Professor Geist’s regular Toronto Star Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) examines the controversy over VeriSign’s Site Finder service. The column argues that there has been a general lack of enthusiasm for Internet governance issues but when it finally mattered – the moment VeriSign hit the switch – the Internet community learned how powerless it has become as ICANN and national governments did little to protect the public interest. While VeriSign may eventually drop the service, the column concludes that the Internet community will look back on the day that Internet governance mattered and remember that they didn’t.
The Day Internet Governance Mattered
September 22, 2003
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Episode 276: Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard on Canada’s Access to Information Failures and Why Access Delayed is Access Denied
byMichael Geist

June 22, 2026
Michael Geist
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