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.
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.
New Paper: Building a new governance hierarchy: RPKI and the future of Internet routing and addressing
It's likely the most important governance issue you've never heard of. The resource public key infrastructure (RPKI) and efforts to secure the Internet's routing system could have a profound effect on the future of the internet. A new paper by the IGP attempts to broaden awareness of this issue by...
Challenges facing the US in global cybersecurity and governance
The US General Accounting Office has released a new report which provides an overview of US government involvement and the challenges it faces in global Internet security and policy. Cataloging the breadth and scope of departmental and agency efforts to engage in multiple issues and institutions, it paints a picture of a government struggling to identify a cohesive strategic approach to Internet governance.
“Kill Switch” Bill: Ramifications for the DNS root zone?
S.3480, The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, introduced by Sens Lieberman, Collins and Carper quietly passed committee last week on a voice vote and is now scheduled for debate on the US Senate floor. The controversial, nearly 200-page bill which amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 has been criticized by civil liberties and industry groups alike, who say it grants the President the ability to order operators of “covered critical infrastructure” to disconnect parts of the Internet. Our reading of the bill agrees with these general criticisms. We are also concerned with specific effects on the Internet’s DNS and possible extraterritorial effects of the legislation.
NTIA's NOI on signing the root goes mostly unnoticed
Perhaps it's summertime blues, DNSSEC-fatigue, or simply recognition of fait accompli, but the comment period for NTIA's notice of intent to proceed with the final stages of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) implementation in the authoritative root zone has passed with only a handful of comments submitted. (although there seems to be some fishing going on for support) Root server operator Autonomica, registry operators Nominet and Neustar, AT&T, as well as Paypal and Connotech were generally supportive of the action and congratulatory toward NTIA, VeriSign and ICANN. However, one commenter criticized that the “US government crypto culture tainted the detailed arrangements.” Paypal offered its support, but with a caveat.
.EU registry asks: Who owns the Internet?
Call for Papers: 5th Annual Symposium of Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet)
The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) is seeking submissions of research about Internet Governance to be presented at the Fifth GigaNet Annual Symposium, on 13 September 2010, held one day before the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF), in Vilnius, Lithuania. GigaNet is a scholarly community that promotes the development of Internet Governance as a recognized, interdisciplinary field of study and facilitates informed dialogue on policy issues and related matters between scholars and governments, international organizations, the private sector and civil society. Interested scholars should submit abstracts of research papers no later than July 15th, 2010. GigaNet is interested in receiving abstracts related to Internet Governance themes, especially those containing innovative approaches and/or emerging research areas related to the following topics.
The Magnificent Seven
They were seven – And they fought like seven hundred!
With less than a week to go before the opening of ICANN's DNSSEC root key generation ceremony, there is a roaring debate occurring among the technical community whether or not the list of Trusted Community Representatives (TCRs) should be publicly revealed in advance. The TCRs were selected by ICANN to participate in the generation of the keys that will be used to digitally sign the DNS root zone file keyset, providing a single trust anchor for authenticating a global, secure DNS.
