Can't say much more than what was said two weeks ago!

Why Are Internet Security Standards Badly Deployed and What to Do About It?

• Comment posted Mar 13, 2020 12:44 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  FBI notices are not issued frivolously.  The IGF is not setting a good example here.  Untrusted websites are responsible for numerous security/safety problems, and the flooding of the market with these kinds of certificates - usually free, with zero vetting…

• Comment posted Mar 12, 2020 5:13 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It is ironic if not amusing that the IGF site digital certificate for trust, simply says it is a website at CloudFlare.  IGF can't buy a better digital certificate that actually identifies them??  So much for implementing standards for a…

Truth in Web Digital Identity?

• Comment posted Feb 20, 2020 6:33 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The additional technique is essentially irrelevant.  It demonstrates that someone has control of the website. However, it provides zero information about who that someone is, or verification of that entity to any level of trust. The CA providers here need…

• Comment posted Feb 17, 2020 6:42 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The ISRG d/b/a Let's Encrypt paper as well as IETF and CABF records appear to indicate an intent to flood the market with free, automated, zero trust vetted PKI certs subsequently called "Domain Validated." The admitted goal was to further…

• Comment posted Feb 10, 2020 1:38 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The "no more secure or insecure" retort is well known here by those attempting to justify Let's Encrypt actions.  There are two problems with that justification.  One is that the evidence clearly does not support it.  The second is that…

Let's Have an Honest Conversation About Huawei

• Comment posted Oct 22, 2019 1:59 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Great to see people standing up to the Trump insanity here.

Not So Private Thoughts at IETF 105

• Comment posted Aug 07, 2019 2:45 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  thanks, tony r

Trump's Assault on 5G Standards Bodies

• Comment posted Jul 01, 2019 10:47 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  I have no direct or indirect personal or financial interest in Huawei or any other China company or institution. However, for more than forty years, I have manifested a prominent interest and significant involvement in the international system of collaboration…

5G Security Transparency

• Comment posted May 26, 2019 4:40 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The numbers in the table are "disaggregated" participation values.  A number of the 92 input contributions were joint submissions.  The table reflects a process of taking all 92 and breaking up the joint submissions and then adding up the resulting…

Trump Orders Cyberattacks by US Companies

• Comment posted May 25, 2019 5:57 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  As one of the South China Morning Post's technology writer points out, Trump is leading U.S. lemmings off the global telecommunications marketplace cliff - apparently leveraging latent racism and xenophobia.  Even after Trump admitted he was faking the Huawei scare,…

Making Voting Easy is Scaring the Life Out of Security Experts

• Comment posted May 25, 2019 5:44 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  As someone who was an engineer who was actually part of the Apollo 11 Launch Team in the LC39 LCC Firing Room, might I suggest that: 1) the engineering and operations teams had reduced the risks to reasonably low levels…

Researchers Demonstrate Serious Privacy Attacks on 4G and 5G Protocols

• Comment posted Feb 26, 2019 10:31 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Since the 5G Phase 1 radio interface had to accommodate the 4G specs, the exploits also continued.  A more fair review (and better reporting) would note that subsequent 5G releases that are fully 5G, address these vulnerabilities as explained in…

Banning 5G Equipment is a Foolish Strategy

• Comment posted Feb 18, 2019 9:35 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Huawei risk can be managed, say UK cyber-security chiefs The world should be following the lead of the UK here.

• Comment posted Feb 17, 2019 3:40 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Extraterritorial threats to communication networks are symmetrical and have existed for more than a hundred years.  They are what led to a series of intergovernmental conferences beginning in 1920 led by the U.S. to create a stable treaty-based regime that…

• Comment posted Feb 16, 2019 1:19 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Worth noting is that former GCHQ Director Hannigan has subsequently offered a similar view and underscored how responsible nations should proceed.  See Financial Times, "Blanket bans on Chinese tech companies like Huawei make no sense," 12 Feb 2018.

• Comment posted Feb 11, 2019 12:17 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The remark concerning "pre-deployment testing certifications" was intended to apply only to hardware and related configuration capabilities such as the existence of a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) presence, and not executing code.  The latter must be assessed by other means.

Creating TLS: The Pioneering Role of Ruth Nelson

• Comment posted Jan 25, 2019 4:28 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Although the GTE Government Systems Division in Waltham, Massachusetts, undertook subcontracted work for BBN, it was not started by BBN.  The Division began as a Sylvania group and bought by GTE.  As indicated, Telenet was started by BBN and subsequently…

Stop Using the Term "Open Internet"

• Comment posted Nov 29, 2018 12:00 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain Like Lukasik, I'm atoning for my sins.  In his case, for having approved TCP/IP development, in…

America Will Not Win the Global Race to 5G

• Comment posted Nov 28, 2018 1:42 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  This is an excellent point.  The short answer is that GSMA serves as the global collaborative body for operators and vendors for the mobile and 5G services.  The economics and interworking at a practical level - as well as many…

• Comment posted Nov 26, 2018 5:37 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  There are two additional very helpful reference sites maintained by the NFV and MEC Secretariats at ETSI - which serves as a cooperative global collaborative mechanism among the world's regional standards bodies - as it does for mobile networks (3GPP). …

Protecting Privacy Differently

• Comment posted Nov 13, 2018 5:32 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Hope the FTC and others worldwide pursue your suggestions, Steve.

Cyber Security Word Salad

• Comment posted Nov 08, 2018 1:22 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  For me, the subject is familiar territory on two fronts.  I was an engineer on the Apollo project at KSC Launch Complex 39 and part of the Firing Room team, and also for some years was the cybersecurity SME (Subject…

Over the Top Services at the ITU PP-2018: Considering the Pittsburgh Massacre

• Comment posted Oct 31, 2018 11:28 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The Internet Will Be the Death of Us, The New York Times, Frank Bruni, 30 Oct 2018. I Thought the Web Would Stop Hate, Not Spread It, The New York Times, Kara Swisher, 30 Oct 2018. On Instagram, 11,696 Examples…

Has Internet Governance Become Irrelevant?

• Comment posted Oct 27, 2018 12:42 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Good to see, Geoff.  However, the lack of comment to your article also suggests a diminished lack of interest in the topic. One of the problems from the outset was the use of the term "governance" by parties to describe…

ICANN's Rocky Beginning - When Friends Were Scarce

• Comment posted Oct 16, 2018 4:49 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Hi Mike, However, the friends it had were significant.  These included the U.S. White House at the highest levels, including the President's chief policy advisor, a public policy finding by NTIA, and the CEO of SAIC and its senior staff…

Trump's Outrageous ITU Elections Gambit

• Comment posted Sep 03, 2018 4:56 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The intent of my post was not to be dismissive of Ms. Bogdan-Martin's 25 years of excellent work in the ITU secretariats - like so many of the ITU's international civil servants who include my own former colleagues. The article…

The Impact of Rising Sea Level on Internet Infrastructure

• Comment posted Jul 25, 2018 11:36 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Not to quibble about semantics, but this is a problem faced by our network infrastructure.  The principal global focus on this subject for some time has been as expected at the ITU and related venues like the APT.  If you…

IETF and Crypto Zealots

• Comment posted Mar 08, 2018 6:53 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Thanks. Unfortunately, we have many layers of communications related challenges today. They are not so much new, as arising faster, on a larger scale, and more complex. The national (especially in Washington) and world news every day are also a…

U.S. Complaint to WTO on China VPNs Is Itself Troubling

• Comment posted Mar 06, 2018 7:43 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The conflicts of law in supporting these services and meeting divergent contractual and regulatory requirements both internationally and domestically are monumental and getting worse.

• Comment posted Mar 06, 2018 10:32 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It is not clear that some of the existing Y and X series standards don't have enough flexibility to accommodate a wide variety of VPN instantiations.  The standards were largely developed by U.S. and European providers and equipment vendors. However,…

Humming an Open Internet Demise in London?

• Comment posted Feb 28, 2018 11:49 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Yup, that's what the NRA says as well.  Indeed, the average user of that defensive technology in the U.S. is really paranoid and has lots of strong "armor." Some striking parallels.

• Comment posted Feb 28, 2018 11:40 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  A principal point of the blog article was that the result would be a further Balkanization among the internets.  Your assumption that some set of users in the U.S. apart from enterprise networks and mobile networks may be able to…

• Comment posted Feb 26, 2018 8:38 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  There are actually multiple Cisco positions.  Perhaps no surprise given the obvious controversy.  See https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-camwinget-tls-use-cases-00 It is difficult to poll "every reputable cryptographer in the world" much less parse the variables for that assessment A few simple searches suggest that…

• Comment posted Feb 26, 2018 12:15 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  If anyone doesn't like the treatment of issues, please click on the dozens of embedded links to what others have written on the same issues.  Or alternatively, use Mr. Google or Bing or whatever to discover the views expressed on…

Extraterritoriality

• Comment posted Jan 24, 2018 10:56 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  the warrant/subpoena was served on Microsoft Corporation at its headquarters in the State of Washington concerning an account that was "maintained, controlled, or operated" by Microsoft.  The court had jurisdiction over Microsoft.  The matter turns on whether authority existed to…

• Comment posted Jan 24, 2018 1:35 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Ms. Reding and others in Europe and here can certainly opine all they wish about their views on privacy and European law.  However, that does not alter the fact that the basic issue in the case as well as the…

• Comment posted Jan 23, 2018 10:47 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  However, it is unclear what the comment has to do with turning over emails concerning narcotics trafficking and importation for which a magistrate judge believed there was probable cause; nor with the larger challenge of protecting national infrastructure when it…

Montana Becomes First State to Require ISPs to Abide by Net Neutrality Principles Despite FCC Repeal

• Comment posted Jan 23, 2018 5:43 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  No State has the authority to institute such an order as it applies to service to the public.  The actual order is nothing more than terms of service for the State's purchase of its own services.  Any large enterprise customer…

The Meeting That Changed the DARPA Datagram Internet

• Comment posted Jan 16, 2018 10:24 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The total NSF monies allocated to the internet NREN program between 1989 - 1999 was $2.4 billion.  Most was allocated in the early years after 1989.  It is not clear what the ultimate sources of that money were.  The basic…

• Comment posted Jan 16, 2018 11:39 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  DARPA Director Emeritus Lukasik provided a comment noting that the sequence of positions and people involving the transition between Larry Roberts and Bob Kahn was more complicated than portrayed in the article, but are minor points compared to the thrust…

A Tipping Point for the Internet: 10 Predictions for 2018

• Comment posted Jan 14, 2018 10:16 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It is not clear what your are referring to here as "the internet" or why there is a "tipping point" of some kind. The ten developments raised are certainly some of the more significant developments among a larger set. Most…

Internet Governance Outlook 2018: Preparing for Cyberwar or Promoting Cyber Détente?

• Comment posted Jan 09, 2018 6:34 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The Dresden treaty was a multilateral not a bilateral treaty, and it was the provisions which continued and expanded upon over the decades.  If one actually analyzes it, it deals with digital internet interoperation and security and not the surrounding…

• Comment posted Jan 07, 2018 12:12 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The subjects of cyberwar and cyber détente as political-technical considerations have existed since nations first met to enable internet operation of their networks at Dresden in 1850 and crafted a multilateral treaty to deal with it.  The matter became significantly…

A Closer Look at Why Russia Wants an Independent Internet

• Comment posted Dec 20, 2017 3:06 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The basic problem here is that the term “internet” is an essentially meaningless abstraction used for marketing and political-economic purposes.  There are many datagram internets.  The one that occupies the I* groups and Washington political rhetoric is an instantiation that…

The Digital Geneva Convention Exists: Just Use It

• Comment posted Dec 20, 2017 1:21 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The topic here is intergovernmental agreements signed and acceded to by Nation States concerning cybersecurity. These agreements represent collective adjustments to their sovereignty.  Those agreements are also adjusted further by Declarations made as part of the signatory process, and afterwards…

• Comment posted Dec 19, 2017 12:17 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The focus here is on treaty instruments.  The telecommunication convention treaty instruments on cybersecurity have been around 167 years and encompasses all nations.  The ITU is the current permanent mechanism to support the cybersecurity treaty process. ICANN is a private…

A Closer Look at Why Russia Wants an Independent Internet

• Comment posted Dec 15, 2017 9:27 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The internet as a singularity has always been a myth.  There were many internets through the 1980s into the 1990s.  For some time, the concept of their integration was described as The Matrix - for which there was even a…

FCC Doesn't Understand How the Internet Works, Say Internet Pioneers in Open Letter

• Comment posted Dec 12, 2017 3:11 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It's sad to see some of the old boys using fading self-ascribed glory to whine to the FCC, "you don't understand." Just how arrogant do you need to be to sign as an "internet pioneer." They don't think that other…

Voluntary Reporting of Cybersecurity Incidents

• Comment posted Dec 05, 2017 5:06 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The article was published five years ago.  A quick observation is that the investigation of aircraft related incidents is profoundly more simple, and all the parties have similar strong incentives and relatively the same trust levels to exchange threat information…

New gTLDs and Concept of a Universal Directory

• Comment posted Nov 30, 2017 7:56 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It is mystifying why this would even be attempted when 1) it has nothing to do with "TEL" (assuming it is short for E.164 based international public telephony); and 2) there is a functioning .post domain that was created for…

• Comment posted Nov 29, 2017 9:22 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  History repeats itself as new generations come on the scene. This capability has been attempted many times before.  Even with the backing of national Administrations worldwide in simple times, the pursuits were a failure. The first instantiation was in the…

Transparency: The Internet's Only Currency

• Comment posted Nov 23, 2017 10:49 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  After reading your article, it seemed apparent that the problem here is one that has been around a long time with several contemporary manifestations.  One of those manifestations is the NetNeutrality gambit.  At the core, however, is the proclivity to…

Berners-Lee Talks Net Neutrality in Washington, "ISPs Should be Treated More Like Utilities"

• Comment posted Nov 21, 2017 4:27 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Inquiring legislators might ask Tim why major websites are not utilities as well. The large ones would certainly qualify as utilities - perhaps more so than ISPs.  Indeed governments around the world are contemplating this avenue.  Tim is treading in…

Google Now a Target for Regulation

• Comment posted Nov 14, 2017 1:41 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The reality here doesn't seem disputed.  The assertion is that you are paying for a portion of the ride, therefore the selection of hitchhikers is your choice.  There are also almost certainly constraints found in the customer service agreement with…

• Comment posted Nov 13, 2017 10:31 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It began 40 years ago and hasn't stopped.  Providers higher on the stack want a free ride on top of providers at lower layers.  Arguing for Title II based regulation to further the free ride (a/k/a NetNeutrality) is an unwise…

Weaponizing the Internet Using the "End-to-end Principle" Myth

• Comment posted Nov 13, 2017 6:48 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Today the proposition is rather problematic and subject to many constraints and caveats.  The FSB loves those kinds of innovation opportunities today. :-) It is clear from searches of patents, R&D;, standards activities, or any other metric, that one of…

• Comment posted Nov 13, 2017 4:59 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Ref. END-TO-END ARGUMENTS IN SYSTEM DESIGN. As the paper notes, it was prepared in the 1980s to deal with designs of distributed systems - especially the ARPANET which had just begun using TCP/IP at the time pursuant to the 23…

• Comment posted Nov 13, 2017 12:23 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Malware code content is easy.  Protecting consumers from fraud is easy.  Other content is less so.  Turning abstruse societal norms into technical admonitions seems inherently perilous, as is the converse.

• Comment posted Nov 13, 2017 12:03 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  See https://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/patient/current/maillist.html at See also Mr. Google (middlebox + security) or Google Scholar (middlebox + security) or Google Patents (middlebox + security)

• Comment posted Nov 13, 2017 11:50 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  No snub.  Just noting the context of the papers and counsel at turning them into legal or religious mantras for all time.

Enabling Privacy Is Not Harmful

• Comment posted Nov 06, 2017 12:38 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  We still live in a world where legal systems decide the difficult issues concerning what is allowed and who bears the risks.  Extensive legal controls apply and are available.  I'll provide a link to my treatise on Legal Controls on…

• Comment posted Nov 04, 2017 6:48 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Our legal systems are what they are.  I provided an outline to the existing ecosystem of legal controls in my article.  If you believe they should change, have at it.  In the meantime, it is those systems that provide the…

The FCC Robocall Proceeding: International Insularity

• Comment posted Oct 31, 2017 11:11 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Practicality is good.  However, it is not clear what the "5+ years" part has to do with anything.  Most international global industry telecommunications SDO standards (e.g., ITU-T, ITU-R, 3GPP, ETSI) get adopted in 18-24 months these days - generally shorter…

Net Neutrality 101: Why 'Title II' Doesn't Apply to Internet Transmissions

• Comment posted Oct 30, 2017 2:08 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  When the application of Title II to internet access was considered at the FCC in conjunction with Computer II, the Commission assumed jurisdiction but eschewed any Title II regulation.  At the time, I was part of the staff engaged in…

Legal Controls on Extreme End-to-End Encryption (ee2ee)

• Comment posted Oct 25, 2017 8:15 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  :-)

• Comment posted Oct 25, 2017 7:00 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Encryption is not binary (no pun intended) There are innumerable variables, which is in fact demonstrated by the current controversy to push from the IETF's TLS 1.2 to 1.3. The network operator has a right to manage the traffic transported…

• Comment posted Oct 24, 2017 6:59 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  In my ee2ee article, we are treating the completely cloaked transport of potentially harmful content (e.g., malware or terrorist instructions) using publicly available infrastructure and services between endpoints on that infrastructure.  The law has generally held that given a lawful…

• Comment posted Oct 24, 2017 5:16 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The issues here, however, are who gets to decide what is allowed on public infrastructures or as offerings, and how the risks are shared.  The answer to the first is Nation-States.  The answer to the second is our legal systems.…

Celebrating 167 Years of Public International Law for Cyber Security

• Comment posted Oct 11, 2017 12:05 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Chalk it up to jetlag and/or decaying neurons.

Jakarta Declaration Calls on Governments to Recognize Legitimacy of Encryption

• Comment posted May 11, 2017 8:17 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Without evidence?  In what universe? It is also apparent from CircleID's own record, in your own words, you seem to argue in your 346 trolling comments (to 4 short blogs) that adverse consequences don't matter and that unfettered networks are…

• Comment posted May 11, 2017 3:50 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  You may be more concerned about thought police.  However, most of the rest of the world weighs that balance differently - has they have for the past 117 years.  There isn't much new here.  And, by the way, the number…

• Comment posted May 10, 2017 9:29 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  We are dealing with systems of law here that include conflicts among multiple objectives and needs.  The same systems of law enabled public global internetworks for the first time via the 1988 Melbourne treaty.  Other instruments provide protections to journalists. …

• Comment posted May 10, 2017 1:50 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Lawful Interception is NOT just a demand placed on carriers by government.  It is any lawful basis for accessing electronic communication and there are a wide array of requirements to do so both public and private.  See Design Requirements Ecosystem. …

• Comment posted May 10, 2017 10:42 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The rather remarkable facts underlying the public international law provisions is the continuity of norms notwithstanding dramatically different technologies.  In many ways, the emergence of radiocommunication was more challenging than connectionless packet networks a/k/a internets.  The bottom line is that…

• Comment posted May 09, 2017 9:24 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  We can agree that journalists deserve protection.  The public international law of communication networks has been well established for the past 117 years.  Ref. the extensive list of citations and treaty instruments.  The broad array of adverse effects of communication…

• Comment posted May 09, 2017 2:46 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The right of Nation States to demand access to electronic communications unencrypted has existed in treaty instruments since 1850 when networks were first interconnected across borders.  It persisted in every related global treaty instrument since that time and exists today.…

While Cyberspace Is Entering an Era of Warring States, There Remains a Chance to Make a Difference

• Comment posted Apr 18, 2017 2:15 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The point that "state actors are often willing to compromise cyber issues for other geopolitical gains" seems noteworthy. The public international law relating to global networks has remained well established since 1850.  State sovereignty over electronic communications only evolves around…

Mend, Don't End, the IETF

• Comment posted Apr 13, 2017 12:13 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  For all the reasons articulated in my comments to Martin Geddes great reflective article, the IETF is what it is and unlikely to change.  If you want to focus on how networks actually work (or will work), you probably need…

The IETF's Job Is Complete - Should It Now Scale Up, Down or Out?

• Comment posted Apr 13, 2017 12:04 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Martin has capture exactly the state of affairs - perhaps being kinder to the IETF than is deserved.  The reality today is that 3GPP has so eclipsed all other industry collaborative standards bodies in all metrics, many of the rest…

U.S. Expresses Concerns Over China's Internet Regulatory Regime, In New Report

• Comment posted Apr 11, 2017 3:01 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  China has been in the lead here in attempting to bring about greater global cybersecurity in industry standards activities.  Their proposed implementations pretty much follow those guidelines and standards.  Trump should try doing even a modicum of what China has…

Encryption and Securing Our Digital Economy

• Comment posted Apr 08, 2017 12:42 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  What you are proposing is not lawful as an absolute, nor would the proposition ever be accepted by any rational government.  Since communication networks were first interconnected across national borders in 1850, one of the most persistent, unchanging norms in…

New Products, Old Regulations: The Example of HTS

• Comment posted Apr 07, 2017 12:08 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  As a one time satellite regulator, I'm curious as to what are those "right questions." It would also be helpful to provide a few links to HTS technical and operational references.  It appears the special sauce is the use of…

Blockchain of Things Goes Global at ITU-T Dubai Meeting

• Comment posted Apr 04, 2017 7:51 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The ITU-T is an intergovernmental organization and its materials are treated in most countries as publicly available.  So you could publish entire documents.  In the case of this article, quoting of paragraphs constitutes what is known as "fair use," and…

A Case for Further DNS Registrar Industry Self-Regulation

• Comment posted Mar 28, 2017 1:06 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  You can always create a construct where some system "worked." In the financial industry during the "big short" era, the system worked for the benefit of the large financial institutions who were feathering their own beds to the detriment of…

• Comment posted Mar 27, 2017 10:02 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Apart from the facts here that the registrar appears to have erred, there some fundamental juridical and public policy issues here.  The concepts of transparency and notice are universally accepted.  The rejection of unconscionable agreements is also firmly established in…

• Comment posted Mar 27, 2017 8:50 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Many thanks for all the many people who are providing support and assistance.  The domain is horseDVM.com - a site dedicated to the exchange of horse health information among equestrians and which maintained the HorseDVM(TM) brand for nearly five years. …

• Comment posted Mar 27, 2017 3:56 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It is factually accurate, and I have personally verified all the records.  The domain was on autopay and fully paid with a receipt.  It ensued as described, and the registrar staff did verbally apologize for the company's behavior. It also…

• Comment posted Mar 27, 2017 9:01 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  What makes Kelly's Case especially deplorable and impactful is that her business was modelled after WebMD(TM) for horses.  It is the principal site worldwide for the exchange of near real time horse health information within the equestrian community.  Extensive infographic…

Digital Geneva Convention: Multilateral Treaty, Multistakeholder Implementation

• Comment posted Mar 08, 2017 11:07 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The only real question is whether a cyber Titanic is likely to occur that has sufficient impact to produce some form of multilateral agreement.  The likelihood seems very low over the next four years.

Three Layers of China's International Strategy on Cyberspace

• Comment posted Mar 08, 2017 11:03 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Your article is balanced and thoughtful.  China's international strategy in many ways is consonant with it having now assumed the global multilateral leadership role with a certain wisdom and graciousness.

Digital Geneva Convention: Multilateral Treaty, Multistakeholder Implementation

• Comment posted Mar 07, 2017 4:01 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  These kinds of conventions have been batting around for the past 20 years since Abe Sofaer drafted his comprehensive convention.  The Cybercrime Convention was difficult to achieve, but remains essentially unimplemented except as a domestic model.  Arguably, some of what…

CFR Report: Reversing IANA Transition by Trump Administration Would Be a Grave Mistake

• Comment posted Feb 24, 2017 9:42 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  This analysis seems bogus for several reasons. First, Trump and fellow White House occupiers have a lot more to be concerned about than ICANN - which disappears in the noise.  Second, Trump from present indicators could care less about the…

Trump, Tides, and the US Tech Sector

• Comment posted Jan 31, 2017 8:44 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The insane inhabitants infesting the White House and their friends on the Hill have forgotten the list of specialized agencies and collateral damage.  The entire list can be found here. ICAO and ITU were mentioned but consider the others.  Impacted…

Must IETF, ICANN Stop Meeting in the U.S.?

• Comment posted Jan 31, 2017 7:55 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Any organization which holds itself out as a global international organization is obviously fundamentally impacted by the Trump Executive Order.  The inability for its members from the affected Muslim countries (or even born in those countries) to reach meetings in…

The International Telecommunication Union and the Trump Administration

• Comment posted Jan 26, 2017 4:52 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It appears as if the installed head of the U.S. Executive Branch is actually moving ahead with the "Harding scenario" described in my article per the NY Times leaked Executive Order.  We'll see how that works with radio waves and…

China Sets Up $14.6 Billion Internet Investment Fund

• Comment posted Jan 25, 2017 1:17 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  With Tyrant Trump issuing an edict to shut down the communications of some U.S. Federal agencies and employees with the public, perhaps China can also come to their aid. Mirror sites for U.S. Federal agencies and protected communication channels could…

An Ethnographic Study - What are Cubans Doing Online?

• Comment posted Jan 25, 2017 1:08 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It seems ironic.  One of the first things that Tyrant Trump institutes is a shut down Internet communications of Federal agencies and employees - calling it a "pause on public communication." Pretty soon Cuba will be offering refuge for U.S.…

Help Us Answer: What Will the Internet Look Like in 10 Years?

• Comment posted Jan 23, 2017 10:32 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Today's announcement from China stands in stark contrast to what has occurred in the U.S. which is engaging in the opposite action - essentially eliminating all leadership roles - Internet or otherwise.  Trump's idea of infrastructure investment is a worthless…

China Sets Up $14.6 Billion Internet Investment Fund

• Comment posted Jan 23, 2017 10:06 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  This announcement stands in stark contrast to what has occurred in the U.S. which is engaging in the opposite action - essentially eliminating all leadership roles - Internet or otherwise.  China has put its money where its mouth is in…

How Bubbles Decide Elections

• Comment posted Nov 16, 2016 12:16 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Thanks for writing this, including the consideration of remedies. Jacob Weisberg's fascinating article on "Bubble Trouble” in Slate in 2011 on the occasion of Pariser's book's publication, looks like it foretold what has unfolded over the past year - especially…

The FCC Under Trump - A Long Shot

• Comment posted Nov 14, 2016 3:54 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Anything can happen days Helpful observations. As you summarize, anything is possible.  Hopefully others provide their views as we collectively watch and endure the Ship of State careening about. The good news is that the FCC historically has been one…

ITU's Wise WTSA DOA Decision

• Comment posted Nov 07, 2016 3:14 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  ITU is an intergovernmental organization, and positions of the Russian and MEA blocs versus the U.S. and most of the remainder of the world on the marketing of DONA's products and services are a matter of record.  What was effectively…

Selling DONA Snake Oil at the ITU

• Comment posted Nov 01, 2016 12:31 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The big picture here is that an all but dead intergovernmental standards body and its secretariat are pandering to Russia and a couple of MEA countries in embracing an all but dead fantasy technical platform in the expectation that they…

• Comment posted Oct 31, 2016 12:46 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It is good to see the WTSA-16 finding that CNRI appears to have violated ITU's IPR rules in its initiating and pursuing Rec. ITU-T X.1255 without disclosing the highly relevant patent it held that formed the basis for the work. …

• Comment posted Oct 27, 2016 6:28 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  So when exactly did the patent expire?  The USPTO and Google patent databases seem to show it as active, and it wouldn't normally expire until next year.  In addition, the Handle System Public License Agreement seems to still include reference…

• Comment posted Oct 27, 2016 11:17 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The concern here is not the technology.  If after 20 years, the platform has remained largely unused, it does not seem like much of a threat.  CNRI, DONA, and whoever else you choose to partner with are certainly free to…

• Comment posted Oct 26, 2016 10:47 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The interventions of the United States and other Administrations in the ITU's highest continuing management body, The Council, expressing concerns regarding the appropriateness of CNRI, The DONA Foundation, and ITU official actions over the past several years are a matter…

• Comment posted Oct 26, 2016 7:30 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  When private companies such as The DONA Foundation or CNRI seek to leverage an intergovernmental organization such as the ITU, obtain Secretariat marketing resources, and engage the political support of Member Administrations in Russian, Arab, and African regions to pursue…

ICANN the Machine...

• Comment posted Aug 15, 2016 11:00 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Many organizations and people share your concerns.  There are several obvious potential actions possible once the transition is complete. One is for a group of plaintiffs to bring a cause of action against ICANN in the U.S. under antitrust law. …

A Journey Into the Surreal: The GOP Protecting "Internet Freedom" With 25 Friends

• Comment posted Aug 15, 2016 1:29 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Yes, IANA as the secretariat for the IETF is responsible for the registration of all the many hundreds of "names and numbers" established by its RFC specifications. Among those specifications are those for DNS and for IP addresses.  For the…

How the Clinton "Village" Transformed Internet Paradigms: Together Making a Difference

• Comment posted Aug 04, 2016 11:43 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Mr. Crocker's comment about OSI being a lost cause is important, and he adds substantial additional information, especially the "three sins." At various levels, most of the OSI Internet was failing in the marketplace even as the new Clinton Administration…

Can Trump's Twitter Account be Deleted Under the New EU Hate Speech Code?

• Comment posted Jun 12, 2016 7:30 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Let's see if a global groundswell can be created

IETF's Descent Into the Political Rabbit Hole

• Comment posted Jun 02, 2016 6:04 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Hi Christopher, This is not the IETF that many people bought into.  With this said, a lot has changed over the past 20 years.  It is no longer clear what, if anything, the IETF is the prime source for.  It…

• Comment posted May 28, 2016 10:50 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Perhaps one way to exit this seemingly endless loop is to invite readers interested in any of these issues to simply do a Google search to find very large numbers of materials and dialogs at almost any level of desired…

• Comment posted May 28, 2016 4:38 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Just two clarifications.  The reference an anarchy has two connotations here.  A certain technical anarchy has always been part of the IETF's DNA since its early DARPA days - by design. The intent was to generate new ideas as a…

• Comment posted May 28, 2016 4:25 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  That is one of the most incredulous alternative recitations of what is generally regarded as one of the Internet's most infamous misadventures.  Despite our divergent perspectives here, we can probably have a little fun and policy exploration with a 20th…

• Comment posted May 28, 2016 12:21 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Dave, It goes without saying that we have different constructs and views on these developments and issues.  It is also good to see the dialogue such as it is.  I also trust that these matters will be resolved in some…

• Comment posted May 27, 2016 8:04 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  What is impressive is the assertion that the latest article written by a group of folks with a well known political-technical agenda they have been pursuing for years, is cited as the definitive finding on the subject.  Next time you…

• Comment posted May 27, 2016 7:19 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  On the matter of Keys Under Doormats, the answer is simple.  It is a nice academic exercise similar to many similar ones - almost always motivated by ongoing political developments on which they have their own views.  However, those keys…

• Comment posted May 27, 2016 5:19 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  I'm having somewhat the same problem in your direction, Dave.  Let's ascribe this divergence as we have so many times over the decades to different backgrounds, conceptualizations, and weighing what is relevant, and agree to disagree.  As to your two…

• Comment posted May 27, 2016 2:42 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  A good overview, Brett.  You forgot the preface to your quote, however, which is "we reject kings, presidents, and voting." One could write an entire book on the history of the IETF as a political instrument.  Indeed, in the early…

• Comment posted May 27, 2016 2:22 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It is preposterous to suggest "that's not political." To stand up world's most notorious cyber criminal at meetings and build RFCs and an institutional agenda around his stolen materials is about as political as it gets.  Especially when the result…

• Comment posted May 27, 2016 12:00 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Brian, you are conveniently ignoring RFCs 7258 and 7624 - which take this topic to an entirely new level of political activism and consequences.  Taking stolen classified information and developing an entire program of activities based on defeating capabilities is…

• Comment posted May 26, 2016 11:33 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The IETF's following the Snowden agenda and facilitating end-to-end encryption of everything without providing for access to stream information, exposes IETF leadership to considerable penalties. Bonding with Snowden has significant risks for the IETF and its leadership.  The insurance amounts…

• Comment posted May 26, 2016 9:58 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  I'm sorry you read the article negatively, Dave.  We obviously characterize the same facts differently - as we have for decades. It is not unexpected.  Perhaps also not unexpectedly, I've received multiple notes strongly concurring with the article.  Different circles…

Head of UK Intelligence Agency Says Tech Companies Should Provide a Way Around Encryption

• Comment posted Mar 15, 2016 11:05 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  A good timely piece and a sage request from the Director.

Celebrating the ITU's Anniversary with "Abandonment"

• Comment posted May 14, 2015 12:25 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  There are several hundred ITU Groups within its organization structure.  Those groups dealing with radiocommunication and a few dealing with extending legacy technologies are active and useful for the participants.  Companies in those markets, including those in the West, participate…

We Have a Paradigm for Surveillance That's Broken, Fit Only for the Analogue Past

• Comment posted Nov 12, 2013 12:50 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Essentially all nations have been engaging in widespread electronic surveillance since the first bit moved across a network in the 1840s.  The conversion to digital transport occurred in the 1970s.  What we have now is simply a traitorous theft of…

IETF Looking at Technical Changes to Raise the Bar for Monitoring

• Comment posted Nov 07, 2013 1:12 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  ...to see what powers the IETF spokespeople sometime ascribe to the organization.  In the real world, it is providers and vendors who implement capabilities pursuant to their needs, the commercial marketplace, and the many government requirements that exist in every…

Google DNS to Be Discontinued in Brazil Ahead of New Law

• Comment posted Nov 07, 2013 1:03 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Brazil should have learned from Europe.  Their last attempt to skew global provisioning architectures to achieve some perceived data protectionism (which originate in going after IBM in the 1970s), ended up stunting their growth and viability in the global marketplace. …

Brazil Pushing Plans for Local Internet Data Storage Amid U.S. Spying

• Comment posted Nov 07, 2013 12:54 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Brazil is Latin America's leading provider of electronic surveillance systems, and hosts the region's annual surveillance trade show.  Looks like they are trying to boost their local/regional market at the expense of their domestic public users.

Core Internet Institutions Abandon the US Government

• Comment posted Oct 16, 2013 4:55 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Let's see.  It is getting close to the seventeen year anniversary of the famous 1997 IAHC MoU.  It was a formal agreement to move the functions of all these organizations dealing with names and numbers under an ITU aegis.  The…

23 Countries Ahead of U.S. in Internet Usage According to ITU Broadband Report

• Comment posted Oct 01, 2013 7:32 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The ITU Broadband Report and its variants over the decades have always been a joke.  For several years, my staff at the ITU was responsible for putting this material together, as it was mandated by the ITU's principal political forum. …

The Importance of Contributing to the ITU CWG-Internet Open Consultation by 1 August 2013

• Comment posted Jul 23, 2013 12:09 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It seems rather demeaning to any country to suggest that the CWG-Internet is "the one venue such governments feel comfortable in." It also seems like a bit of a delusion to think that dialogue in that venue will substantially mitigate…

• Comment posted Jul 23, 2013 12:14 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Council Working Groups are often the way ITU Council's dispose of political matters that have no solutions.  It's "mere existence" in the real world is not significant.  With 193 Nation States of rather diverse proclivities and flavors, odds are that…

• Comment posted Jul 22, 2013 1:03 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  How about a third option - no one cares about the ITU Council Working Group. In fact, most ITU Council Working Groups have virtually no participants and do nothing.  It is a problem common to the ITU in general.

Calling Stumps at WCIT: Win, Lose or Draw?

• Comment posted Dec 28, 2012 6:44 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Enjoyed reading your summary, Geoff.  Not surprisingly, our views are rather similar.  My prognosis for the future can be found here. The reality is that the Group of 89 who signed the results have, together with a lame-duck, failed, Secretary-General,…

WCIT-12 Disappoints, More Work to Be Done

• Comment posted Dec 23, 2012 3:08 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  I will stand by my original comment. We can agree to disagree.

• Comment posted Dec 18, 2012 12:11 am PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Hi Paul, As opposed to Hamadoun, I welcome alternative views, including yours. However your response here deals only with feeling attacked rather than any substance. I'm also hardly the first person to express dismay at your appearing to be used…

• Comment posted Dec 17, 2012 11:16 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Hi Paul, Surely you cannot be oblivious to having been used for the past several months by Hamadoun as an industry spokesman for this views.  Conversely, virtually no opposing views to his seem to be encouraged, much less appear on…

• Comment posted Dec 17, 2012 8:18 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Glad to see you still trying to prop up Hamadoun, Paul, but no sale. This was a treaty instrument that should not even exist, and it was stuffed with innumerable provisions that remain completely unacceptable.  The fact that almost every…

WCIT Off to a Flying Start

• Comment posted Dec 04, 2012 9:52 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Hamadoun has largely driven the agenda here for the past ten years.  How do I know?  I worked with his staff along the way.  He is definitely not simply an orchestrator of member state wishes.  On the Internet takeover, he…

• Comment posted Dec 04, 2012 7:07 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Surely you jest on Hamadoun.  I was part of his own advisory committee and worked inside the ITU-T process for some years.  Please provide something other than a bald assertion about "counter-factual accusations." As to transferring the technical work to…

• Comment posted Dec 04, 2012 2:47 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  I purposely avoided being there.  Having run the secretariat for the last WCIT, and understanding the processes, it is frankly more effective not to be there.  My analysis of both WTSA and WCIT thus far is that Russia, Hamadoun, and…

• Comment posted Dec 04, 2012 12:12 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Paul, your comments here that are so aligned with Hamadoun's misinformation leads one to ask the obvious question - are you consulting for the ITU?  The WCIT is getting off to a devastating start by any reasonable analysis.

The Only Winning Game at the WCIT

• Comment posted Nov 21, 2012 6:46 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Yes.  The ITU itself has no authority to do much of anything except to run meetings and webservers.  It has zero enforcement authority or even role in mediating disputes.  It is left to Member States to make decisions.  There are…

• Comment posted Nov 18, 2012 5:52 pm PST — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Thanks.  Yes Member States can (and often do) opt out.  This can be done by 1) not signing the resulting instrument, 2) entering a Declaration or Additional Declaration at the time of signing that explains what obligations are accepted or…

The Great ITU Internet Heist

• Comment posted Oct 30, 2012 3:03 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  As someone who was part of the original NSF oversight committee as well as the birth of ICANN, I've been a critic of ICANN.  Unfortunately, the environment is an imperfect one with intractable challenges and balancing of interests.  In retrospect,…

The London Process Arrived in Budapest: Another Travel Circus for the Internet Community?

• Comment posted Oct 26, 2012 9:23 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Well written overview of yet another venue set up by yet another set of players to cover mainly political topics that are scattered aross many others today.  Your theme questioning value seem sage. By the way, this does NOT arise…

Is the WCIT Indeed Wicked?

• Comment posted Oct 01, 2012 2:58 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  As WCIT-12 has emerged as a potential debacle because of Hamadoun's own machinations, he has switched to the consensus theme and saying things like "he would not support any voting on conflicting elements. He said that this was not the…

What to Say About the Treaty on the ITRs: Crib Notes

• Comment posted Sep 28, 2012 11:49 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  Here's some additional crib notes: http://blogs.computerworld.com/it-industry/20993/wcit-12-just-say-no Having run the WCIT-88 secretariat, the assertion that there isn't enough time to do serious mischief is perhaps naive.  The existing draft text provides considerable cause for concern.  The sheer folly of the ITR…

RIPE NCC is Reaching the Last /8 of IPv4

• Comment posted Sep 26, 2012 1:49 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  It's great to see the RIPE Labs research related to IPv6, Mirjam.  However, what seems missing is any mention of the now large-scale LISP implementations and the related effects on IPv4/6 usage - especially in the cloud computing environment.  Cisco's…

Metrics of Major Standards Bodies

• Comment posted Aug 31, 2012 6:55 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The ITU-T 136 member number is current associate members.  The total number of members should be 351.  The number as well as the involvement have, however, fallen dramatically - particularly for major industry players.  This is reflected especially in attendance…

Do Agencies Already Have the Authority to Issue Critical Infrastructure Protection Regulations?

• Comment posted Aug 21, 2012 12:00 pm PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  The FCC has long had authority pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 and subsequent enabling legislation to protect critical communications infrastructure.  In the radio sector, it has exercised that jurisdiction rather extensively.  In the non-radio arena, its actions have…

Privatizing the ITU-T: Back to the Future

• Comment posted Aug 18, 2012 11:45 am PDT — by Anthony Rutkowski
  One of the purposes of the paper is to portray all the ways in which the ITU-T has essentially ceased to exist, as well as the historical fact that for the first third of its existence it was private.  IETF…