Byron Holland
Byron Holland is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). View bio
5
Feb
Internet Service Provider: Gatekeeper to the Internet?
Last week I blogged about the three strikes approach that some countries are looking at and that may be a part of the Anti-Counterfeiting and Trade Agreement (ACTA). While that post focused on some of the potential issues around taking such an approach in the context of the ACTA, it also brings to light a trend I think we’re starting to see – the Internet Service Provider (ISP) as gatekeeper to the Internet.
In last week’s post, I talked about the trend of suspected illegal file-sharers being met with a graduated response from their ISP, possibly leading to the ISP suspending their access to the Internet for a period of time. This is a very controversial approach for many reasons, not the least of which is that it can place the ISP in position of being in a dispute with customer.
This issue isn’t confined to the ACTA. The Australian federal government has recently given ISPs the authority to boot people off the Internet if their computers are suspected of being infected with malicious software that sends spam or attacks other computers.
Let me be perfectly clear: I believe that illegal activity on the Internet must be stopped, be it illegal downloading of music or movies, unlicensed online pharmaceutical trade, or child pornography. I also believe that steps need to be taken to control spam (a topic I will blog about soon) and malware. However, I do not think it is in the best interests of Canadians to have ISPs making the decisions about who gets access to the Internet, and who doesn’t. I’m also sure there are many ISPs who are less than enthusiastic about being placed in a position of conflict with their customers.
What do you think? Should ISPs have the authority to boot people off the Internet?
29
Jan
Three Strikes…unintended consequences for Canadians?
This week, representatives from various nations will gather in Guadalajara, Mexico to discuss the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA.
ACTA is an agreement being negotiated by several countries, including Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. The main objective of ACTA is to put “in place international standards for enforcing intellectual property rights in order to fight more efficiently the growing problems of counterfeiting and piracy.”
One of the intents of the agreement is to stop illegal file sharing on the Internet.
There are, of course, convincing arguments to be made for addressing illegal file sharing. The Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA) – the organization that represents the interests of the Canadian sound recording industry – claims file sharing in Canada costs the industry $100 million annually, and the RCMP has stated that they are powerless to stop it. The recording industry internationally has noted important drops in income, jobs, and new artists signed, and has attributed this to illegal file sharing.
Some aspects of ACTA, including lack of transparency and secrecy surrounding its negotiation, have raised the ire of many people. A contentious item expected to be on the table is the so-called “three strikes” approach to piracy.
There are many flavours of the three strikes scheme, but the concept is that suspected illegal file-sharers would be met with graduated responses from their Internet Service Provider (ISP). They would first be sent a warning email, then a letter if they continue. The final strike would result in an appearance before a judge or tribunal. The judge or tribunal could impose a fine, or suspend their access to the Internet for a period of time.
The idea of a three strikes law is gaining traction in many countries. France has recently adopted the loi Création et Internet which imposes such a three-strikes regime. Britain’s government is considering the Digital Economy Bill which may include similar provisions. New Zealand has been considering such a regime since 2008.
It’s not the only route to follow, however. Other countries, such as Spain, have opted to not go down the disconnection path, but rather attempt to penalise websites that permit illegal file sharing. Germany, home to the world’s most popular ccTLD (.DE), has decided not to go down the three strikes road, reasoning that the approach would be at odds with the country’s privacy laws.
What are some of the implications of taking such an approach?
Imagine that your 14-year-old son downloads music illegally. Your entire household could potentially be kicked off the Internet for an extended period of time. This means no access to banking online, no access to government services, no email, no access to work for many. As we move more and more to a digital-based economy, what are the consequences of penalising possibly thousands of average people by denying them access to the Internet?
I think we also need to consider the effect such a prescriptive, top down approach to regulate the Internet would have. The Internet is, by its very nature, generative, creative and organic. To start imposing measures such as this could challenge the very ‘spirit’ with which it was created. It’s also this creative and organic nature that would present one of the biggest challenges to such a law: put up a barrier on the Internet such as monitoring traffic for illegal downloads, and there’ll be legions of people looking for – and finding – ways around it.
Finally, the costs of monitoring for illegal activity and enforcing these rules will no doubt add costs for ISPs, which in turn will be passed on to the consumer. We need to be careful about doing anything that may have the unintended consequence of raising the price for Internet access in a country that already has some of the most expensive access in the world.
CIRA’s vision for Canadians is to have minimal barriers to get online, where they have the opportunity to participate in an Internet that is a generative, creative and organic environment for the benefit of all. Let’s make sure we don’t do anything that ends up having unintended negative consequences.
With regard to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, what do you think Canada needs to consider?
22
Jan
.CA Registry Rewrite
We’re making some pretty significant changes here at CIRA. In fact, we’re rewriting our registry system which will make the registration process easier for Canadians and ensure a reliable, robust and secure registry for many years.
I’m going to be blogging about the rewrite in the future, and we’re going to be sending out more information soon. In the meantime, Computer World Canada published an article on CIRA’s .CA registry rewrite the other day.
15
Jan
CIRA and Social Media
At CIRA, we’ve recently taken some pretty significant steps into the social media world. It started with this blog. Now we’ve got a presence on SlideShare, YouTube, Faceboook, Twitter (including my account and CIRANews), and LinkedIn.
We’re also looking at ways to make our website more interactive and we’re working on a policy to help guide the CIRA team in how they engage in social media as a representative of the organization.
Throughout the process of developing our social media activities, I’ve learned a few things that I’d like to share with you:
1. If you’re reading this blog you’re likely web-savvy and wired in. CIRA is, at its core, a technology-centred organization – the fact is, we exist because the Internet exists. You’d think social media would be a pretty easy fit for us. However, it’s really pushing some of us out of our comfort zone – which is ultimately a good thing.
Regardless, it has become clear to me that adding social media to our communications toolbox involves a lot more than just signing up for a bunch of free services. It involves a shift in the way we approach marketing and communications, customer service and – to some degree – it is changing our corporate culture. Personally, I find some of the debates on issues like privacy and the separation of the personal versus professional self fascinating.
2. Social media is not about technology. It’s about relationships and it’s about having conversations. That’s why comments are enabled on this blog, and that’s why you’ll find me on Twitter.
Humans are social beings. In some ways, I see the rise in social media as a return to the way business used to be done. People generally don’t want to deal with a large, nameless company. There was a time (and, relatively speaking, not that long ago), when you likely knew most of the people you did business with. You knew the town baker, your mechanic, the grocery store owner, and so on. Somewhere along the way, we lost that to big name, faceless organizations.
I think social media is giving us the opportunity to get a little bit of that back. GM runs a great blog penned by their leadership. We can follow any number of people representing organizations on Twitter, or become a part of a group on Facebook and discuss common interests on the group’s wall. In some way, I think social media allows us the opportunity to get to know the people behind the organization.
3. Many of the tools are free, but you need to make investments to be able to use them. We’ve got Twitter accounts and Facebook groups, and we even subscribe to a service that monitors social media for us – all free or pretty low cost. However, it takes time to set up and use these tools, to engage with people and to monitor for the topics we need to know about. We’ve hired a Communications Manager to help us navigate this world and we’ve invested in some technology and services to help us engage better. It costs time and a bit of money, but I believe that if you want to really connect with people, you need to make those investments.
I invite you to join in the conversation on our networks, comment on this blog or listen to what we have to say.
8
Jan
CIRA’s Nomination Committee
CIRA is the organization that manages the dot-ca domain space on behalf of all Canadians.
It’s a big job, and it’s our Board of Directors who set the policies and strategies that steer our work. For that reason, we need to ensure the Board membership provides the diverse set of skills and professional expertise that the organization requires. Additionally, it is important that we adequately reflect the geographical, gender, linguistic, and cultural make-up of Canada.
One of the mechanisms we use to ensure that diversity is through our Nomination Committee. This committee carries out a critical role in determining a diverse roster of qualified candidates for CIRA’s Board of Directors elections. It’s also a great opportunity for Canadians to get involved in helping set the direction of the Internet in Canada. We’re currently accepting applications to serve on the 2010 Nomination Committee, and will be doing so until 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 22, 2010.
I invite you to apply to be a member of CIRA’s Nomination Committee. For more information, please visit the Nomination Committee web page.
4
Jan
Happy New Year
In my last posting I highlighted some of the issues I think will be hot for 2010. A friend and colleague, Mathieu Weill, reminded me of a good one that I did not cover: “It is the Internet, so expect the unexpected!” I probably should have made that my number one choice.
In the spirit of being ready for the New Year, there are a few things we should all be doing to keep our social media and technology houses in order and I think this article does a pretty good job in reminding us all of some of the things we should be doing personally – particularly number eight. Enjoy.
23
Dec
A Look Ahead: the Internet in 2010
Casey Stengel, baseball hall of famer, once said, “Never make predictions, especially about the future.” He was probably right, and I may regret this blog post in a year or so. With that in mind, here’s the five Internet-related topics that I think are going to be very important in 2010:
1. Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). At the ICANN meeting in Seoul in October 2009, ICANN announced one of the most significant changes to the Internet in its 40 year history. I blogged about it when it happened, and since then it has gone on to pretty much dominate domain name news. Since November 2009, nations and territories have been able to apply for IDN ccTLDs. If all goes according to plan, these IDNs will be operational by mid-2010. Since non-Latin alphabet scripts are used by something like 800 million Internet users, it’s pretty safe to assume IDNs will be a popular item in 2010.
2. How the rise of social media is changing the way people use the Internet. When CIRA began 10 years ago, we used the Internet to get information from websites and send emails. Fast forward to 2009. The rise in social networking sites means fewer people are using email, and we’re using the Internet to share and interact with each other.
Social media is still new and we’re just trying to find our way around it – think about the current debates about privacy – but it’s already changed the way many of us do business and even how some kids are learning. In short, we’re witnessing a change in the way people actually use the Internet.
3. Internet governance, including the new arrangement between ICANN and the U.S. Government. Following the ICANN meeting in Seoul, South Korea at the end of October 2009, I blogged about the fact that the U.S. government now has an indefinite contract as the top watchdog for the overall ICANN process. Following that meeting, hardly a mention was made of it in the media. I know we haven’t heard the last of this issue; it may likely take on a life of its own in 2010.
4. The emergence of mobile as the next big thing for accessing the Internet. There are more than 450 million mobile Internet users worldwide and that number is increasing. The meteoric rise in popularity of some social media sites like Twitter are in part driving the rise in use of mobile devices (or is it the other way around?), making this a topic that we are going to hear a lot about in 2010.
5. Streaming media. The fact that so many Internet users now have broadband access and that video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo have so much content has people, especially Canadians, moving away from their TVs to their computers to watch videos. This rise in the use of video on the Internet continues to drive demand for bandwidth. I think we’re going to start talking about this a lot in 2010.
What do you think the top stories of 2010 will be?
Disponible en français sur demande.
18
Dec
Dr. Vint Cerf Looks Ahead
Because the New Year is fast approaching, and 2009 marks the end of the first decade of this century, we’re seeing a lot of ‘year in review’ and ‘decade in review’ reports lately.
Being the CEO of a technology centred organization, I tend to prefer looking ahead as opposed to looking back in time. Perhaps this is why the end of year article that really caught my attention was this interview with Dr. Vint Cerf by CBC. As one of the head designers who worked on TCP/IP in the early 1970s, Cerf played an integral role in how the Internet operates today and is often referred to as the “father of the Internet”.
In the CBC interview, instead of looking back at where the Internet has been, Dr. Cerf looks ahead to what we can expect. It’s a little bit science fiction and a little bit science fact, and all in all a fascinating read.
As it happens, I was chatting with Dr. Cerf earlier this week and the thing that really stood out for me was how passionate he remains about the subject and the possibilities for the Internet in the future. We were supposed to be talking about something fairly mundane, but within minutes he was speaking excitedly about new technologies and potential of IDNs. Quite inspirational really, and served to remind about how much potential the Internet still holds.
What do you think the future holds for the Internet?
8
Dec
Internationalized Domain Names
At the ICANN meeting In Seoul in October 2009, ICANN announced one of the most significant changes to the Internet in its 40 year history. By approving the use of new extensions containing non-Latin characters, ICANN not only opened the Internet up to millions, perhaps billions, of users worldwide, they also reinforced the idea that the Internet is truly a global resource. It means that people can access it in their national language, even if that language uses non-Latin characters, like Greek, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, Korean, or a host of many others.
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but the Internet is truly becoming a resource for all of us, regardless of place of residence or the language we speak. This is important for Canadians. Canada is a multicultural country. We are one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world. Half of the population of our largest city, Toronto, were born outside of Canada. Statistics Canada estimates that by 2017, that there will be 1.8 million people of Chinese descent in Canada.
ICANN put together a great video about IDNs, and what this decision means. One line from the video that resonates for me is, “it’s one step at making the Internet equally accessible for everyone.” You can find it here.
I think ICANN’s decision is a step forward in advancing the Internet as being accessible to all. What do you think?
3
Dec
ICANN’s Strategic Plan
ICANN, the folks who manage the coordination of the DNS and Internet addressing, have opened their Strategic Plan for July 2010 to June 2013 to public comment. This Plan was first presented at the ICANN meeting that was held in Seoul in October, and outlines four areas of work for ICANN: preserve DNS security and stability; promote competition, trust, choice, and innovation; excel in Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and other core operations; and, contribute to shaping a healthy Internet eco-system.
This is all part of ICANN’s multi-stakeholder, bottom-up approach to Internet governance. A laudable approach for sure, and one that, in my opinion, democratizes some of ICANN’s internal decision-making. It is, in fact, ICANN’s carrying out of Section 7 of its Affirmation of Commitments which calls for ICANN to “adhere to…responsive consultation procedures that provide detailed explanations for basis of decisions”.
ICANN has been around for about 11 years now. In that time, the Internet has changed dramatically. It has become a resource for everybody with access, regardless of whether or not we can attend ICANN meetings in Seoul, live in an urban centre in a developed nation or in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is a resource and a tool that can be used for business, family communications, political activism, and many, many more things. It truly is one of very few resources available for the entire world, and, in my opinion, it is only right that its users have the opportunity to have their say in how it is going to work in the future.
Specifically, ICANN is looking for responses to the following two questions:
- What should be the three to five year high level strategic objectives for each of the four areas of work?
- What would be the specific metrics for each of the four areas of work?
You can find the Strategic Plan public consultation here. You have until January 21, 2010 to have your say. I know I plan to. Do you?