The Asymmetrics, the WEF, ICANN, Brazil, and the ‘Little Red Book’ of Multistakeholderism

Few weeks ago, candid minds did wonder whether Brazil would challenge the asymmetric US governance over Internet, or be fooled by the ‘Asymmetrics‘, or even accept to be fooled for other ‘good’ reasons, since president Dilma Rousseff called for a rebalancing of Internet power structure and a full stop to US global surveillance and spying …

Verizon Transparency Report reveals 164,000 subpoenas, 1,500 wiretaps

As expected, Verizon has released its 2013 Transparency Report, and the company’s data shows the US is extremely interested in its network. Last year, Verizon received more than 320,000 requests for customer information from US law enforcement agencies. Verizon was hit with more than 164,000 subpoenas and nearly 71,000 legal orders. Among those orders were …

German justice minister Heiko Mass seeks to further delay implementation of EU data retention laws

Germany is to further delay its implementation of the Data Retention Directive despite facing potential financial penalties of more than €300,000 for each day it fails to transpose it into national law, according to media reports. The country previously implemented the 2006 Directive but a court in the country ruled in 2010 that it was …

Viewing where the Internet goes: Vinton Cerf & Robert Kahn

When Edward J. Snowden, the disaffected National Security Agency (NSA) contract employee, purloined tens of thousands of classified documents from computers around the world, his actions—and their still-reverberating consequences—heightened international pressure to control the network that has increasingly become the world’s stage. At issue is the technical principle that is the basis for the Internet, …

EU’s patience is running out, as massive antitrust fines loom over Google

Summary: The European antitrust chief is tapping is foot. He’s still not at all happy with Google. Google’s latest settlement package from October still isn’t enough to appease regulators, who are eyeing a $5 billion fine or a partial block of its business in the 28 member state bloc as a backup last resort. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia …