Dear Readers,

In recent years, various discussions on the architecture of new information and communication networks, which are different from the IP we use today, have been held in international standardization forums, with a view to the future 10 years or so from now. However, the number of participants from Japan in international standardization forums has been decreasing or holding steady, and in some cases, these activities are supported by volunteers. Special Article 1 provides an overview of JPNIC’s efforts to address these issues.

In Special Article 2, we report on the JPNIC business plan and budget for FY2021 approved by JPNIC members in March 2021, and the JPNIC business report and income and expenditure settlement for FY2020 approved in June 2021. The first delivery of the “JPNIC Talk Lounge” was held in conjunction with the General Meeting in June 2021. The guest speaker for the first session was Dr. Jun Murai, who spoke about his motivation for embracing the ambition of “connecting computers around the world,” his future prospects, and his enthusiasm for the realization of a digital society.

In the “Prologue to the Internet: its Technologies and Services”, the “JP29-type-robot “Nic-kun” and Dr. Netson of the Internet research institute explain the development of access to the Internet. Nowadays, it is common for PCs and cell phones to be always connected to the Internet, but how did people connect to the Internet when the Internet first became popular among end users? Let's take a look at how access to the Internet has evolved over the years.

In “Pick Out!”, we introduce featured articles from the JPNIC blog. This time, we feature an article about a joint project between APNIC and LACNIC to explore the technological success factors of the Internet. What impressed us is that this is probably the first joint call for proposals by multiple RIRs up to now, and it is also a very interesting project in that the goal of the research is not getting to the ideal state of the Internet in terms of general principles and ideals, but to try to seek success factors based on actual results, current status and objective indicators. For the full text visit https://blog.nic.ad.jp/2021/6060/!!

“Introducing JPNIC Members” focuses on a particular JPNIC member engaged in interesting activities. This time, we visited Hokuriku Telecommunication Network Co., Inc., headquartered in Kanazawa City, Kanazawa Prefecture. They are a subsidiary of Hokuriku Electric Power Company and are in charge of information and telecommunications services in the group. The company has been focusing on corporate customers since its inception. It is contributing to the development of ICT infrastructure in the Hokuriku region by providing a variety of services based on its own high-quality optical fiber network. The interview was conducted remotely between multiple locations in the relaxed atmosphere. We could strongly feel the company's sincere efforts to improve its strengths and their passion to always think about what they can do for their region and their customers.

“The Internet Loves You” is a corner in which we introduce a person who is active in the Internet industry. This time, we introduce Mr. Shigenori Takei, an engineer in the security field at NTT TechnoCross Corporation. He is actively involved in community activities not only in Japan but overseas, and is a member of JPNIC's Internet Week program committee. He talks about his career, his reasons for going into the Internet industry, and his habit of going for walks despite his busy schedule.

Security threats on the Internet are becoming more sophisticated and vicious by the day, and there is no end in sight. In addition to technical damage such as system intrusions and service disruptions, there is also a constant stream of attacks that lead to violations of human and property rights, and countermeasures tend to be reactive in approach. In our “10 Minute Internet Course” we explore the keyword “DNS Abuse”, which has been actively discussed at ICANN conferences in recent years as one countermeasure to security threats. There have been various claims made by a wide range of stakeholders at the ICANN forum. Therefore the definition of the term “DNS Abuse” cannot be easily settled. In this article, we cover the status of the discussion at ICANN regarding DNS Abuse and the current state of countermeasures.

In addition, you'll also find “Internet Topics”, “JPNIC Activity Reports”, “Statistics” etc., for the past several months. If you have any comments or feedback, please feel free to contact us at jpnic-news@nic.ad.jp. Your comments are greatly appreciated!!