1) Privacy & Extraterritorial Cyber Sovereignty: Supreme Court Hears U.S. vs. Microsoft
Bloomberg.com video above published Feb 27, 2018: Christopher Calabrese, Center for Democracy and Technology (domain: cdt.org) VP of policy, and Bloomberg's Dina Bass discuss the Supreme Court hearing a case centering on how a decades-old law, Stored Communications Act of 1986, applies to data on the cloud. They speak with Bloomberg's Emily Chang on Bloomberg Technology.
UPDATE: Amicus Brief filed by Brennan Center, ACLU, EFF, et al
United States vs. Microsoft is a case now pending in the U.S. Supreme Court involving the U.S. government's extraterritoriality law enforcement in seeking electronic data under the 1986 Stored Communications Act. The issue has been framed and litigated in the light of modern computing and internet technologies such as data centers and cloud storage. Microsoft challenged a warrant by law enforcement in 2013, to turn over email of a target account that was stored in Ireland, arguing that the warrant issued under Section 2703 of the Stored Communications Act could not compel American companies to produce data stored in servers outside the United States. Initially Microsoft lost in the District Court, the judge stating that the nature of the Stored Communication Act warrant, as passed in 1986, was not subject to territorial limitations. Microsoft appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which reversed in favor of Microsoft and invalidated the warrant in 2016. The United States Department of Justice appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case in October 2017. Carpenter v. United States is another Supreme Court case (2017–2018 term) on the Stored Communication Act, dealing with privacy of mobile phone communications.
Issues: Internet, Privacy, Cyber Sovereignty, Cyber Security, Extraterritoriality, Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, and Jurisdiction--see also on Domain Mondo:
2) ICANN news
See also: ICANN61 GNSO Remote Participation Details Open and Public Meetings.
Pre-ICANN61 Policy Report | ICANN.org 26 February 2018: (embed below):
See also GNSO Policy Briefing ICANN61 Edition (pdf)
See also on Domain Mondo:
b. GDPR & WHOIS:
- Chair's Blog: A Preview of the Puerto Rico [ICANN] Board Workshop | ICANN.org: "... On the morning of Sunday, 11 March, I will lead a discussion on planning for Workstream 2 implementation, followed by a lengthy session on the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), led by Becky Burr and Göran Marby. We will be focusing on the emerging recommended interim model and next steps for ensuring compliance and implementation. We will also be holding a session, led by Chris Disspain, where we will discuss the implications for the ongoing policy work related to WHOIS in light of the latest updates on GDPR ..."
- More info: Data Protection/Privacy Issues | ICANN.org.
c. Decline in new gTLDs' domain name registrations continues into 2018 for second straight month (source: ntldstats.com):
d. ICANN Root Server System Advisory Committee: RSSAC2 Review: Assessment Report Published | ICANN.org: Report (pdf) - Executive Summary (pdf) excerpts:
- The RSSAC’s ability to serve as a shared space for RSO–ICANN communication and cooperation is complicated by a persistent legacy of distrust of ICANN by some of its members.
- Because RSSAC members do not agree on who its stakeholders should be, it is not clear for what and to whom it should be accountable.
- The relative roles and responsibilities of the RSSAC, the RSSAC Caucus, the RZERC, and the SSAC are unclear to both outsiders and insiders.
e. ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) 27 February 2018: SSAC Operational Procedures Version 5.1 (pdf).
3) Names, Domains & Trademarks
b. GoDaddy tones down its 'sexy' (or sexist) side to target Aussie businesses | afr.com
c. What's in a name? Approximately everything | heraldtribune.com
d. GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) announced a public offering of 16,916,000 shares of common stock by certain shareholders. GoDaddy will not receive proceeds from the sale.
4) ICYMI Internet Domain News
b. Google Says It's Received 2.4 Million Takedown Requests Under EU's 'Right to Be Forgotten' Laws gizmodo.com: (and complied with 43% of them).
c. Apple & China: To comply with local laws, Apple will store keys to Chinese users' iCloud accounts in China, giving Chinese authorities easy access to users' data--Apple moves to store iCloud keys in China, raising human rights fears | Reuters.com.
d. Cyberspace has always been about more than just freedom | rstreet.org
e. In the making: The largest internet filter Europe has ever seen | EDRi.org
f. China’s web censors go into overdrive as President Xi Jinping consolidates power | TechCrunch.com
g. Russiaphobia Gone Wild: Facebook says finds no new evidence Russia interfered in Brexit referendum | Reuters.com. Also note "Many news reports blaming Russian Twitter bots, some of which are not Russian and others not bots, are based on a single source and are likely overblown."-- Stop Blaming Russian Bots For Everything | buzzfeed.com.
5) Most read post this past week:
-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo