CircleID

New BMW Site Aligns .bmw TLD With the Company's Future

With every .brand that is launched onto the web, the industry watches closely to examine their strategy, analyse their success and evaluate whether the approach can be replicated and learned from. We've seen a wide range of launch strategies in recent months, from the full transition of www.barclays.com to www.home.barclays, to the BNP Paribas online banking sites, to the promotional site www.play.afl for the Australian Football League (AFL). more»

Registering and Monetizing Personal Names

At the top of WIPO's list of the most cybersquatted trademarks for 2015 (issued on March 18, 2016) is "Hugo Boss" with 62 complaints. The report also reveals that the fashion industry led other commercial sectors with 10% of complainant activity. Not surprisingly, in this sector companies (couturiers extending their services to the general public) are branded with the personal names of their founders. Why any registrant would intentionally target well-known personal names in the fashion industry is a mystery because there's no future in it. In fact, complaints are never answered and always successful. more»

Welcome to Notflix! Your Streaming-Free ISP with the Best Quality of Experience!

It has been widely taken as "obvious" that a "no blocking" rule for ISPs is a good regulatory policy. Is this really the case? Does it save consumers from harm... or cause harm? Netflix has reached the point of being well over 30% of Internet traffic at peak time for some ISPs. This places three costs on the ISP and its users... So for someone who isn't a streaming video user, they are paying a share of the direct costs. more»

What Will the Internet Look Like in the next 5 - 7 Years?

We all know that the Internet is one of the most important tools of our time, but we can't afford to take the Internet -- or its future -- for granted. There are uncertainties facing the Internet's future and how they evolve will have a profound impact on society and our ability to solve some of the world's biggest challenges... To help answer these and other questions, the Internet Society is embarking on a collaborative initiative to envision scenarios for the evolution of the Internet. more»

What is the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC)?

As a longtime member of ICANN's Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC), I'm impressed by the important work that this group does on behalf of trademark owners worldwide (as I've written before). While some die-hard IPC members spend countless (and, often, thankless) hours working virtually and in-person (at ICANN's global meetings) for the constituency, I find it very educational and worthwhile to participate on an ad-hoc basis. more»

US Congress Hearing on "Privatizing IANA" - Thursday, March 17 (Live Video Feed Available)

On Thursday, March 17, 2016, a U.S. Congressional committee will hold a hearing on the topic of "Privatizing the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority" (IANA) starting at 10:15am US EDT (UTC-4). You can learn about the hearing and view the written testimony at and watch live on the included pages. The hearing is before the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee. more»

The Future of Interdomain Interconnection and Traffic Control

Today, we are excited to announce, in partnership with the Open Networking Foundation and Open Source SDN, the official launch of iSDX - open-source controller software for an industrial-scale Software-Defined Internet exchange point. iSDX allows independently operated networks to interconnect and exchange traffic in completely new ways. This software, which we've been developing for nearly three years, now finally operates at the scale of the world's largest IXPs and interoperates with SDN-capable hardware switches, opening up new possibilities for interdomain business relationships and traffic exchange. more»

SIP Trunking: Common Pitfalls and Quick Fixes

With companies shifting away from on-premises and "traditional" telecom networks to Internet-based protocols - such as Voice Over IP (oIP) - the market for critical communications infrastructure - most notably SIP trunking - is on the rise; not only multiple failover sites but cloud-based SIP-as-a-service solutions are now popular options. However, there's a caveat: problems unique to SIP systems that can cause IT headaches if you're not prepared. Here are three of the most common. more»

Don't Break out the Champagne Just Yet: More Work to Do Before IANA Transition Occurs

After two years of meetings, comment periods, and more meetings, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers submitted its IANA transition proposal to the US Department of Commerce last week at the end of the ICANN 55 meeting in Marrakech. While this is a critical milestone and the multi-stakeholder community should be commended for its efforts, several concerns still remain. more»

Charter Approved to Review All Rights Protections Mechanisms in All Generic TLDs

On March 9th, 2016, during its final open meeting at ICANN 55 in Marrakech, Morocco, the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council approved a motion that I proposed to adopt the Charter of the Policy Development Process (PDP) to Review all Rights Protections Mechanisms (RPMs) in all Generic Top-Level Domains. I serve on the Council as one of the two representatives of ICANN's Business Constituency, and my fellow Councilors have designated me to serve as the GNSO's Liaison to the Working Group (WG), and as its Interim Chair. more»

What If IANA Transition Was Only a Mirage?

The U.S. government has long had a far-reaching control over the internet's technical center. What will happen now when ICANN's Board puts together a proposal on how to transfer responsibility for certain key functions within the domain name system to the internet community? Last week, ICANN had its 55th conference in Marrakech. The most important result of the meeting is that all parts of the so-called internet community approved that ICANN's Board will send a proposal to the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) which suggests how to transfer responsibility for certain key functions within the domain name system to the internet community... more»

Proving and Rebutting Respondent Lacks Rights or Legitimate Interests in Accused Domain Names

Paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy requires complainants to offer evidence conclusive by itself or sufficient from which to infer that respondents lack rights or legitimate interests in the accused domain names. As I've pointed out in earlier essays (here and here) the standard of proof is low and relies on inference, for good reason; beyond the visual proof and what may be obtainable from on- and offline research, respondents control evidence of their choices. more»

Perfect Storm Brewing at ESPs Amidst Growing PowerMTA Admin Crisis

Sometimes, a software company is as much about people as it is about technology. Who says PowerMTA admins don't have influence? Not only are they the influencers of our brand [Port25] they are also the main influencers and decision-makers when it comes to purchasing decisions. more»

An Unprecedented Look Into Utilization at Internet Interconnection Points

Measuring the performance of broadband networks is an important area of research, and efforts to characterize the performance of these networks continues to evolve. Measurement efforts to date have largely relied on in­home devices and are primarily designed to characterize access network performance. Yet, a user's experience also relies on factors that lie upstream of ISP access networks, which is why measuring interconnection is so important. more»

Overreaching Trademark Owners and the Misguided Better Right Theory of Domain Name Ownership

In Blogs devoted to news from the domain name industry and domainers, there is great glee in reporting about overreaching trademark owners. The reason for the glee, I think, is that it's a form of collective sigh from domainers and the domain industry that the UDRP is working as it should, which means that Panels are careful in their assessments of parties' rights. more»