Is it time to privatize .US?
The US government has issued a Request for Information” (RFI) regarding the maintenance and management of the .US top level domain. Dot US is a country code domain (ccTLD) in a country dominated by generic top-level domains. Unlike the…
The Traditional Media’s Role in Sculpting Truth: the Originator Profile and Unfair Election Reports
As the global community grapples with various regulatory frameworks and policy recommendations put forward by states, social media companies, and academia, the pivotal role of traditional media and journalists often slips under the radar. The article discusses information integrity efforts…
Public and Private Power in Internet Content Regulation: ICANN and Registry “Voluntary” Commitments
Is censorship something that only happens when state actors do it, or can private actors engage in it as well? That crucial Internet governance debate is taking place in two venues: The U.S. Supreme Court, which will rule on two…
The Dutch in the grip of Internet nationalism
The Netherlands has a reputation for being a liberal, broad-minded place that is open to the world. Its scholars in Internet governance have emphasized the need for a globally recognized “public core” of the Internet. But apparently the virus of…
Fragmenting the Web: The EU’s Identity Power Play
The Internet Governance Project has signed on to a Joint statement of scientists and NGOs in opposition to Article 45 of the European Union’s eIDAS (Electronic IDentification And trust Services) regulation. Security researchers, digital rights groups and industry all oppose…
AFRINIC Receivership: How Resilient is Internet Governance?
The African Network Information Center (AFRINIC), one of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) pivotal to the operation of Internet infrastructure, has been moved into receivership by Court Order from the Bankruptcy Division of the Supreme Court of Mauritius, as…
The Technical Community and Internet Governance: A Response to the Costerton-Curran-Wilson letter
As participants in – and long-time supporters of – the governance model of ICANN and the regional Internet registries, we were puzzled by a recent blog post by three leaders of these important institutions. Sally Costerton is the interim CEO…
The Big Question Facing ICANN’s Contractual Governance Regime
ICANN never ceases to pose fascinating issues in global governance. At ICANN 77, held in Washington DC June 12 – 16, a dramatic debate took place about ICANN’s proper scope of authority. Some interest groups (mainly Registries and GAC) want…
The Narrative: VLOPs and VLOSErs; .NET Renewal; Stablecoins
1 May, 2023 Who’s a VLOP and who’s a VLOSER? Alibaba, Amazon, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Wikipedia are among the entities that have been designated “Very Large Online Platforms” (VLOPs) by the European Commission. Google search and Bing have…
ICANN’s Accountability and Transparency: A Retrospective on the IANA Transition
Editors note: On the 5 year anniversary of the IANA transition, a group of people began collaborating on this report. It is being released in conjunction with ICANN 75 in Kuala Lumpur Keith Drazek, Verisign Jordan Carter, auDA Wolfgang Kleinwachter,…