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CircleID news briefsGoogle Asks U.S. Government to Allow Transparency for Its National Security Request DataIn an open letter published today, Google has asked the U.S. Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for more transparency regarding national security request data in light of the NSA data collection controversy. The letter, signed by David Drummond, Google's Chief Legal Officer, states in part: "We have always made clear that we comply with valid legal requests. And last week, the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged that service providers have received Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests. Assertions in the press that our compliance with these requests gives the U.S. government unfettered access to our users' data are simply untrue. However, government nondisclosure obligations regarding the number of FISA national security requests that Google receives, as well as the number of accounts covered by those requests, fuel that speculation. We therefore ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures — in terms of both the number we receive and their scope. Google's numbers would clearly show that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made. Google has nothing to hide." Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Internet Governance, Law, Policy & Regulation, Privacy Categories: Net coverage
NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm Amidst ControversyAs privacy advocates and security experts debate the validity of the National Security Agency's massive data gathering operations, the agency is putting the finishing touches on its biggest data farm yet. The gargantuan $1.2 billion complex at a National Guard base 26 miles south of Salt Lake City features 1.5 million square feet of top secret space. High-performance NSA computers alone will fill up 100,000 square feet. Read full story: NPR Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Data Center, Privacy Categories: Net coverage
UNESCO Director-General on Linguistic Diversity on the Internet: Main Challenges Are TechnicalIrina Bokova, Director-General, UNESCOEURid, the .eu registry, in collaboration with UNESCO, in November of last year released the 2012 World report on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) deployment. It updated previous year's study, Internationalised Domain Names State of Play, which was published in June 2011 and presented at the 2011 United Nations Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi, kenya. Today, Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO has released a statement concerning the linguistic diversity on the Internet stating: "UNESCO's experience and the 2012 study of the use of internationalized domain names undertaken with EURid show that the main challenges are technical. Obstacles lie with Internet browsers that do not consistently support non-ASCII characters, with limited e-mail functionality, and with the lack of support of non-ASCII characters in popular applications, websites and mobile devices." Below is an excerpt from the 70-page EURid-UNESCO 2012 report: This year, the data set for this study is expanded from 53 to 88 TLDs, and includes 90% of all domain names registered as at December 2011, albeit that the data set is not complete for every parameter. The World Report includes case studies on the ccTLDs for the European Union, Russian Federation, Qatar, Saudi arabia, Egypt and the Republic of korea. Where an existing registry has launched an IDN ccTLD (for example, .sa and ????????.) these are considered as two separate entities for the purpose of the report. Part 1 of the World Report on IDN deployment sets out a background to IDNs and a timeline. It considers progress in supporting IDNs in email and browsers. It then reviews the IDN applications in ICANN's programmes to create new TLDs. A comparison of growth rates of IDN registrations versus general registrations is made within European registries and usage rates are compared amongst .eu and .?? IDNs and benchmarked with other TLDs. Case studies follow, on the European Union (.eu) ccTLD, and country case studies on the Russian Federation, Qatar, Saudi arabia, Egypt and the Republic of korea. Also noteworthy is the included foreword in the report by Vint Cerf (excerpt below) on the historical adoption of simple Latin characters in the early days of the Domain Name System (DNS). Cerf writes: "For historical reasons, the Domain Name System (DNS); and its predecessor (the so-called "host.txt" table) adopted naming conventions using simple Latin characters drawn from the letters a-Z, digits 0-9 and the hyphen ("-"). The host-host protocols developed for the original aRPaNET project were the product of research and experimentation led in very large part by English language speaking graduate students working in american universities and research laboratories. The project was focused on demonstrating the feasibility of building a homogeneous, wide area packet switching network connecting a heterogeneous collection of time-shared computers. This project led to the Internetting project that was initially carried out by researchers in the United States of america and the United kingdom, joined later with groups in Norway, Germany and Italy, along with a few visiting researchers from Japan and France. The primary focus of the Internetting project was to demonstrate the feasibility of interconnecting different classes of packet switched networks that, themselves, interconnected a wide and heterogeneous collection of timeshared computers. The heterogeneity of interest was not in language or script but in the underlying networks and computers that were to be interconnected. moreover, the Internet inherited applications and protocols from the aRPaNET and these were largely developed by English language speakers (not all of them necessarily native speakers). The documentation of the projects was uniformly prepared in English. It should be no surprise, then, that the naming conventions of the Internet rested for many years on simple aSCII-encoded strings. The simplicity of this design and the choice to treat upper and lower case characters as equivalent for matching purposes, avoided for many years the important question of support for scripts other than Latin characters. as the Internet has spread across the globe, the absence of support for non-Latin scripts became a notable deficiency. For technical reasons, support for non-Latin scripts was treated as a design and deployment problem whose solution was intended to minimise change to the domain name resolution infrastructure. This was debated in the Internet Engineering Task Force more than once, but the general conclusion was always that requiring a change to every resolver and domain name server, rather than changes on the client side only, would inhibit deployment and utility. This led to the development of so-called "punycode" that would map Unicode characters representing characters from many of the world's scripts into aSCII characters (and the reverse). This choice also had the salient feature of making unambiguous the question of matching domain names since the punycoded representations were unique and canonical in form. This design is not without its problems but that is where we are at present." IDN introduction timeline – Source: EURid-UNESCO World report on Internationalised Domain Names deployment 2012 (Click to Enlarge) The full report can be downloaded here in PDF here: EURid-UNESCO World report on Internationalised Domain Names deployment 2012 Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: DNS, Domain Names, Multilinguism, Top-Level Domains Categories: Net coverage
NSA PRISM Program Has Direct Access to Servers of Google, Skype, Yahoo and Others, Says ReportThe National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian. The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says. Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Privacy Categories: Net coverage
Akram Atallah Named Head of ICANN's New Generic Domains DivisionAkram Atallah – Named Head of ICANN's New Generic Domains DivisionIn a post today, ICANN's CEO, Fadi Chehadé, has announced the creation of a new division within ICANN, called Generic Domains Division, in order "to handle the tremendous increase in scale resulting from the New gTLD Program." Akram Atallah, who is currently the Chief Operating Officer (COO), will become divisional President of the Generic Domains Division that will include gTLD Operations, DNS Industry Engagement, and Online Community Services. Susanna Bennett, a financial and operational executive in technology services, will be joining ICANN as the new COO, filling Akram's position, starting July 1st. Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: ICANN, Top-Level Domains Categories: Net coverage
ISOC Funds 11 Projects that Enhance Internet Environments in Underserved RegionsEach year, a number of projects around the world receive funding from the Internet Society to do everything from connecting Sri Lankan farmers with up-to-date sustainable agriculture information, to teaching ICT skills to at-risk youth in Africa, to working with local engineers to further their IPv6 implementation knowledge. These projects are planned and brought to life by Internet Society members.The Internet Society today announced funding for 11 community-based Internet projects that will enhance the Internet ecosystem in underserved communities around the world. The Community Grants are awarded twice each year to Internet Society Chapters and Members. Recipients receive up to US$10,000 to implement their projects. The 11 projects funded in this round of grants will:
The next application round opens in September. Additional information is available here on the Community Grants Programme and these winning projects. Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Access Providers, Broadband Categories: Net coverage
Michele Neylon, Blacknight CEO Elected as Chair of Registrar Stakeholder Group of ICANNMichele Neylon, Blacknight CEOMichele Neylon, CEO of Blacknight, announced today his election as Chair of the Registrar Stakeholder Group of ICANN, the first European to ever hold this position. The Registrar Stakeholder Group (RrSG) is one of several Stakeholder Groups within the ICANN community and is the representative body of domain name Registrars worldwide. It is a diverse and active group that works to ensure the interests of Registrars and their customers are effectively advanced. The chair, in consultation with the executive committee and members, organises the work of the Stakeholder Group and conducts RrSG meetings. The chair often confers with others in the ICANN community on Registrar-related policy and business issues, and is the primary point of contact between the RrSG and ICANN staff. Neylon has previously served as the Secretary to the RrSG and is the only European member of the executive committee. Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Domain Names, ICANN Categories: Net coverage
France Drops Its Internet "Three Strikes" Anti-Piracy LawFrance has put an end to its most extreme measure of its notorious "three strikes" anti-piracy law which came into effect in 2009. Cyrus Farivar reporting in Ars Technica: The law is better known by its French acronym, Hadopi. In the last few years under the law, the Hadopi agency famously set up a system with graduating levels of warnings and fines. The threat of being cut off entirely from the Internet was the highest degree, but that penalty was never actually put into place. "Getting rid of the cut-offs and those damned winged elephants is a good thing. They're very costly," Joe McNamee, of European Digital Rights. Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Law Categories: Net coverage
Switzerland Overtakes Romania as Top IPv6 AdopterAccording to recent statistics by Google, Switzerland has achieved the top for IPv6 adoption, passing Romania which topped the charts for nearly a year. Jo Best reporting in ZDNet: IPv6 adoption stands at 10.11 percent in Switzerland — the highest penetration of any country, according to stats from Google, which takes a snapshot of adoption by measuring the proportion of users that access Google services over IPv6… It's been suggested that the sudden spike in Switzerland's IPv6 adoption has been down to Swisscom, the country's biggest telco with around 55 percent of the broadband market and 60 percent of mobile, moving to adopt it. Comparison of IPv6-Enabled Web Browsers in Different Countries (Source Google / Visit Chart Page) Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: IPv6 Categories: Net coverage
European ccTLDs Passed 64 Million Domains, Growth Slower, Reports CENTRCENTR, the European ccTLD organization, has published its biannual statistics report on the state of the domain name industry with a European ccTLD focus. From the report: "European ccTLDs closed April 2013 with just over 64 million domains under management. Over the 12 months preceding, overall net growth was 6.7% — an increase of around 4 million domains. This growth however, is a lower rate compared with that of the same period in the year before. This could be most likely explained by factors such as the maturing ccTLD market in Europe (particularly among the larger Operators) as well as the ongoing financial crisis. Renewal rates remain consistent over the past 3 years at around 79% on the whole and actually increasing marginally in some zones."
Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Domain Names, Top-Level Domains Categories: Net coverage
US Should Take More Aggressive Counter-Measures On IP Theft, Including Use of MalwareA bipartisan Commission recently produced a report titled, "The Report of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property". Karl Bode from dslreports.com writes: The almost-respectfully-sounding Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (read: the entertainment industry) has come up with a new 84 page report (pdf) that has a few curious recommendations for Congress. Among them is the request by the industry that they be allowed to use malware, trojans, and other countermeasures against pirates. That includes the use of so-called "ransomware," which would allow the entertainment industry to lock down your computer and all of your files — until you purportedly confess to downloading copyrighted materials." Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Law, Malware, Policy & Regulation Categories: Net coverage
Video Dominates Internet Traffic As File Sharing Networks Overall Traffic Continues to FallVideo continues to be the trend to watch as devices and tablets cater to higher definition content with larger screen sizes enabling the market for longer form video on mobile, reports Sandvine in its latest Internet traffic trends report. "The 'home roaming' phenomenon, the concept of subscribers voluntarily offloading mobile traffic onto Wi-Fi networks, has continued. This combined with increased consumption of real-time entertainment on mobile networks globally, and the doubling of Netflix traffic on mobile networks in North America, suggests that users are getting comfortable with watching longer form videos on their handheld devices." Other findings include: • Apple devices (iPads, iPhones, iPods, AppleTVs, and Macs) represent 35% of all audio and video streaming on North American home networks • YouTube accounts for over 20% of mobile downstream traffic in North America, Europe and Latin America • Netflix mobile data usage share doubled in the last 12 months in North America Follow CircleID on Twitter Categories: Net coverage
Google Plans Wireless Access to Remote Regions Using High-Altitude Balloons and BlimpsGoogle is reported to be building huge wireless networks across Africa and Asia, using high-altitude balloons and blimps. The company is aiming to finance, build and help operate networks from sub-Saharan Africa to Southeast Asia, with the aim of connecting around a billion people to the web. To help enable the campaign, Google has been putting together an ecosystem of low-cost smartphones running Android on low-power microprocessors. Read full story: Wired News Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Access Providers, Mobile, Wireless Categories: Net coverage
Bloomberg on Netflix as World's Biggest User of Cloud ComputingNetflix is arguable one of the world's biggest users of cloud computing, renting all its computing power from Amazon Web Services, the cloud division of Amazon.com, which runs its own video-streaming service that competes with Netflix. Ashlee Vance from Bloomberg reports: "Netflix has more than 36 million subscribers. They watch about 4 billion hours of programs every quarter on more than 1,000 different devices. To meet this demand, the company uses specialized video servers scattered around the world. When a subscriber clicks on a movie to stream, Netflix determines within a split second which server containing that movie is closest to the user, then picks from dozens of versions of the video file, depending on the device the viewer is using. At company headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif., teams of mathematicians and designers study what people watch and build algorithms and interfaces to present them with the collection of videos that will keep them watching." Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Cloud Computing, Data Center Categories: Net coverage
Hundreds of Syrian Domains Seized As a Result of Trade Sanctions"In apparent observation of international trade sanctions against Syria, a U.S. firm that ranks as the world's fourth-largest domain name registrar has seized hundreds of domains belonging to various Syrian entities, including a prominent Syrian hacker group and sites associated with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad," reports Brian Krebs. "The apparently coordinated action ended with each of the site's registration records being changed to include Web.com's Florida address, as well as the notation 'OFAC Holding'." Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Domain Names Categories: Net coverage
Syrian Internet Back After 19-Hour BlackoutThe internet in Syria appears to have returned after a nationwide blackout knocked the country offline for more than 19 hours. Monitoring company Renesys noted signs of activity at around 14:30 GMT (17:30 local time) on Wednesday. Local state-run media had reported earlier that a "fault in optical fibre cables" was to blame for the blackout. However, experts dismissed this explanation as "unlikely". Read full story: BBC Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Access Providers Categories: Net coverage
Google Adopts 'Palestine' Label for the Region's Search PageGoogle has changed the tagline on the homepage of its Palestinian edition from "Palestinian Territories" to "Palestine". The change, introduced on 1 May, means google.ps now displays "Palestine" in Arabic and English under Google's logo. Google spokesman Nathan Tyler, in a statement given to the BBC on Friday, said: "We're changing the name 'Palestinian Territories' to 'Palestine' across our products. We consult a number of sources and authorities when naming countries." ... "In this case, we are following the lead of the UN, ICANN, ISO and other international organisations." Read full story: BBC Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Internet Governance, Top-Level Domains, Web Categories: Net coverage
CERN Recreating First Webpage to Commemorate 20th AnniversaryA team at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) has launched a project to re-create the first web page. The aim is to preserve the original hardware and software associated with the birth of the web. The initiative coincides with the 20th anniversary of the research centre giving the web to the world. Read full story: BBC Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Web Categories: Net coverage
Arrest Made in Connection to Spamhaus DDoS CaseAccording to a press release by the Openbaar Ministerie (the Public Prosecution Office), a dutch man with the initials SK has been arrested in Spain for the DDoS attacks on Spamhaus. Brian Krebs reports: "A 35-year-old Dutchman thought to be responsible for launching what's been called 'the largest publicly announced online attack in the history of the Internet' was arrested in Barcelona on Thursday by Spanish authorities. The man, identified by Dutch prosecutors only as 'SK,' was being held after a European warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with a series of massive online attacks last month against Spamhaus, an anti-spam organization." Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: Cyberattack, Cybercrime, DDoS, Law, Security, Spam Categories: Net coverage
ICANN Releases 5th Round of Initial Evaluation Results - 169 TLDs PassMary Iqbal writes to report that ICANN has released the fifth round of Initial Evaluation results, bringing the total number of applications that have passed the Initial Evaluation phase to 169. ICANN is targeting completing Initial Evaluation for all applicants by August 2013. To learn more, see: http://www.getnewtlds.com/news/Fifth-Round-of-Initial-Evaluations.aspx Follow CircleID on Twitter More under: ICANN, Top-Level Domains Categories: Net coverage
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