ICANN

The 404 844: Where we're all missing the point (podcast)

Your favorite snacks from the '90s, including Gushers, Fruit by the Foot, and Handi Snacks are making a comeback on today's show, and we're also talking about what happens on the Internet every 60 seconds, new top level domains, and the worst sound in the world, CONFIRMED.

We're also debuting a new Stump the Host segment today! Enjoy today's episode of The 404 Podcast!

The 404 Digest for Episode 844

What happens on the Internet every 60 seconds. ICANN approves expansion of top-level domains, .sex included. 20 snacks that will make you miss the '90s. Whining is the worst sound in the world, study confirms.

Episode 844 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1493: We're all screwed. Drink. (Podcast)

It's both a fun game and a sad commentary on the state of our existence! On today's show, the average user is caught in the crossfire of the hacker wars, but dammit, even LulzSec agrees that Sega is off limits. Speaking of which, Donald might have been right about Bitcorn, rather than Bitcoin. Ouch. And how to restore the memories of really, really stoned rats. Poor little rats. --Molly

ICANN approves expansion of top-level domains

The Internet's primary governing body today approved the expansion of new top-level domains--one of the most dramatic changes in the Internet's history.

During a special meeting in Singapore, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted to dramatically increase the number of domain endings from the current 22, which includes the well-established .com, .net, and .org. The move will allow domains to end in almost any word, allowing companies to turn their brands into Internet extensions.

"ICANN has opened the Internet's naming system to unleash the global human imagination," Rod Beckstrom, president … Read more

ICANN hires Defcon founder as security chief

Jeff Moss, founder of the Defcon hacker conference and an advisor to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has been named chief security officer for the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Moss has an illustrious past and is well connected in hacker communities and well respected by officials in the U.S. government and security industry. He has been running Defcon for nearly 18 years, since the days when he was better known, at least online, as "Dark Tangent." He also runs the Black Hat briefings security conferences held around the world and … Read more

The 404 782: Where I am not naming my kid Josh (podcast)

The 404 Digest for Episode 782

Apple approves app that promises " cure for homosexuality." .xxx domain names coming to the Web. Ten years later, the Apple iPod may be on its way out. Download Angry Birds Rio free today on Amazon Appstore. Rebecca Black: waiting too long to choose a seat could cost you your life.

Episode 782 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Porn-friendly .xxx domains are a go

Porn Web sites may soon have their own virtual red light district in the form of a .xxx domain.

After more than seven years of political wrangling, delays, and policy reversals, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, gave what appears to be final approval to the controversial .xxx domain. The domains could start appearing within a few months.

On the other hand, it may make sense to wait until then to believe it, as ICANN has taken similar steps before.

Today's vote by the ICANN board during a meeting in San Francisco came after national … Read more

Obama admin calls for more ICANN accountability

The Obama administration today called for improvements in the mechanisms used to oversee Internet domain names, saying changes are needed to make the process more "accountable" and "transparent."

Larry Strickling, a Commerce Department assistant secretary, said that the California nonprofit group created in 1998 to oversee these functions--the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN--"needs" to do more to explain the reasoning for its decisions and to heed the advice of national governments.

"We still have work to do to make the reality of ICANN meet the vision," said … Read more

Governments press ICANN over new domain rules

A rare rift has developed between national governments and the nonprofit organization that oversees Internet domain names, with neither side showing signs of backing down in a dispute that includes trademarks and free expression.

In a statement released over the weekend, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, listed 23 areas of continued disagreement over the rules for approving new top-level domain names. Hundreds of applications for these suffixes are expected later this year, including .car, .love, .movie, .web, and .gay.

ICANN chairman Peter Thrush wrote (PDF) that his organization "has made a good faith effort … Read more

No support for U.S. proposal for domain name veto

The Obama administration has failed in its bid to allow it and other governments to veto future top-level domain names, a proposal before ICANN that raised questions about balancing national sovereignty with the venerable Internet tradition of free expression.

A group of nations rejected (PDF) that part of the U.S. proposal last week, concluding instead that governments can offer nonbinding "advice" about controversial suffixes such as .gay but will not receive actual veto power.

Other portions of the U.S. proposal were adopted, including one specifying that individual governments may file objections to proposed suffixes without paying … Read more