InternetPolicy.net

US State Dept on "The Evolving Internet"

The November issue of Global Issues, "an electronic journal of the US Department of State," is devoted to The Evolving Internet. Edited by Charlene Porter, it includes:

• "The Digital Dimension of Development: A Strategic Approach," by Amb. David A. Gross, U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy
• "E-government: The Next American Revolution," by Tom Davis, Chairman, House Government Reform Committee
• "Bringing Africa Online," by Lane Smith, Deputy Director of the Leland Initiative, U.S. Agency for International Development
• "Connecting with Eurasia," by Barry E. Ballow, Director, Office of Academic Exchange Programs, U.S. Department of State
• "Bridging the Digital Divide," by Teresa Peters, Executive Director, Bridges.org; and
• "The Frontiers Ahead: A Dialogue on the Progress and Promise of the Internet," a panel discussion including Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet and American Life Project and George Sadowsky of the Global Internet Policy Initiative.

FCC review of VoIP

George Leopold wrote in yesterday's EE Times that "Voice-over-IP technology is about to get a full hearing before [US] government regulators. The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday (Nov. 6) it has scheduled a Dec. 1 hearing on regulatory issues raised by the emerging voice technology. Shortly after the forum, FCC officials said, the agency will launch a review into the migration of voice services to IP-based networks..."

First IPv6-enabled cellphone

A publicity release posted today on Lycos Finance: "BANGKOK, Thailand, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nokia today demonstrated the world's first dual stack IPv4/IPv6 CDMA handset, setting the standard for future mobile Internet devices... Nokia is currently offering prototype IPv6 CDMA handsets to operators for testing purposes, and will be ready for commercial delivery of dual stack IPv4/IPv6 handsets during 2004... Besides the obvious increase in address space that it provides, IPv6 also provides additional security benefits to users. IPv6 includes packet encryption and source authentications for end-to-end security protection, and a 'flow label' to support real-time traffic in a mobile environment. IPv6, by providing unique and globally routable IP addresses to users, enables a new generation of peer-to-peer applications and push-based services. The introduction of dual stack IPv4/IPv6 devices is essential for the seamless transition of current IPv4 based networks and devices to the upcoming IPv6 environment...."

National identity and ccTLDs

From an article by Erica Schlesinger Wass on CircleID, publicizing her new book: "I have discovered that through the use of country code Internet domain name endings, the domain name system has gained the power to effect social change and incorporate national identities and priorities. It has, in the process, evolved into more than a technological convention; it has become a means of communicating cultural values. The culmination of this research is Addressing the World: National Identity and Internet Country Code Domains, (Rowman & Littlefield, October 2003) an edited collection of original essays by domain name administrators, academics, journalists and lawyers that examine the connections between various cultures and the use and regulation of their country code domain names..."

Microsoft bounty for malware authors

This story will probably get wide enough coverage so we'll just point to an article by Ted Bridis, AP Technology Writer, in today's Washington Post: "Microsoft Corp. announced Wednesday it is creating a $5 million reward program to help law enforcement identify and convict those who illegally release worms, viruses and other types of malicious programs on the Internet..."

Online payments net attacked, crashed

From an article by Daniel Thomas in ComputerWeekly.com: "...WorldPay, which provides payment processing systems for 27,000 merchants across the globe, said there had been a 'concerted and co-ordinated effort' to attack its core systems. The attack, the nature of which is being investigated by WorldPay, resulted in payment processing systems, e-mail and the corporate website going down, the Royal Bank of Scotland-owned company said. Although e-mail communication was restored on Tuesday afternoon, the payment processing systems – vital to the running of online merchants’ operations – were still down this morning [5 November]...."

Building a "crash test dummy" Internet

Carrie Kirby reports in the San Francisco Chronicle that "A team of UC Berkeley and University of Southern California professors has received a $5.46 million grant to build one of the most realistic models of the Internet ever created - and then wreck it with debilitating hacker attacks. Working with researchers from Network Associates Laboratories and other institutions, the team is trying to answer questions with major national security implications: What would really happen if the Internet were hit with an attack bigger than the Nimda or Slammer worms? Could we fight it with the technology we have today? ...They can't do the experiments that would answer these questions on the real Internet, because 'you can't afford to break it,' said S. Shankar Sastry, chair of UC Berkeley's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and the project's principal investigator. So the researchers, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security, are building their own little Internet that can sustain disabling attacks again and again with no consequences to the outside world. By February, the first node of the network will be online at USC, and by spring experiments will be running on the network... The new test network, called the Cyber Defense Technology Experimental Research Network, or DETER, will contain lots of routers and switches..."

ENUM moving into mainstream

We learned from Jeff Pulver's VoIP blog that +87810 (the ENUM "area code" for Internet-based phone numbers) is operational now at the root domain-name server known as "e164.arpa." That seems to mean that ENUM mappings of phone numbers onto IP addresses (and vice-versa) are now supported by the DNS infrastructure. ENUM is still undergoing trials in several countries so its use is very limited. But it should spread quickly as the facilitator of VoIP and 3G services. It could also be a solution for "number portability" and the basis for other new services like international "800" numbers.

Which naturally poses the question of who will be responsible for ensuring that the ENUM system is accessible, consistent and up-to-date? According to CommsWorld Australia, the US Government is backing a proposal by the ENUM Forum for the creation of a "limited liability company" formed by the industries "affected by and interested in" ENUM. It would be responsible for ENUM mapping in the US, with some authority in the 20+ countries covered by the North American Numbering Plan, including Canada and many Caribbean islands. In other words, it could be a sort of ICANN Jr., and like ICANN, it might encounter problems of acceptance and legitimacy as an international body authorized by the US Government. Outside North America, it would probably be resisted but even in North America, it may be resented if it implements the Forum's proposal to charge ENUM users for their assigned number - a departure from the telephone tradition of providing numbers for free while charging for connectivity. Click here for the ENUM Forum's analysis of options for regulating ENUM, and here for a letter from the US Government endorsing the Forum's ideas.

EU data retention framework said to be "unlawful"

From today's UN Observer and International Report: "Privacy International have obtained a Legal Opinion from the international law firm Covington and Burling which presents a devastating critique of plans by EU governments and the Council of the European Union to introduce the mandatory retention of communications data. The Opinion examines in particular the draft EU Framework Decision on communications data retention and access to it leaked by Statewatch in August 2002. The Opinion concludes that: 'The data retention regime envisaged by the (EU) Framework Decision, and now appearing in various forms at the Member State level, is unlawful...'" Click here for the full-text of Covington and Burling's opinion (pdf).

Marriage of power + Internet money in China

"In a sign of the ever closer relations between power and money in the new China, the daughter of its Communist president, Hu Jintao, was reported this weekend to have married one of its new millionaire internet tycoons. Hu Haiqing, 33, married Mao Daolin - no relation to Mao Tse-tung - in Hawaii, according to the Asian Wall Street Journal... Mr Mao... [also] known by his western name Daniel... used to be chief executive of sina.com, one of three internet companies that dominates China. He remains on the board and his net worth has been put at $61 million..." (From a story by Richard Spencer on the Daily Telegraph website)