Did China Just ban 12,000 words from the internet

An report has appeared that China has successfully managed to ban 12,000 words it finds politically offensive from use around the world. The global ban applies to words used in domain names registered through Los Angeles-based registry XYZ.com with suffixes of .xyz, .college, .rent, .protection and .security. According to Wall Street Journal, XYZ.com said China …

Online Freedoms: How does your Country rank?

Freedom House’s 2015 Freedom on the Net report has been released and offers a stark, and concerning, view on the current status of online freedoms. Out of the 65 countries assessed, the report concludes that Internet freedom in the world has declined for the fifth consecutive year. Governments that had already expanded their arsenal of …

Internet Pioneer Paul Vixie says ICANN’s job is to serve the public, not caving in to demands from the companies

Dr Paul Vixie, a pioneer of the internet’s domain name system (DNS), has lashed out at the creation of hundreds of new top-level domains, ranging from .dog to .horse, and .cool to .porn, labelling them a money grab and a mistake. Vixie was speaking at the Ruxcon information security conference in Melbourne on Sunday about …

EFF: South Africa’s Draft Online Internet law is Africa’s Worst Cyber Censorship legislation

According to a south African’ internet blog, The Draft Online Regulation Policy proposed by the Film and Publication Board (FPB) is far-reaching and absolute in its censorship, with little clarity on practical implementation. This is according to commentators on a recent Carte Blanche insert about the Internet censorship which will accompany the bill. The FPB published …

Senators Thune, Schatz warn ICANN Board not to stymie accountability demands as it jeopardizes IANA transition

US Senators Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and colleague Brian Schatz [D-HI] have once again written to the ICANN Board concerning interference of the accountability steps and proposals to the IANA transition as it would jeopardizes IANA transition. The ICANN Board has twice rejected proposals that would improve board accountability and the ability of the multistakholder …

DCA Trust Slams AUC Commissioner of Infrastructure’s interference letter to ICANN Geographic Panel

The CEO of DCA Trust has written a cautionary letter to the ICANN following an unsolicited letter by the Africa Union Commissioner of Infrastructure, Elham Ibrahim to the independent geographic names evaluation panel on 29th August 2015 following the July 2015 ruling where DCA Trust successfully fought and won against ICANN for the .africa handling. …

Bekele fires back at Elham’s letter of intervention to ICANN Geo-Panel

DCA Trust has fired back in a detailed response to the letter by AUC Commissioner AU Commissioner, Dr. Elham Ibrahim insisting that it “amounts to inappropriate interference designed to undermine the objectivity and independence of the GNP.” Bekele has also quoted several parts of the applicant guide book which gives restrictions to applicants on how …

Data Transfer Pact Between U.S. and Europe declared Invalid by EU Court

Europe’s highest court on Tuesday struck down an international agreement that allowed companies to move digital information like people’s web search histories and social media updates between the European Union and the United States. The decision left the international operations of companies like Google and Facebook in a sort of legal limbo even as their …