There are only two undelegated top-level country-code domains, aside from those darkened by colonial diktat. One of them, .KP, the TLD of North Korea, is in the tender grip of the Dear Leader — enough said.
Western Sahara (.EH) is another matter. The nearest thing they have to a paranoid strongman who hates the [...]

Have you been drinking government Kool-Aid recently? Do you believe the nonsense emanating from ICANN Board Members about how allowing .XXX would get them involved in regulating content (as if rejecting the application were not exactly that)? Do you think ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (whose website uses an IP address instead [...]

Word of the day: astroturfing.
Microsoft will provide free wireless access to Portland, Oregon.
Microsoft’s move, and similar initiatives sponsored either by municipalities themselves (Philadelphia) or commercial providers (Google in Mountain View), may be the first step toward making mobile content really rock.
City-wide wifi isn’t just about being able to get a [...]

A new British law bans Denial of Service attacks.
And Islamic law bans killing.

“So John Gilmore linked to my post today.”
“You mean Dan Gillmor.”
“Nope. John Gillmore — Center for Citizen Media”
“Wrong guy. You’re talking about Dan.”
I looked it up. James was right. I shouldn’t have to look it up. I’ve worked with one and been pingbacked by the other, so I ought to [...]

New proposed legislation would make it a crime, punishable by four years in jail, to anonymously send email, join a chat forum, download content, or write a blog.

The bill states that every user must fully identify herself before using the Net, with full name, current address, phone number and… Social Security Number. [...]

I’m sorry to report that two of my friends have unexpectedly departed this world.

Second Life Sex Club, by James Deavin
They’re off to Second Life, leaving only traces behind.
Bret Fausett, the gadfly lawyer who annoys ICANN so beautifully by holding them to their pontifical pronoucements, has set up shop in the trendy otherworld by buying [...]

Nothing this stupid ever goes away.
The .xxx idea has been kicking around almost as long as the unworkable schemes to create a rigidly hierarchical domain name system based on trademark classifications. Anyone for .SOAP or .PAIN?
On May 10, ICANN announced that it would not allow the proposed .XXX to go forward. [...]

With a billion-dollar giveaway to VeriSign, ICANN’s Board has lost all credibility. The Chinese have figured it out, so have the Canadians. Now that ICANN needs friends, does it have any left?

The Chinese top-level domain announces that it won’t consider people who register domain names to profit from traffic or resale to be cybersquatters unless they actually infringe another’s rights. Since when did the Chinese take the lead in being reasonable?