In December 2018, a bill on the "stable operation" of the Russian segment of the Internet was introduced and got the title “Sovereign Runet" in mass media and among the public. It was adopted after 5 months later, despite doubts about the technical feasibility of its implementation. The law is very ambitious in its intent to simultaneously control...
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is showing that it can be intimidated by governments. Such capture can only lead to more politicization of the domain name system and encourage more geopolitical tension over Internet governance. It is never the multistakeholder process that creates such problems, it...
DPI system to filter traffic is uncovered At the end of 2018, Russian legislators introduced the bill that got the “sovereign RUnet” title because of its attempt to insulate the Russian segment of the Internet from external threats. Among other provisions, the bill requires all Russian network operators to install...
This year's Canadian IGF was quite nostalgic. Its approach was similar to some of the past United Nations Internet Governance Forum. A couple of years ago at the UN Internet Governance Forum, the narrative that shaped the human rights discussions was more about our rights on the Internet than the...
Not a day goes by without hearing that Russia wants to nationalize the Internet, fragment the Internet or block its citizens' access to the global Internet. Just yesterday, media sources announced that Russia will be testing its Internet shut down capabilities, which is a rather inaccurate account of Russia’s move...
The most recent World Internet Conference/Wuzhen Summit (WIC-Wuzhen) took place in Wuzhen China from November 7-9 of 2018. This was the fifth iteration of an event intended to provide “an international platform for China and the world to communicate” and a “Chinese platform for sharing and co-governing the Internet.” WIC-Wuzhen...
December 14 2018 will be remembered for striking news about a new bill submitted to Russia’s State Duma: "On amendments to some legislative acts of the Russian Federation." Behind the meaningless title there are a bunch of amendments to the laws 126-FZ "On communications," and 149-FZ "On information." According to the...
Next week comes the UN Internet Governance Forum, and alongside it, the French government’s noble project of a Paris Peace Forum. The conjunction of these events has led to a proliferation of cyber norms declarations. As nice as all these calls for good behavior in cyberspace are, they inspire a sense of...
At the beginning of October, the Observer Research Foundation conducted the 5th CyFy Conference on technology, security and society in New Delhi. The composition of speakers invited to the panels signaled that India is more willing to hear from the western world than to promote its own agenda. However, this...
“Keep right on lying to me. That's what I want you to do.” ― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms Most liberal internationalists, particularly in the United States, are thoroughly committed to the idea that the development of cyber norms is the key to resolving inter-state conflicts in cyberspace. This is the...
“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.”
