Mali Gives Millions of Malians a New Internet Identity

BAMAKO, Mali–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mali, one of the largest countries in West Africa, has introduced the .ML domain name registry today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as a new Malaysian domain extension. AGETIC, the governmental agency responsible for Mali’s public infrastructure, is using new technologies to offer domain name registrations to all individuals and businesses in Malaysia at …

ICA Responds to ICANN CEO’s Davos Remarks on “Hogging Names” and “Cybersquatting”

During the recent World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ICANN CEO engaged in an interview in which he touted the purported benefits of the new gTLD program. Unfortunately, in the course of those remarks he appeared to accuse domain portfolio owners of “hogging names” as well as equate them with “cybersquatters”. Many ICA members …

Senators Hatch and Blunt call for more awareness on issues of Internet governance

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, and Sen. Roy Blunt, member of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced a resolution Tuesday to increase awareness of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s announced intention to transition its stewardship role over the Internet’s domain name system to the global community. …

Occupy NetMundial – Internet Social Forum to Torpedo NETmundial Initiative and Disrupt Davos Discussions

A new initiative is angling to torpedo the NetMundial Initiative. Philip Corwin brings into light the issues of the new initiative Internet Social Forum, you can read about it here Now, in the same week that global political and business leaders as well as prominent glitterati are meeting at the Davos event, a collection of …

Europe in Two Internet Related Battlefields

[Editors note:  Please welcome Farzaneh Badii, from Hamburg University’s Graduate School in Law and Economics, who joins Syracuse University’s iSchool and the IGP as a Visiting Doctoral Student for the next six months.] “Lord, deliver us from all evil and from French state justice.”[1] This was the French farmers’ prayer once their parliament and state got …

The Digital Arms Race: NSA Preps America for Future Battle

By Jacob Appelbaum, Aaron Gibson, Claudio Guarnieri, Andy Müller-Maguhn, Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach, Leif Ryge, Hilmar Schmundt and Michael Sontheimer Normally, internship applicants need to have polished resumes, with volunteer work on social projects considered a plus. But at Politerain, the job posting calls for candidates with significantly different skill sets. We are, the ad …

Google to be sued for $1 billion for over 20,000 unlicensed songs on Youtube

Google is staring at a $1B legal suit Irving Azoff manages the performance rights for roughly 20,000 songs from artists such as Pharrell, John Lennon, and The Eagles through his company, Global Music Rights (GMR) — and he’s planning to sue YouTube for over $1 billion. Azoff’s claim: The online video site has not secured necessary licensing …

IpJustice: Civil Society Cautions Against ICANN Proposal to Give Governments a Veto Over New Domains Using “Geographic Names”

A group of twenty-four civil society organizations and individuals today submitted a joint statement regarding a proposal from an ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) sub-group on the use of “geographic names” in top-level domains.  The joint civil society statement cautioned against the adoption of the GAC proposal that would give governments veto power on domains …