The OECD just published a study that presents new insights into the role of Internet Service Providers in fighting the millions of infected machines that are currrently plaguing the Internet. The study discovered a remarkably concentrated patterns – just 50 ISPs account for about 50% of all infected machines worldwide. It also statistically determines some of underlying factors that explain why some ISPs perform better than others.
Outsourcing censorship: ICANN, Inc. insists on it!
ICANN’s staff is trying to reject key consensus recommendations regarding the censorship of new top level domains. The staff's “explanatory memo,” which tells us why it is trying to discard the decisions of a Cross-community Working Group, show a complete lack of interest in the freedom of expression implications of the new gTLD objection process. It focuses instead on how to lower legal and financial risks to the corporation. Outsourcing the decision to censor new top level domains to a “dispute resolution service provider” is considered by ICANN's staff to be a very important part of a “risk mitigation strategy.” “Without outside dispute resolution,” the staff wrote, “ICANN would have to re-evaluate risks and program costs overall.” What a startling admission! A conference call tomorrow (Monday, November 15) may be able to alter this. But the staff position fuels many of the concerns IGP and others have expressed regarding ICANN, Inc.’s status as an international institution. ICANN Inc.’s policy process looks out for its own interest as a corporation first and foremost, and lacks accountability because there is no requirement to follow the results of its own vaunted bottom-up processes.
ICANN will not restrict cross-ownership
At a special meeting November 5, ICANN's Board passed a resolution decisively resolving the controversy surrounding vertical integration of domain name registries and registrars. To our surprise, it not only resolved the issue correctly, but also with admirable simplicity.
A Non-profit Constituency? Or Trademark lawyers engaged in deceptive and confusing labeling?
A couple of trademark lawyers who work for nonprofits are trying to form a “new” constituency as part of the GNSO’s Noncommercial Stakeholders Group. They have filed a Notice of Intent to form what they call the “Not -for-Profit Organizations Constituency” (NPOC). That’s an interesting name for a couple of trademark lawyers to be attaching to their effort. Trademark law and policy is all about protecting consumers from confusing and deceptive labels. But this initiative seems designed to foster confusion. There is already a Noncommercial User Constituency in ICANN’s GNSO. How is any nonprofit organization that wanders into ICANN supposed to make sense of the difference between a “Not for profit organization constituency” and a “Noncommercial Users Constituency” – especially when their eligibility descriptions sound exactly the same? What’s going on here? We will tell you…
ARIN grants Comcast IPv4 “mega-allocation”
If you listen to the buzz, the day of ipv4 exhaustion is nigh and operators need to be migrating en masse to ipv6. The problem with the v6 evangelism is that it doesn't take into account the complex incentives at work in the adoption of ipv6. A recent allocation by ARIN of a /9 block, or approximately 8.4 million addresses, to U.S.-based network operator Comcast highlights this.
ICANN builds out its root server empire
ICANN has increased its number of root server instances by almost a factor of 10 since early 2010, according to data provided by root-servers.org. 40 instances of the ICANN-operated “L” root have been deployed; 20 of them were deployed in October alone. The “L” root now appears in every UN region (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania). Why is ICANN on an insfrastructure deployment tear? There may be a variety of reasons.
Dutch Police Inflates Bredolab Botnet Success by Factor of Ten, and Then Some
Last week, the Dutch police managed to shut down the “Bredolab” botnet. At least, that is what they claimed during the worldwide media coverage that followed. A few days later, while the police was still basking in the praise for its success, the botnet was resurrected. Embarrassing? Yes. Surprising? Not really. It highlights a fundamental misunderstanding about the fight against botnets. Contrary to what the Dutch police claimed and many people think, law enforcement cannot shut down botnets. It is important to understand why and what the implications are of this sobering thought.
Free online access to ITU resolutions
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) concluded its Plenipotentiary meeting in Guadalajara recently. The Plenipot, which happens once every four years, is the most important decision-making process for the 160-nation intergovernmental organization. For students of Internet governance, the Plenipot was notable for two things: 1) some movement toward acceptance of ICANN, and 2) some movement toward more open and accessible documentation of ITU resolutions, standards and other information.
The CIA: Stop Digital Proliferation! Destroy your computer now
A new essay in Harvard National Security Journal by Dr. Dan Geer, the Chief Information Security Officer of the CIA's venture firm In-Q-Tel, reveals how militarizing the internet puts the brakes on new business opportunities or innovations that might come from the internet. Geer argues that
“…the recent decision of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to wildly proliferate the number of top-level domains and the character sets in which domains can be enumerated is the single most criminogenic act ever taken in or around the digital world.” To security Taliban, any change is bad because it makes things less “secure,” but it is especially dangerous to expand access to internet resources. The more information technology people have in their hands, the worse the world becomes.
COICA amended, still threatens Internet security
Responding to a cacophony of opposing voices, citing free expression and global governance concerns, the proposed Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) has been slowed down for now. COICA is now scheduled to be taken up during the lame duck session following the November elections, which makes this “intergalacticly bad idea” still very dangerous. For those legislators who won't be returning there is nothing to lose, they might as well placate the well-funded and powerful intellectual property lobby behind it.
An amended version of the bill is now floating around. A comparison reveals that staffers are getting feedback from the network operators who will have to implement the process – namely ISPs and registrars. Changes have been made in an attempt to limit COICA's effects on operation of the global DNS. However, an under appreciated facet is how the bill's attempt to use Internet intermediaries for the purpose of enforcing intellectual property rights (IPR) could impact the Internet's security.
