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Discusses the notion of a universal communications identifier and the “tree root” of this – the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) of the USA. States this may have generated misplaced integrity in ITU, which has proved false as the so‐called “number tree” has three main assumptions, none of which are tenable.

To report on the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science held in St Louis, Missouri in February 2006.

An overview of the seminars, symposia, workshops and presentations at the conference.

The theme of the meeting was Grand Challenges, Great Opportunities. The meeting was attended by 4,000 registrants, 105 exhibitors; and 900 members of the press. The meeting highlighted the academic role and infrastructure of technology in different science applications, including publishing, and national policy.

A report of interest to library and information management professionals.

This paper aims to describe the history of cyber security public international law since 1850 that is found in treaty instruments developed by the signatory nations of what is now known as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Because of the esoteric nature of the subject and, until recently, the very difficult access to reference materials, knowledge of these provisions was confined to a handful of scholars.

To prepare this article, it was necessary to download the entire new ITU History Portal collection of treaty instruments, adding the US archive collection scans of missing documents, conversion to plain text, identification and linking of key provisions across time, detecting the differences, and then pursuing related material to find out why the text arose.

What the material reveals is a 150‐year history of cybersecurity law that is not only relevant to significant developments today, but also controlling as a set of obligations that virtually every nation has accepted.

It is hoped that this article will not only be helpful going forward in dealing with the difficult challenges of evolving these provisions, but will also serve as a kind of template for a new generation that not only questions authority, but also appreciates the value of source materials, accessing them, and doing the necessary analysis rather than just visiting a search engine.

The history of the cyber security public international law in the international telecommunication treaty instruments has never been compiled before.

The purpose of this paper is to show that, over the past 20 years, a combination of industry, technological, and legal developments has effectively ended the viability of standards bodies to charge for their published specifications and related registration information. These trends have been especially significant in the information‐telecommunications (ICT) and security fields.

The article discusses developments in standards and related registration systems, why they are essential for industry, government, and consumers, and describes emerging features of next generation standards publishing and related identity management services.

These shifts to next generation standards business, cybersecurity, and identity management models will be complex – given the global diversity of the activities.

Although some discourse on standards availability, copyright, and registration/verification of identifiers independently exists, no known published material treats all three as an integrated ensemble.

Explains the necessity for measurement of Internet growth so that capacity, commercial potential, etc. may be planned and assessed. Argues that this cannot be measured merely by packet counts and user registrations. Presents detailed analysis of over 13,000 sites, worldwide. Develops a mathematical model which can be used to predict growth, by individual countries and globally. Offers further topics for future research.

Discusses the telecommunications infrastructure of the USA and issues surrounding its restructuring. Describes the role and impact of broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) in applications development and the societal implications of this change. Points out that global development of broadband technologies makes personal access to multimedia applications possible and promotes new information‐sharing partnerships. Argues for an holistic, ethical approach to future development of ISDN.

Rejects arguments that ICANN is engaged in mere technical management or technical co‐ordination, rather than political governance. Examines ICANN’s structure through the lens of Aristotle’s philosophy, stating Aristotle was not democratic in a modern sense. Proclaims Aristotle saw representative structures as an important check on élite and economic power, also as a source of valuable competing perspective.