Governing Internet Territory: ICANN, Sovereignty Claims, Property Rights and Country Code Top-level Domains

This paper examines the legal and Internet governance controversies over country code top-level domain names (ccTLDs). In recent litigation (Weinstein v. Islamic Republic of Iran and ICANN), terrorism victims argued that ccTLDs are property and attempted to seize Iran’s .IR domain for compensation. In refusing to uphold this claim, an appeals court ruled that a court-ordered redelegation would impair the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN’s) role in global Internet governance. While the .IR case is recent, the underlying tensions between state sovereignty, the role of ICANN and the rights of organizations that have been awarded ccTLDs have been simmering for two decades. Three governance models are in play: a sovereignty-based model, a property rights/market-based model, and a global public trustee model. The legal and political science literature leaves this Internet governance issue unexplored and unsettled, while court rulings on the property status of domains have been mixed or indecisive. Most legal scholars merely assume that states have sovereignty rights over their ccTLDs and do not critically assess the justification for, or the implications of, a sovereignty-based model. Likewise, many legal scholars, governments and Internet governance institutions have resisted recognizing TLD delegations as a property right, but their arguments are often based on misunderstandings of the economics and technology of the domain name system. Drawing on law, economics and sovereignty theories, this paper shows that top-level domain names have all the essential features of a property right. It argues that a governance regime that recognized them as such would be preferable to a regime based on sovereignty claims or a global public trustee model.

Mapping the cybersecurity institutional landscape

© Emerald Publishing LimitedAn exploration of cybersecurity institutional landscape suggests that ex post efforts like botnet mitigation, route monitoring and other activities involving information sharing seem to work under a variety of combinations of governance structures which govern cybersecurity

Effect of the Sound of the Holy Quran on the Physiological Responses and Pain Caused by Blood Sampling from the Heels of Hospitalized Neonates at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Background: Invasive procedures could change the physiological responses of neonates. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the sound of the Holy Quran on the physiological responses and pain caused by heel stick blood sampling in neonates. Methods: This three-stage, two-group, clinical trial was conducted on 72 hospitalized term neonates at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Al-Zahra Hospital  in Isfahan, Iran during 2013-2014. Subjects were selected via simple random sampling and allocated to two groups of intervention and control. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of the demographic characteristics, physiological responses, and pain of the neonates. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 18. Results: Post-hoc LSD test indicated that the mean respiratory and heart rates were significantly higher in the intervention group (sound of the Holy Quran) during blood sampling compared to before and three minutes after the procedure (

Cyber Security Politics: Socio-Technological Transformations and Political Fragmentation

This edited volume by CSS' Myriam Dunn Cavelty and CSS director Andreas Wenger, examines new and challenging political aspects of cyber security and presents it as an issue defined by socio-technological uncertainty and political fragmentation. The first part looks at the current use of cyber space in conflictual settings, while the second focuses on political responses by state and non-state actors in an environment defined by uncertainties. Within this, it highlights four key debates that encapsulate the complexities and paradoxes of cyber security politics from a Western perspective. This book will be of much interest to students of cyber security, global governance, technology studies, and international relations.Dieser Sammelband, herausgegeben von CSS Forscherin Myriam Dunn Cavelty und CSS Direktor Andreas Wenger, untersucht neue und herausfordernde politische Aspekte der Cybersicherheit und präsentiert sie als eine Problematik, welche durch sozio-technologische Unsicherheit und politische Fragmentierung definiert ist. Der erste Teil befasst sich mit der aktuellen Nutzung des Cyberraums in Konfliktsituationen, während sich der zweite Teil auf politische Reaktionen staatlicher und nichtstaatlicher Akteure in einem von Unsicherheiten geprägten Umfeld konzentriert. Darin werden vier Schlüsseldebatten hervorgehoben, welche die Komplexität und Paradoxa der Cybersicherheitspolitik aus westlicher Perspektive zusammenfassen. Dieses Buch wird von grossem Interesse für Studierende der Cybersicherheit, Global Governance, Technologiestudien und internationalen Beziehungen sein