Is there any hope for the Internet Governance Forum?

Created in a burst of exuberance about the contributions of multi-stakeholder dialogue to Internet governance, the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has gradually lost its momentum. The 2002-2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) created the IGF to overcome national governments’ inability to agree on global Internet governance. It...

Getting “Feisty?” ARIN claims ownership of IP address registration data

The Whois database shows which organizations have been assigned which Internet address blocks. Maintaining that registration data is the Regional Internet Registries’ most important function. For many years, ARIN has made all of its Whois data available in “bulk” form for “Internet operational or technical research purposes.” Now, suddenly, without...