WebProNews

Tag: internet society

  • UK Government Planning Full Media Assault on End-to-End Encryption

    UK Government Planning Full Media Assault on End-to-End Encryption

    The UK government has hired a high-powered ad agency for a full-fledged assault on end-to-end encryption (E2EE).

    The UK government has long been opposed to E2EE. Despite the importance of E2EE in virtually every aspect of digital life, critics criticize it for making it harder to catch criminals. Politicians in the US, the UK, and other countries often call for encryption backdoors to be created, seemingly oblivious to the mathematical impossibility of simultaneously having strong encryption that protects government officials, journalists, civil rights activists, and everyday users, while also providing authorities with a backdoor.

    According to Rolling Stone, the UK’s latest effort involves an appeal to the public, portraying E2EE as an impediment to protecting children online and preventing child exploitation. This particular argument is one of the most commonly used, since everyone agrees with the importance of protecting children.

    Unfortunately, using the ‘protect the children’ argument often results in actions that undermine the safety of the very children it purports to protect. As a result, industry experts are calling the UK’s proposal “scaremongering.”

    “The Home Office’s scaremongering campaign is as disingenuous as it is dangerous,” said Robin Wilton, director of Internet Trust at the Internet Society, told Rolling Stone. “Without strong encryption, children are more vulnerable online than ever. Encryption protects personal safety and national security … what the government is proposing puts everyone at risk.”

    It seems the Home Office’s immediate target is WhatsApp, and its plans to extend E2EE. Should it succeed in its plans, however, it’s a safe bet E2EE in all its uses, and any platform that uses it, will be the next target.

  • Al Gore Inducted Into Internet Hall of Fame

    In 1999, former Vice President Al Gore infamously claimed to have created the internet. Taken out of context, the assertion sounded outlandish, and was promptly lampooned to a level of overkill. Below is the former VP declaring his invention of the internet at about 55 seconds in:

    In actuality, Gore states that he “took the initiative in creating the internet.” That still is a pretty broad statement, but now The Internet Society has established the Internet Hall of Fame, and interestingly, Al Gore is one of the inductees. Perhaps he did invent the internet – well, not exactly.

    According to its website, “The Internet Hall of Fame is an annual awards program that has been established by the Internet Society to publicly recognize a distinguished and select group of visionaries, leaders and luminaries who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the global Internet.” Internet Society CEO Lynn St. Amour adds, “There are some extraordinary people who have helped make the Internet an unparalleled platform for innovation and communication, an engine for economic development and social progress that goes well beyond what we could have ever imagined. This program honors individuals who have pushed the boundaries to bring the Internet to life and made it an essential resource used by billions.”

    In selection of the inaugural inductees to the Hall of Fame, the Internet Society established the following criteria:

    Impact: The contribution has significantly impacted the development or growth of the Internet and continues to demonstrate relevance to the Internet’s ongoing advancement and evolution.

    Influence: The contribution, relative to the Internet, has significantly influenced: 1) the work of others in the field; 2) society at large; or 3) another more defined but critical audience/group.

    Innovation: The contribution has broken new ground with original thinking/creativity that has established new paradigms, eliminated obstacles or accelerated Internet advancements.

    Reach: The contribution has significantly impacted the Internet’s reach among society at large or key audiences in small, but equally important geographies.

    Internet Hall of Famers were then divided into a Pioneer’s Circle, an Innovators circle and a Global Connectors circle. Sure enough, Albert Arnold “Al” Gore, Jr. was on the list, under Global Connectors. According to the Internet Society-

    As a U.S. senator in the 1980s, Gore was the first politician to grasp the potential of the internet. Gore wrote the High Performance Computing and Communications Act that passed in 1991 which helped spread the net beyond computer science professionals by providing key funding to internet projects, including the groundbreaking Mosaic browser which led to the dot-com boom.

    Well, you learn something new every day. Gore – who has been in the news lately for his disdain for SOPA, as well as for hinting at a launch date for the Apple iPhone 5, while at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit in South Africa – is widely assumed to have been merely a high-level proponent of the web under Bill Clinton. With this new recognition, a bit more credibility has been attributed to the former VP. He might not have solely created the internet, but it’s evident that he definitely helped to get things rolling, along with the 31 other honorees. The entire list can be seen here.

  • Google Readies For World IPv6 Launch In June

    Google Readies For World IPv6 Launch In June

    It’s might not be an intuitive concept, but the real estate market of the Internet is running out of room. It’s been happening for some time now, so it’s not exactly a surprise but it’s something that has to be addressed, preferably sooner than later. Google, always with an eye on the future, has it covered.

    In a post earlier today from their official blog, Google announced that they have joined Internet Society to coordinate a world-wide launch of the next-generation Internet protocol later this year, IPv6. The post explains the urgency of this launch:

    IPv6 is the replacement for the current version of the Internet Protocol, IPv4, which is quickly running out of addresses. The original IPv6 specification was published more than 15 years ago, but for the entire career of most Internet engineers its deployment has always been in the future. Now it’s finally here. The widespread deployment of IPv6 paves the way for connecting together the billions of devices that permeate our livesーboth fixed and mobile, from the largest cloud computing services to the smallest sensors.

    For Google, World IPv6 Launch means that virtually all our services, including Search, Gmail, YouTube and many more, will be available to the world over IPv6 permanently. Previously, only participants in the Google over IPv6 program (several hundred thousand users, including almost all Google employees [PDF]) have been using it every day. Now we’re including everyone.

    Google’s been active in preparing World IPv6 since last year, but IPv4 has been “officially depleted” since they started working with Internet Society. Previously, websites only switched over to IPv6 for a 24-hour dry run, but now the plan is that IPv6 will be here to stay come June. By promoting World IPv6 Launch, Google hopes to persuade websites, ISPs, network device manufacturers, and other online entities to make the permanent switch to IPv6 together.

    Although Google says that most users can expect a seamless transition and likely won’t notice anything different after IPv6 turns on, they do encourage people to check out their connections using Google’s test page just to be on the safe side.