The Internet in China: A New Normal?
by Konstantinos Komaitis – September 1, 2015
Full Article as .PDF
The Great Wall of China is not just an amazing structure; its role and purpose are equally fascinating. Built over two centuries, the main purpose of the Great Wall was to protect China from its enemies and invaders, especially the […]
Internet Architecture as Proxy for State Power
By Laura DeNardis, Ph.D. – August 15, 2015
Full Article as .PDF
Internet Freedom in the Age of Internet Control
The Internet is no longer just a communication system. It is also a control system in which more objects than people are connected to the network. Society is moving from a […]
Internet Infrastructure & IP Censorship
By David G. Post – August 1, 2015
Full Article as .PDF
Many scholars and other observers of developments in Internet governance, law, and policy have commented upon an unusual and important phenomenon that has become more widespread in recent years: using control over access to critical portions of the Internet’s technical infrastructure […]
ICANN Accountability Deficits Revealed in .AFRICA Panel Ruling
By Robin D. Gross – 16 July 2015
Full Article as .PDF
“Fortress ICANN” No Longer Able to Shield Itself from Accountability
In an important test of ICANN’s primary accountability mechanism, its Independent Review Process (IRP), the organization has been handed a stinging blow over its mishandling of the bid for […]
Today, IP Justice submitted comments, together with ICANN’s Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG), the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), and several other organizations and individuals concerned about ICANN’s proposal to restrict access to privacy protections for domain name registrations.
Read the comments submitted from NCSG, IP Justice, and others here.
See the many other comments submitted by concerned Internet […]
1 July 2015
To: comments-whois-accuracy-14may15-en@icann.org
ICANN Public Comment Forum: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/2013-whois-accuracy-spec-review-2015-05-14-en
Dear ICANN,
Thank you for this opportunity to provide comment on the Review of the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement’s Whois Accuracy Program Specification.
IP Justice is a San Francisco-based nonprofit civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property rights and Internet policy that enables freedom and innovation.(http://www.ipjustice.org)
IP Justice strongly opposes ICANN’s […]
IP Justice sent a letter this week to ICANN's Board Governance Committee to express concern for ICANN's treatment of Internet user's freedom of expression rights in the organization's policy for new Generic Top-Level Domains (GTLDs). The letter, which urged the committee to reconsider it's recent decision to restrict numerous lawful of the word "doctor" in the Internet's domain name system, stated ...
Freedom of expression on the Internet is at risk from ICANN’s recent decision to prohibit anyone but one specific type of doctor from using the word within the .doctor new gTLD space. Last month, ICANN’s New GTLD Program Committee decided that only “medical practitioners” would be allowed to register a domain in the .doctor name space.
ICANN’s […]
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 that use geographic names. The submission stated that the proposal would threaten to chill freedom of expression and other lawful rights to use words in domain names, stifle innovation, and undermine the multi-stakeholder model for Internet governance. The group also stated that the proposal is based on flawed presumptions of law and 'the public interest' and is entirely unworkable from a practical standpoint.
This draconian proposal to change ICANN's bylaws would fundamentally transform ICANN away from being a "bottom-up" and "private-sector-led" organization and into a governmental regulatory agency by changing the GAC's role from "advisory" into "primary decision maker" by essentially creating a "governmental veto" on all key organizational decisions. This would mark a truly significant change in the overall power structure at ICANN that would dramatically empower national governments (some democratic, some authoritarian) over the management of critical Internet resources at the expense of those who participate in the bottom-up policy development process...