Author: Staff Writer

‘We Are Losing the Fight for Internet Freedom’

Staff Writer
MTN Zambia

By: John Eggerton Continuing to sound the alarm about international efforts to sssert “command and control,” FCC commissioner Robert McDowell plans to tell Congress that aggressive action is needed to stem that tide. “We are losing the fight for Internet freedom,” he plans to tell members of the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday (March 12). “Unless defenders of Internet freedom and prosperity act quickly, boldly and imaginatively, this tragic trajectory will become irreversible,” he says, according to his prepared testimony for an FCC oversight hearing in the committee. source

Read More

THE OBJECTIONS FILED BY THE INDEPENDENT OBJECTOR

Staff Writer

On 12 March 2013, the Independent Objector (IO) has lodged 24 objections against new applied-for gTLDs before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Acting solely in the best interests of the public who use the global internet, in full independence and impartiality, the IO is limited to filing objections on the grounds of Limited Public Interest and Community.  Following his exchanges with some applicants for new gTLDs, as part of the Initial Notice Procedure, he remained convinced that, for some applications, an objection was still warranted on the Limited Public…

Read More

Twitter in Pyongyang: how North Korea got the mobile internet

Staff Writer

“Hello world from comms center in #Pyongyang.” That Twitter missive, sent Monday from Koryolink’s main service centre in downtown Pyongyang using my iPhone, marked a milestone for North Korea: it was believed to be the first tweet sent from a mobile phone using the country’s new 3G mobile data service. Later, as we were driving through Pyongyang, I used my iPhone to snap a photo of a new roadside banner referring to North Korea’s controversial 12 February nuclear test while the Associated Press’s chief Asia photographer David Guttenfelder uploaded an…

Read More

Confronting a new Cold War – on the Internet

Staff Writer

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posed the problem precisely: “How do you get tough with your banker?” The exchange was with another diplomat, but the topic was well known: How does the United States stop China from cyberattacks on American businesses, universities and all levels of governments? How do you stop a country intent on disrupting your commerce and your communications when it is a major trading partner, an ally of countless corporations and the nation’s major lender? source

Read More

The Internet Needs a Plan B

Staff Writer

LONG BEACH, California — Danny Hillis is one of the earliest internet users. He registered the third domain name ever, Think.com (“I thought, so many interesting names, maybe I should register a few other names? Nahh that wouldn’t be very nice.”) Clutching a gray book about an inch thick on stage, Hillis described those early days. “This is everyone who had an internet address in 1982,” Hillis told the crowd at TED 2013 on Wednesday. “It had your name, address and phone number. You were actually listed twice, because it…

Read More

The Generic Domain Name Opulence.com Hit With UDRP

Staff Writer

The domain name Opulence.com has been hit with a UDRP. With almost 8,000,000 references in Google opulence is a dictionary word that has been registered since at least 2000 according to Domaintools.com The domain name was owned until recently by  Opulence Communications Ltd of the UK with an expiration date of 2018. Suddenly in early 2013 the domain name whois information was gone and the domain name no longer resolves. There are 8  trademarks for the term Opulence filed with the USPTO. Neither the complainant nor the domain holder is…

Read More

ICANN publishes domain name disputes list

Staff Writer

ICANN has published a list of domain names that their owners, or applicants to new domain names, are disputing with others because of potential confusion among web users on grounds of similarity. ICANN has published a list of domain names that their owners, or applicants to new domain names, are disputing with others because of potential confusion among web users on grounds of similarity. The list, containing hundreds of domain name sets, has been put together by ICANN’s “string similarity review” for applications submitted as part of the “New gTLD…

Read More

Amazon pushes for cloud dominance; will ICANN give in?

Staff Writer

Amazon is on a land grab mission. Is the industry going to sit back and let it call the shots over the .cloud domain? The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has many roles; coordination of Internet Protocol address space and the management of the Top-Level Domain (TLD) name space amongst them. If one application that falls within the latter remit gets the go ahead, ICANN might yet end up being best known as the organisation that sold the cloud to Amazon. source

Read More