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[Paper] Analysis of the Effects of COVID-19 Related Lockdowns on IMRS Traffic
by Fahd Batayneh April 18, 2020

April 18, 2020

Friends and Colleagues, I trust this finds you well. A new paper entitled “Analysis of the Effects of COVID-19 Related Lockdowns on IMRS Traffic” has been released by ICANN’s Office of the CTO (OCTO). Restrictions during COVID-19-related lockdowns and school closures are expected to have a limited, but noticeable effect on the Domain Name System (DNS) traffic at ICANN Managed Root Servers (IMRS). ICANN’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) has studied the impact of a nationwide lockdown in France on changes in both traffic volume and composition to the four IMRS instances in France. The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) Atlas probes showed that traffic for the French IMRS instances mostly originated in France. The lockdown in France started 17 March 2020 (week 12 of 2020). Traffic statistics for this week showed a 28% increase compared to the average of the previous 6 weeks. A comparative analysis was done between week 6 and week 12, and the following categories were compared: * Queries for existing top-level domains (TLDs) * Queries that originate from Chromium-based browsers * Queries for large TLDs * Queries for popular TLDs (.home, .lan, .corp, and .local) * All other queries Most categories had an increase in traffic, contributing to the overall increase. The largest category of queries originated from Chromium browsers, which remained at about one third of all received requests. Some categories grew faster than others. The largest percentage increase came from the four categories of popular nonexistent TLDs (.corp, .home, .lan and .local). This is likely due to people working more from home, as normally workers are congregated in offices using a set of resolvers that understand how to respond to .corp, .lan, and .local domains. Now, they are now more dispersed and working from home using resolvers that may not understand how to respond to these domains. This would also explain the increase in .home queries: more people using the Internet more often from their homes. The effects of nationwide lockdowns have had a limited, but noticeable effect on the DNS traffic at IMRS instances when observed at a country level. This increase in DNS traffic can be observed overall and the fact that no issues have arisen suggests that the DNS architecture is well suited to scale during remote work and increased use at home. Worth noting that the RIPE NCC Atlas probes were utilized to collect traffic data. You can access the paper here >> https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/octo-008-en.pdf [PDF]. The full list of papers published by ICANN’s OCTO can be accessed here >> https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/octo-publications-2019-05-24-en. Happy reading! Thank you, Fahd Batayneh ICANN

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[Paper] Study of the Prevalence of DNS Queries for CORP, HOME, and MAIL
by Fahd Batayneh April 17, 2020

April 17, 2020

Friends and Colleagues, A new paper entitled “Study of the Prevalence of DNS Queries for CORP, HOME, and MAIL” has been released by ICANN’s Office of the CTO (OCTO). This work studies the prevalence of Domain Name System (DNS) queries for domains ending in the top-level labels CORP, HOME, and MAIL in traffic to the root servers over an extended period of time. The frequency of queries and the number of unique source addresses are measured and compared to queries for other non-existent domains. You can access the paper here >> https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/octo-007-en.pdf [PDF]. Thank you, Fahd Batayneh ICANN

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[Webinar] Middle East Space - IDNs and Universal Acceptance from an Arabic Script Perspective
by Fahd Batayneh April 11, 2020

April 11, 2020

Friends and Colleagues, You are cordially invited to attend a webinar as part of our series of webinars around ICANN’s remit and the DNS. Title: Middle East Space - IDNs and UA from an Arabic Script Perspective Date and Time: Wednesday 15 April 2020 at 10.00 – 11.15 AM UTC Where: Zoom at https://icann.zoom.us/j/914088272 The webinar will be delivered in Arabic with live interpretation to English available. If you wish to tune in to the Arabic channel, you can login to the Zoom room and connect your audio directly. But if you wish to listen in English, you will have to dial-in using one of the dial-in numbers at https://www.adigo.com/icann and enter 9001 when prompted. We look forward to seeing you online. Thank you, Baher, Seher, and Fahd Global Stakeholder Engagement – Middle East ICANN

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FW: ICANN68 to be Held as Remote Public Meeting
by Fahd Batayneh April 10, 2020

April 10, 2020

FYI… ICANN68 to be Held as Remote Public Meeting. Fahd Batayneh ICANN Date: Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 9:53 PM Subject: ICANN News Alert -- ICANN68 to be Held as Remote Public Meeting ICANN68 to be Held as Remote Public Meeting 09 April 2020 LOS ANGELES – 9 April 2020 – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced that its ICANN68 Policy Forum, which was to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will now be held via remote participation only. The ICANN Board of Directors has made the decision that ICANN68 will not proceed as an in-person meeting. Instead, the Board has directed the ICANN org to explore additional community feedback and suggestions, in order to develop a meaningful and productive ICANN68 Policy Forum while we are unable to meet in person. The meeting, scheduled for 22-25 June 2020, will be the second time ICANN has held a Public Meeting solely with remote participation. ICANN67, which was originally slated to be held in Cancún, Mexico, from 7-12 March 2020, was held as ICANN's first entirely remote virtual meeting following the declaration of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. With an increasing number of countries issuing stay-at-home, lockdown, or social-distancing orders to its citizens to slow the spread of COVID-19, gatherings and international travel are effectively on pause for the foreseeable future. The health and safety of ICANN's community is a top priority, and as such, convening ICANN68 as an in-person meeting is no longer feasible. Following the success of ICANN67 as a Virtual Community Forum, the ICANN org sought the ICANN community's feedback on how to improve future virtual meetings. In its decision, the Board also directed ICANN org to coordinate with the ICANN community on the best way forward in order to meet the expected outcomes of an ICANN Policy Forum. The community's feedback will be incorporated into the planning and execution of ICANN68. ICANN thanks the Kuala Lumpur host committee and our regional partners in Asia Pacific (APAC), who have provided their support and expertise throughout the planning process for ICANN68. We look forward to returning to the APAC region for future ICANN Public Meetings. Those interested in attending the virtual meeting will still be required to register. An announcement will be posted once registration is open. To learn more about remote participation, visit ICANN Public Meetings. More information, including information about the meeting's time zone, language interpretation options, and final schedule will be provided at a later date. About ICANN ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.

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[Webinar Recording] The Domain Name System in the Time of COVID-19: A Technical Perspective
by Fahd Batayneh April 10, 2020

April 10, 2020

Friends and Colleagues, For those who were interested in this webinar yet could not attend, the recording can be accessed here >> https://icann.zoom.us/rec/share/uslOdenC9lpIZZWd2HvVWYAlR4bneaa81SYY8qcKyxk…. Thank you, Fahd Batayneh ICANN Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2020 at 12:36 PM Subject: [Webinar] The Domain Name System in the Time of COVID-19: A Technical Perspective Date: Thursday 9 April 2020 at 13.00 UTC To attend, please register here >> https://icann.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50vdu-orT8rF90zNqu-Mos5b-k3U2RZcg Experts from ICANN’s Office of the CTO (OCTO) will be discussing how the Internet, and the Domain Name System (DNS) in particular, are performing during the COVID-19 crisis. The program will feature observations of DNS resiliency and other COVID-19 related issues from an ICANN perspective. Highlights from observations of DNS queries, along with news on community-based efforts to address DNS abuse will be featured topics. An invitation to partner with ICANN OCTO in ongoing research efforts, will also be shared. Attendees are invited to contribute to the conversation with questions or comments. Speakers: * Matt Larson, Vice President of Research * John Crain, Chief Security, Stability, and Resiliency Officer Attached is an official invitation. We look forward to seeing you there. Fahd Batayneh ICANN

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[Online Course] Registrant Basics: Essentials for Domain Name Holders
by Fahd Batayneh April 8, 2020

April 8, 2020

Friends and Colleagues, ICANN Learn (https://learn.icann.org/) is offering a new and free online course entitled “Registrant Basics: Essentials for Domain Name Holders”. The course is described as follows: This course aims to educate both actual domain name holders (registrants) and the broader end-user community about the rights and responsibilities of registrants. This includes the role a registrant has in the domain name ecosystem, and the ICANN policies that affect them. Many domain name holders do not even realize that they are defined as ‘registrants’ per ICANN’s contractual terminology, and are often confused about what domain names are, what ICANN’s role is, and what are the policies that individuals must follow when they either register or manage a domain name. In addition to covering the basics about being a registrant and the fundamentals of domain name management, this course will also introduce more advanced content, such as how to protect domain names from being stolen or “hijacked.” If you have never logged into ICANN Learn, all you have to do is to create an account and login. You then search for the course from the courses catalogue under “ICANN Ecosystem” and enroll. And if you have any feedback, please share it with us at ICANNLearn(a)icann.org. Enjoy! Thank you, Fahd Batayneh ICANN

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[Webinar] The Domain Name System in the Time of COVID-19: A Technical Perspective
by Fahd Batayneh April 7, 2020

April 7, 2020

Date: Thursday 9 April 2020 at 13.00 UTC To attend, please register here >> https://icann.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50vdu-orT8rF90zNqu-Mos5b-k3U2RZcg Experts from ICANN’s Office of the CTO (OCTO) will be discussing how the Internet, and the Domain Name System (DNS) in particular, are performing during the COVID-19 crisis. The program will feature observations of DNS resiliency and other COVID-19 related issues from an ICANN perspective. Highlights from observations of DNS queries, along with news on community-based efforts to address DNS abuse will be featured topics. An invitation to partner with ICANN OCTO in ongoing research efforts, will also be shared. Attendees are invited to contribute to the conversation with questions or comments. Speakers: Matt Larson, Vice President of Research John Crain, Chief Security, Stability, and Resiliency Officer Attached is an official invitation. We look forward to seeing you there. Fahd Batayneh ICANN

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FW: [Webinar] Preparing Critical Internet Infrastructure for Black Swan Events | Thursday 9 April 2020 | 12.30 UTC
by Fahd Batayneh April 6, 2020

April 6, 2020

The below webinar by AfriNIC may be of interest to some. It takes place on Thursday 9 April 2020 at 12.30 UTC. If interested, pre-registration is required. Fahd Date: Monday, April 6, 2020 at 12:27 PM Subject: [AfrICANN-discuss] Participate in AFRINIC's next webinar ''Preparing Critical Internet Infrastructure for Black Swan Events'' Dear Colleagues, Like many professionals around the world, recent events have affected your everyday practices and routines. You might even wish there was a fast forward button to skip 2020. One or more of the following may have happened to you: Working from home is the new normal Someone you know has lost all or part of their income Your children or friend’s children have had to stop going to school You have considered making a sacrifice to the gods of the Internet (ok — maybe not). You may also have realised that perhaps those people who were pushing for Internet access as a human right weren’t so wrong after all - the Internet is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s an essential requirement for survival in the 21st century. Join us as we discuss critical internet infrastructure. We will specifically focus on: What is critical Internet infrastructure? How do Black Swan events, e.g. pandemics, affect critical Internet infrastructure? How are critical infrastructure holding up around the world during this COVID-19 pandemic? How do we determine and plug the critical infrastructure deficits at organisational and national levels? Register >> https://zoom.us/webinar/register/2015686259690/WN_uNfJ7GZfT72__ktKZ2espw Date: 9th April 2020 Time: 16:30 GST (Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar) 12:30 UTC (Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire) 13:30 WAT (Nigeria, Cameroon) 15:30 EAT (Kenya, Uganda) The webinar will be in English. A French one will be organised later. Please do not forget to add the event to your calendar. -- Susan M.A. Otieno Marketing and PR Manager African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) t: +230 403 5100 | f: +230 466 6758 | tt: @afrinic | w: www.afrinic.net [afrinic.net] facebook.com/afrinic [facebook.com] | flickr.com/afrinic [flickr.com] | youtube.com/afrinicmedia [youtube.com]

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[Webinar] EPDP Phase 2 | Monday 6 April 2020 | 20.00 - 21.30 UTC
by Fahd Batayneh April 5, 2020

April 5, 2020

Friends and Colleagues, You are cordially invited to attend a webinar organized by ICANN’s At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC). Title: Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data Team – Phase 2 Date and Time: Monday 6 April 2020 at 20.00 – 21.30 UTC Location: Zoom at the following link >> https://icann.zoom.us/j/674955048?pwd=b3AzU2xYaFBBSkVZRlR3RzlnNmZzQT09 [Password: 123456] While the webinar will be delivered in English, both French and Spanish interpretation will be provided. The agenda for the webinar and other information can be found here >> https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=126431664 Thank you, Fahd Batayneh ICANN

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FW: Multilateral Diplomacy in times of COVID-19 - WebDebate
by Fahd Batayneh April 5, 2020

April 5, 2020

The below WeDebate organized by the Geneva Internet Platform may be of interest. It takes place on Tuesday 7 April at 11.00 AM UTC. If interested, please read on and register. Fahd Date: Monday, March 30, 2020 at 7:03 PM Subject: Multilateral diplomacy in times of COVID-19 - WebDebate Is this email not displaying correctly? View this email in your browser [ Multilateral diplomacy in times of COVID-19 Dear Colleagues, We invite you to join us on Tuesday, 7th April, at 11:00 UTC (13:00 CEST) for our next WebDebate: Multilateral diplomacy in times of COVID-19. In the WebDebate we will: unpack the role of the UN system and the WHO in particular branch out to consider the role of multilateral diplomacy more broadly. Is multilateralism failing us, and if so why? look ahead – will we see elements of a new UN or a new multilateral system emerge after the crisis? Register Our Speakers Amb. Umej Bhatia is Singapore’s permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva. He joined the foreign service in 1996 and has served in various capacities on issues covering Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the UN in the ministry's headquarters. Fabrizio Hochschild-Drummond is special adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Preparations for the Commemoration of the United Nations’ 75th Anniversary. He has been serving as assistant secretary-general for Strategic Coordination in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General since 2017. Dr Owain Williams is a senior research fellow at the University of Leeds (POLIS). He is a former fellow at the University of Queensland School of Public Health and the Centre for Health and International Relations, the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University, UK. About our WebDebates The WebDebates on the future of diplomacy are live streamed on the first Tuesday of every month. They are organised by Diplo within the framework of the International Forum on Diplomatic Training (IFDT). Diplo's WebDebates Team

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