A debate is occurring on the ARIN PPML whether or not to remove needs analysis from small address transfers. Draft policy 2014-14, originally authored by an individual affiliated with an IP address brokerage, proposes For transfers larger than a /16 equivalent or for recipients who have completed a needs-free transfer in the prior...
ICANN's Expert Working Group (EWG) on Whois and privacy, which published its final report today, has unfortunately continued a long tradition of failing to find consensus between privacy advocates and business interests. The business interests see coerced publication of domain name registration data as an invaluable aid to brand protection...
ICANN has concluded its call for public input concerning its proposed IANA transition draft process and scoping document. The main takeaway from this input? ICANN's proposed draft process and scoping document have been thoroughly beaten up by the community. The call for input and feedback was facilitated by the creation...
Guest blog by David Johnson I join many others in commending Brazil for a successful NetMundial meeting. The shared sense of commitment to a free and open internet was tangible. Experimental processes opened up new ways of engaging more people in the multi-stakeholder process and preserving the transparency of efforts...
The Brazil meeting, the Netmundial, has succeeded in producing an outcome document that commands international legitimacy. Among governments, only Russia, Cuba and India explicitly distanced themselves from the outcome. Given the speed with which the process was put together and the need for process innovations to aggregate the comments of...
When the U.S. Commerce Department announced that it would end its control of the domain name system root, it called upon ICANN to “convene the multistakeholder process to develop the transition plan." Many people worried about ICANN’s ability to run a fair process. As an organization with a huge stake...
Washington D.C. is abuzz with activity concerning NTIA's IANA transition announcement. Last week saw a hearing with the House Energy & Commerce Committee and a discussion at the Hudson Institute, this week brings another hearing with the Judiciary Committee as well as a NetCaucus briefing. So far, three bills have been proposed. The first is H.R....
The U.S. Commerce Department announcement that it will end its unilateral control of the DNS root stimulated a great deal of debate and discussion during the Singapire ICANN meeting March 21 - 27. Thanks to the IGP proposal, structural separation of ICANN and IANA is a much-discussed option in the...
As if on cue, a statement has emerged from the I* organizations concerning the IANA functions transition. [1, 2, 3, 4] Unfortunately, the statement outlines a plan to simply give ICANN the IANA functions; it considers accountability an afterthought. The statement, circulated in the last few days on IETF and...
In all the excitement about the IANA transition, it seems that many people, including us, have overlooked a critical fact. As far as we can tell, the NTIA is only talking about eliminating or transitioning its own “authorization” function in the contract with ICANN. Apparently, it is not also talking...
“In characteristically rigorous fashion, Mueller’s outstanding book punctures the alarmist myth of Internet fragmentation and helps us to understand what is really at stake as nations and other groups vie for power over the Internet.”