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TOTM Last week, the Internet Association (“IA”) — a trade group representing some of America’s most dynamic and fastest growing tech companies, including the likes of . . .
Last week, the Internet Association (“IA”) — a trade group representing some of America’s most dynamic and fastest growing tech companies, including the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon, and eBay — presented the incoming Trump Administration with a ten page policy paper entitled “Policy Roadmap for New Administration, Congress.”
The document’s content is not surprising, given its source: It is, in essence, a summary of the trade association’s members’ preferred policy positions, none of which is new or newly relevant. Which is fine, in principle; lobbying on behalf of members is what trade associations do — although we should be somewhat skeptical of a policy document that purports to represent the broader social welfare while it advocates for members’ preferred policies.
Read the full piece here.
TOTM Next week the FCC is slated to vote on the second iteration of Chairman Wheeler’s proposed broadband privacy rules. Of course, as has become all . . .
Next week the FCC is slated to vote on the second iteration of Chairman Wheeler’s proposed broadband privacy rules. Of course, as has become all too common, none of us outside the Commission has actually seen the proposal. But earlier this month Chairman Wheeler released a Fact Sheet that suggests some of the ways it would update the rules he initially proposed.
According to the Fact Sheet, the new proposed rules are…
TOTM Last week the International Center for Law & Economics and I filed an amicus brief in the DC Circuit in support of en banc review of the court’s . . .
Last week the International Center for Law & Economics and I filed an amicus brief in the DC Circuit in support of en banc review of the court’s decision to uphold the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order.
In our previous amicus brief before the panel that initially reviewed the OIO, we argued, among other things, that…
Presentations & Interviews We are now on the last step in transitioning oversight for Internet address and domain name functions from the US Government to global stakeholders, a . . .
We are now on the last step in transitioning oversight for Internet address and domain name functions from the US Government to global stakeholders, a transition that was anticipated 18 years ago when the US established ICANN. It’s said that “if you love something you have to let it go”, but some in Washington aren’t ready to let go of the unique role for US government in the domain name system.
Kristian Stout joined a panel at IGF-USA to discuss the impending the transition plan and new accountability mechanisms for ICANN, offering views on what Congress and the Administration should do next. Video of the panel is embedded below.
TOTM As we noted in our issue brief on the impending ICANN transition, given the vast scope of the problem, voluntary relationships between registries, registrars and . . .
As we noted in our issue brief on the impending ICANN transition, given the vast scope of the problem, voluntary relationships between registries, registrars and private industry will be a critical aspect of controlling online piracy. Last week the MPAA and registry operator Radix announced a new “trusted notifier” program under which the MPAA will be permitted to submit evidence of large-scale piracy occurring in Radix-managed top-level domains.
TOTM The lifecycle of a law is a curious one; born to fanfare, a great solution to a great problem, but ultimately doomed to age badly . . .
The lifecycle of a law is a curious one; born to fanfare, a great solution to a great problem, but ultimately doomed to age badly as lawyers seek to shoehorn wholly inappropriate technologies and circumstances into its ambit. The latest chapter in the book of badly aging laws comes to us courtesy of yet another dysfunctional feature of our political system: the Supreme Court nomination and confirmation process.
TOTM On Friday the the International Center for Law & Economics filed comments with the FCC in response to Chairman Wheeler’s NPRM (proposed rules) to “unlock” . . .
On Friday the the International Center for Law & Economics filed comments with the FCC in response to Chairman Wheeler’s NPRM (proposed rules) to “unlock” the MVPD (i.e., cable and satellite subscription video, essentially) set-top box market. Plenty has been written on the proposed rulemaking—for a few quick hits (among many others) see, e.g., Richard Bennett, Glenn Manishin, Larry Downes, Stuart Brotman, Scott Wallsten, and me—so I’ll dispense with the background and focus on the key points we make in our comments.
Our comments explain that the proposal’s assertion that the MVPD set-top box market isn’t competitive is a product of its failure to appreciate the dynamics of the market (and its disregard for economics). Similarly, the proposal fails to acknowledge the complexity of the markets it intends to regulate, and, in particular, it ignores the harmful effects on content production and distribution the rules would likely bring about.
TOTM Netflix’s latest net neutrality hypocrisy (yes, there have been others. See here and here, for example) involves its long-term, undisclosed throttling of its video traffic on AT&T’s and . . .
Netflix’s latest net neutrality hypocrisy (yes, there have been others. See here and here, for example) involves its long-term, undisclosed throttling of its video traffic on AT&T’s and Verizon’s wireless networks, while it lobbied heavily for net neutrality rules from the FCC that would prevent just such throttling by ISPs.
It was Netflix that coined the term “strong net neutrality,” in an effort to import interconnection (the connections between ISPs and edge provider networks) into the net neutrality fold. That alone was a bastardization of what net neutrality purportedly stood for, as I previously noted…
ICLE White Paper "It’s no surprise to anyone that illegal activity happens online. What may be surprising, however, is that one of the central figures in administering core Internet functions is deeply ambivalent (at best) about its role in preventing illicit online activity..."
“It’s no surprise to anyone that illegal activity happens online. What may be surprising, however, is that one of the central figures in administering core Internet functions is deeply ambivalent (at best) about its role in preventing illicit online activity.
Since 1998, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been the organization tasked by the U.S. government with overseeing the Domain Name System (DNS). The DNS is the system that enables domain names to resolve — meaning that when you type “google.com” in a browser address window you will reliably receive Google’s search engine each time. That reliability is a boon for Internet users, most of the time. But much mischief can be conducted through web sites, as well, and a system that reliably serves up these sites imposes costs on its users.
Take one recent example. In July 2015, a Bloomberg News piece from “bloomberg.market” indicated that Twitter was in talks over a $31B USD buyout. Naturally, the value of Twitter stock shot up before returning to normal. The problem, however, was that it was a totally fabricated event, one that the currently lax accountability regime underlying the DNS only makes easier.
One would think that ICANN would have effective procedures in place for removing (or otherwise sanctioning) domain names created or used for illegal purposes. However, even though it possesses contractual control over its registries and registrars (the entities responsible for managing and registering top level domains and domain names), the practical reality is that illegal conduct is rarely ever deterred by ICANN.
The consequences of ICANN’s non-action are evident. ICANN has refused to effectively deter content piracy on the Internet, and pirated content currently constitutes something on the order of 25% of Internet traffic. It has also overseen an inexorable increase in websites dedicated to phishing scams. As of December 2014, phishing occurred in 19% of the new gTLDs — and nearly two-thirds of the phishing occurred in just one gTLD (.XYZ). To date ICANN has steadfastly refused to take action despite the significant cost that its refusal — ostensibly rooted in its desire not to regulate Internet content — imposes on community members.
ICANN has an accountability problem.”
