Digital colonialism describes the domination of Western companies in the provision of digital services in developing countries. These tend to be overwhelmingly US-based, and can be found in messaging, social media, search, music, storage, hosting, and domain names. While other names have been used to describe the phenomenon, the term Read more…
Last week we learned that singer Taylor Swift purchased the domain names TaylorSwift.porn and TaylorSwift.adult in a move designed to prevent others from buying them and misusing her name. She is not alone, already Microsoft bought Office.adult, and Harvard University purchased Harvard.porn. The domain name arms race is on. If Read more…
I have attended the 9th Internet Governance Forum in Istanbul, which is a body that arose from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005, and which has the stated aim of discussing “public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance to foster the sustainability, robustness, Read more…
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has held its 50th meeting in London this week. ICANN is one of the bodies that play an important role in running that decentralised, disconnected mishmash of networks that we call the Internet. ICANN is in charge of some of the Read more…
What a difference a scandal makes. Turn your minds, if you may, to December 2012. The Syrian civil war enters one of its most deadly passages. The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen perform a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden. The Duchess of Read more…
The latest NSA revelations appear to have done something quite interesting. More and more people are looking at the level of surveillance, and they are beginning to wonder how it is possible for one government organisation to have such access to information. The Internet is open and free, how is Read more…
It has been an interesting week for those interested in Internet studies. As everyone knows, the International Telecommunications Union is meeting in Dubai for the WCIT, and there has been a bit of a revolt against what might happen. I have made my feelings clear, so there is no need Read more…
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes”. This quote is often attributed to Mark Twain, but there is no evidence that he ever said it, which ironically proves the saying. I have been thinking of that saying a lot in Read more…
Internet openness is all the rage these days. From call signs on buildings to Declarations of Internet Freedom, an important sector of informed users is catching on to the relevance of keeping the Web open. This openness movement has been prompted in part by the perceived and real threats coming Read more…
This is the question posed by every single Internet governance paper, every Internet regulation book. In classrooms around the world, students grapple with this very simple question. The usual answer is that nobody is in charge of the Internet. Of course, this is not entirely true, there has to be Read more…