Policy & Regulation

ICANN Accountability Without gTLD Remedies Is Just Documentation

Past gTLD disputes show applicants can win ICANN accountability rulings without obtaining the contested string, raising a critical question for 2026 applicants about whether expanded review mechanisms can deliver meaningful remedies. more

When a Link Becomes a Border: The Quiet Geopolitics of Internet Access

A LinkedIn short-link anomaly in Iran reveals how sanctions, corporate compliance and geolocation controls can translate geopolitical boundaries into infrastructure-level restrictions, creating an Internet that remains globally connected while becoming functionally unequal. more

Canada Sets National Principles for Responsible Data-Centre Development

Canada's voluntary framework asks data-center developers to cover electricity-system costs, limit water and environmental impacts, disclose local effects and deliver national benefits as the country expands sovereign AI and cloud infrastructure. more

AWS Plans 420 Tbps Subsea Cable Between United States and Japan

AWS plans a 420 Tbps transpacific subsea cable linking Washington state and Japan by 2029, adding a geographically distinct route designed to strengthen cloud connectivity and reduce reliance on concentrated Pacific landing corridors. more

4iG and SpaceX Plan Starlink Mobile Rollout Across Hungary and Western Balkans

4iG and SpaceX plan direct-to-device Starlink services across four European markets, alongside secured government communications, but national spectrum approvals and key details of the proposed sovereign infrastructure remain unresolved. more

Thirty-Five Years Later, Moscow Comes Looking for the Soviet Union’s Domain

Russia is imposing state identity verification on .su, the Soviet Union's surviving domain, as researchers uncover criminal infrastructure across the namespace and ICANN pursues a retirement process that could eventually remove it from the global root. more

Researchers Warn EU AI Rules Are Deepening Reliance on Big Tech

Researchers argue the EU's AI framework increasingly makes major technology companies co-stewards of regulation, raising concerns that reliance on private infrastructure and technical expertise could strengthen incumbents' influence over how AI rules are implemented. more

Digital Embassies: Could Africa Rethink Digital Sovereignty?

Estonia's data embassy model offers African governments a different approach to digital sovereignty, combining cross-border infrastructure, legal safeguards and geographic redundancy to keep critical state systems secure, recoverable and operational during major disruptions. more

ICANN Terminates Two Registrars as DNS Abuse and Compliance Failures Escalate

ICANN has terminated two registrar accreditation agreements after unresolved compliance failures, citing Trustname's handling of DNS abuse and IPIP's failures involving RDAP, registration data escrow, accreditation fees, and access to non-public registration data. more

The Missing Privacy Debate Around IPv6

IPv6 solves the Internet's address shortage and simplifies networking, but its technical elegance may carry a hidden cost: shifting privacy protections from architectural constraints toward policies controlled by Internet providers, corporations and governments. more

ICANN’s New Data Sharpens the Picture of DNS-abuse Enforcement

ICANN's updated DNS-abuse data distinguishes allegations from actionable complaints and malicious registrations from compromised domains, offering a clearer test of whether tougher contractual requirements are strengthening enforcement or simply generating a larger volume of reports. more

AI Is Rewriting the Internet. But in Whose Language?

AI is becoming a gateway to the internet, but thousands of languages remain excluded. Closing the gap requires multilingual infrastructure, representative training data and policies that make linguistic inclusion a foundation of the AI era. more

Beyond Protocol and Policy: Why Project Jake is Reshaping the Architecture of Internet Trust

Project Jake aims to bridge the divide between internet protocols and policy, offering registries, law enforcement and rights holders a decentralised framework for accessing domain-registration data securely while navigating privacy laws and institutional gridlock. more

Open-Weight AI: Open to Whom?

The push for open-weight AI promises broader access and competition, but true openness requires more than releasing model weights. Compute, infrastructure, training data, security, and control ultimately determine who can meaningfully benefit from open AI. more

After the Close: What the 2026 gTLD Round Has Already Revealed

ICANN's 2026 gTLD round drew more than 1,600 applications, led by ambitious portfolio investors. But scant brand disclosures and new rules banning private settlements could make contention costlier and reshape the economics of domain ownership. more