The Universal Service Administrative Co. is “planning a comprehensive redesign” of LifelineSupport.org, said FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Her letters, posted Friday, went to Reps. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., Steve Womack, R-Ark., Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and James Comer, R-Ky., and Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio. The redesign will include “changes to navigational elements and content, informed by user feedback,” Rosenworcel said, and the FCC and USAC are also “determining technical development work” and other steps needed to transition checklifeline.org to the FCC.gov subdomain.
The Audio Engineering Society redesigned its website and updated its logo for the first time since its 1948 founding, said the organization Monday. “The site was overdue for a website content management system update,” said the group. “A modern, flexible platform with a streamlined and intuitive user interface was needed to enhance navigation and deep dives into the site’s rich content.” The new logo “will better serve branding applications,” it said.
Several state telecom associations want the FCC to review LTD Broadband's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction long-form application with increased scrutiny and, if necessary, reject it, in recent filings in docket 19-126. The Minnesota Telecom Alliance and Iowa Communications Alliance said there's "no indication that LTD has the technical, engineering, financial, operational, management, staff, or other resources" to meet the RDOF requirements for the locations it won in either state. If LTD can't prove otherwise, the commission should reject its long-form applications, the groups said. The Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association filed a similar request, saying LTD "will not be able to provide the requisite broadband service with the support it won in the RDOF auction." The company filed an opposition to MTA and ICA's petition, arguing the groups are part of an "off-key chorus of unsuccessful bidders disappointed in the outcome of the RDOF auction." LTD accused MTA and ICA of "pick[ing] out the winner of the largest amount of RDOF support and, relying on speculation, innuendo and surmise, call[ing] into question" its qualifications. "Attempts by some members of these rural ILEC associations to disparage LTD Broadband after failing to bid competitively in the reverse auction are transparently sour grapes," said LTD Broadband CEO Corey Hauer in an email. "This is not the FCC's first reverse auction nor is it the first time they have withstood criticism from angry mobs of losing bidders." LTD is "excited" to begin building rural fiber networks, Hauer said. "Demand for broadband is acute in these rural areas."
Akamai is using a Salesforce platform to help organizations scale online COVID-19 vaccine registration, it said Tuesday. This tool helps power “fast page load times regardless of the number of users registering simultaneously,” it said. “When loads are too high, Vaccine Edge passes users to a waiting room to keep the site available so that the user can maintain their location in the queue.”
Proposed European Commission plans to update cybersecurity rules are overbroad and need clarification, ICANN said Friday. The revisions to the network and information security directive (NIS2), part of a package aimed at tightening rules for online platforms, will affect ICANN (see 2101290006). Responding to an EC consultation, ICANN said NIS2 could have "far-reaching impacts" on the domain name system: The directive captures all DNS service providers. It urged the EC to consider distinguishing between providers of authoritative domain name resolution services (the "publication" side of domain name resolution) and providers of recursive domain resolution services (the name resolving side). Entities that operate a resolver service, often now otherwise classified as essential or important, are within the scope of the draft because they host a domain name or operate a recursive resolver, ICANN said. Providers of authoritative domain name resolution services should qualify as essential only if they serve domains of such important entities, it said. NIS2 requires EU governments to ensure that top-level domain registries and registrars collect and maintain accurate and complete domain name registration data in a "dedicated database facility with due diligence" subject to EU data protection law. ICANN said no entity can guarantee the integrity and availability of domain name registration data. The European Internet Services Providers Association noted only two years have passed since the effective date of the directive, meaning EU countries have had little time for assessment. NIS2 will raise costs for affected providers and should be future-proofed, said EuroISPA. The Information Technology Industry Council urged the EC to ensure reporting requirements are harmonized across the EU. The Internet Systems Consortium, which runs an ICANN authoritative root server, recommended NIS2 not include root name servers, saying doing so could destabilize the unitary DNS system. Verisign encouraged the EC to turn to ICANN's multistakeholder community for details on how EU governments can implement NIS2 consistently.
ICANN's June 14-17 in-person policy conference to have been in The Hague will instead be virtual, the group's board decided Thursday. "Barriers" to "holding and appropriately planning in-person international meetings" include "restrictions on international travel, limited flight availability, physical distancing requirements, risks posed to the local host community, and the possibility of a resurgence resulting in further lockdowns," the group said of COVID-19.
ICANN should halt work on a policy for access to Whois data, its Intellectual Property Constituency wrote board Chairman Maarten Botterman. The IPC stressed it's committed to using the multistakeholder process to develop a "workable system" for accessing domain name registration data but current recommendations for a system for standardized access/disclosure (SSAD) "are not yet fit for purpose." The most important SSAD recommendations lack community consensus, potentially making them "difficult or impossible to enforce" (see 2010210001). A European Commission proposal to update its cybersecurity directive (NIS2) takes "important steps" toward addressing shortfalls in the domain name system, including access to accurate registration data, it would be inadvisable for the board to permit further work on recommendations that may run counter to EC guidance. "Given that ICANN has repeatedly sought guidance from EU institutions as to how the [general data protection regulation] should be applied to the DNS and domain name registration data, we encourage ICANN to embrace NIS2 as a valuable source of such guidance," the IPC wrote. Congress has been urged to intervene on Whois (see 2102160001). ICANN didn't comment Tuesday.
The European Commission isn't trying to bypass ICANN governance of the domain name system (DNS) through its proposed digital services act (DSA) and cybersecurity package, EC officials said at an ICANN virtual stakeholder briefing Friday. The EC supports the multistakeholder approach and contributes to ICANN discussions through the Governmental Advisory Committee, said Gemma Carolillo, DG Connect deputy head-next-generation internet unit. The legislation's intent is to create legal certainty for domain name registries and registrars on things like Whois accuracy and access to personal registrant information, she said. If the proposals are adopted, the EC plans to issue guidelines that draw on ICANN's policy development work on access to personal data, she said. The EC is counting on ICANN to adopt rules for access to Whois data and start the discussion on ensuring such data is accurate, said Olivier Bringer, next-generation internet unit head. The briefing was on the potential impact of the DSA and cybersecurity measures on ICANN. The legislation would update the 2000 e-commerce directive governing the exemption from liability for illegal content of internet intermediaries (see 2101290006). That directive applies to specific services such as ISPs that act as conduits. The DSA proposes to leave the liability exemption intact but to add new rules requiring due diligence and set harmonized enforcement rules, said Irene Roche Laguna, EC deputy head-e-commerce and platforms unit. The EC considers registrars and registries to be within the DSA's scope and wants to clarify legally that they fall within the liability exception as mere conduits but also that they will have some light due diligence obligations for illegal content, Laguna said.
The FCC should “educate eligible consumers" about Lifeline and national verifier program requirements to align “with key practices for consumer education planning,” GAO reported Thursday. It said the FCC “coordinated with state and federal stakeholders" on the NV, but “many eligible consumers are not aware” of Lifeline. Eight House Commerce Committee Democrats sought the probe in 2018, and the auditor agreed last year (see 2006100041). “Consumers may lack” awareness “because FCC’s consumer education planning did not always align with key practices, such as developing consistent, clear messages and researching target audiences,” GAO said. “While FCC originally envisioned tribal governments and organizations assisting residents of tribal lands with the Verifier, it has not provided them with quality information.” The report recommended the FCC “provide tribal organizations with targeted information and tools.” The FCC should “identify and use performance measures to track the Verifier’s progress in delivering value to consumers” and “ensure that it has quality information on consumers’ experience with the Verifier’s manual review process,” the audit recommended. “Ensure that the Verifier’s online application and support website align with characteristics for leading federal website design, including that they are accurate, clear, understandable, easy to use, and contain a mechanism for users to provide feedback.” GAO suggested the FCC “convert the Verifier’s online application, checklifeline.org, to a ‘.gov’ domain.” The current website includes the FCC’s logo, but “we found that it may not be easily recognizable by an average user, and we found no other indicator that USAC is working on behalf of the U.S. government." The FCC responded that Universal Service Administrative Co. is acting, including developing a “more comprehensive communications plan” in Q1. USAC plans improved tribal outreach this year, including a “Tribal-specific Lifeline webinar each quarter,” the FCC said: The General Services Administration agreed to convert the Lifeline application to a .gov domain “if we simply make the National Verifier a subdomain” of fcc.gov, “which is the path we intend to take.”
Ethos Capital's buying control of Donuts isn't a plot for back door control of .org, a Donuts representative told us Monday. The venture capital firm announced Friday it's taking a controlling interest in the domain name giant, which recently bought top-level domain registry Afilias. ICANN shot down Ethos Capital's attempt last year to buy the Public Interest Registry (PIR), which operates .org, after an outcry from public interest advocates and some lawmakers (see 2005010003). It's unclear whether the private equity firm's buy of Afilias, which runs .org's technical operations, could signal another try for PIR, emailed Jothan Frakes, CEO of registrar Plisk.com. "No," emailed Donuts founder and board member Paul Stahura. The technical registry fees Afilias receives for operating .org are small in proportion to Afilias' revenue, and when combined with Donuts, even smaller, he said. Moreover, PIR and the Internet Society, which owns it, have the option to move their back-end provider to whoever offers the best service for the lowest price, Stahura added. The combined shows "really noteworthy" domain name industry consolidation, Frakes said: Centralnic made numerous acquisitions in 2020, as did mmx.co, which acquired ICM Registry, while GoDaddy bought Neustar's registry business. The industry "saw some consistency" in the shifts that working during the pandemic caused, he said. Not only did registrations continue, but the secondary market also had growth. There were record domain name sales, such as $20 million for money.com. It's important to keep an eye on how these vertically integrated businesses operate and whether competition remains, Frakes said. Ethos Capital didn't comment.