Month: March 2018

55%-60% of landline broadband users are in the “Global South,” about 500M. The South is 65%-70% if you include “wireless-only” many of which are 4G LTE at 10 megabits or more. (Chart below,)

The gap is widening rapidly and will increase by well over 70M in 2018. Six large developing countries grew at 5% or more in the last year, compared to only one in the developed world. China is adding ~30M more each year. Most developed countries are between 75% and 95% connected. That leaves little room for growth. (Below.) The strong majority are not native English speakers or European in ancestry.

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EU privacy GDPR might restrict WHOIS information but Redl, U.S. lead, says it won’t happen.

There will be strong debate at the 10 March Puerto Rico March ICANN meeting, as both practical people and the security apparatus work to keep some information about who owns what public. Most of the pornographers and drug salesman already are anonymous, through a paid service offered by the registry folks. The new EU privacy rules may extend that to everyone, a further annoyance. (Note – almost all the reporting on this ignores that most of the miscreants already are protected.)

David Redl, the NTIA head who leads the U.S. efforts, says “the WHOIS service can, and should, retain its essential character while complying with national privacy laws, including the GDPR. … The U.S. government expects this information to continue to be made easily available through the WHOIS service.” My initial impression was that Redl support was wide, but an informed observer’s note suggests privacy has support as well.

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Two of the most powerful men in the world want ICANN to disappear. ICANN and friends are in San Juan partying like it’s 1999, thinking Putin is impotent and Trump’s NTIA chief, David Redl, should be ignored when he promises to move on retaking control of ICANN.

The semi-official word from San Juan is the main focus of ICANN61 will be whether everyone will be able to hide their name on WHOIS. Currently, only those who pay a little extra for registration are able to hide their names when they register a website. Most of the pornographers and other miscreants have already chosen anonymity and I haven’t noticed the Internet collapsing since IANA last fall.

Putin personally ordered his government to “Develop an independent internet infrastructure for BRICS nations.” On the independence of ICANN, Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, is looking for “any possible [mechanism] for reversing it.”any possible [mechanism] for reversing it.”

David Redl at NTIA is tasked with delivering on Trump’s campaign rhetoric, which opposed giving control of “the internet to foreigners.” His nomination was held up for months by Senator Cruz, until he promised, “to investigate options for unwinding the transition,”

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I like Big Ed, but whoever approved his security clearance needs to find a different job.

He committed obvious perjury when testifying to the Senate about wiretapping more than 100M Americans, a felony. He refused to answer question after question, simply saying “We obey the law” no matter what Senator Spector asked. “That answer is contemptuous of this Committee,” Whitacre just smiled. Everyone in the room knew AT&T conducted massive wiretapping without legal authority.

Whitacre may be an ideal choice for Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Mexico. Trump treats Mexicans with clear contempt. Whitacre actually loves Mexico. He moved the company from St. Louis to the border town of San Antonio. 

He believes he is always right – even when he isn’t. He expects everyone to take his orders; when he was CEO, the company was run top down like the army. He expected military-style secrecy.

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