Percentage of individuals using the Internet (selected nations)

Percentage of individuals using the Internet (selected countries)

ITU Plenipotentiary Info

20 Oct-7 Nov 2014

Official ITU Plenipot Website

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Percentage of individuals using the Internet

Percentage of individuals using the Internet
Internet Users: Canada, United States, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia, Brazil, China, Mexico, India, North Korea,

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Global Internet Report 2014, Users, Affordability, Speeds, Penetration

Global Internet Report 2014, Global Internet Penetration, Limits on Content (censorship), internet affordability, mobile internet penetration, download speed for fixed internet access,

New Internet numbers show continued growth | Internet Society: "Recently the ITU provided 2013 data, which we have used to update several of the maps. The numbers indicate some fascinating statistics about Internet usage in countries around the world for 2013:

• China has the largest number of Internet users at 634,589,474 
• Iceland has the highest Internet penetration at 96.55% 
• Papua New Guinea experienced the largest growth in Internet users, at 85.7%, from 3.5% penetration in 2012 to 6.5% in 2013"

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Internet Users As Percentage of Population Worldwide

Internet Users As Percentage of Population Worldwide - Data from World Bank - Last updated: July 30, 2014

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Focus on China: Internet User Growth Slows, Chinese Companies Go Global

China's total number of internet users crept up 2.3% to 632 million by the end of June, from 618 million at the end of 2013, according to a CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center) internet development statistics report (pdf). The number of China's internet users going online with a mobile device — such as a smartphone or tablet — has overtaken those doing so with a personal computer (PC) for the first time. Compared to the 53.58 million new Internet users added in 2013, the increase in the first six months of 2014 was relatively small which was due, in part, to declining smartphone sales according to state-run Xinhua news agency. According to IDC, China is the largest smartphone market in the world and will likely account for nearly one-third of the expected 1.8 billion smartphones shipped in 2018. More analysis below--

Computerworld: "...Although China has long reigned as the country with the world's largest Internet population, the services are still struggling to take off in the rural areas, where about 450 million people never go online, said the CNNIC in its bi-annual report. Total Internet penetration in China is at 46.9 percent. This is far lower than the U.S, which has a penetration rate of 87 percent, according to Internet World Stats. Many of these non-Internet users in China have low education levels, and have little need to surf the Web, the research group added...."

The Times of India: "... online mobile services with rapid growth from the end of 2013 include music, video, gaming, search, and group-buying, all of which experienced double-digit increases. The fastest growing services were mobile payment, where users shot up 63.4%, online banking, with a 56.4% rise, and mobile travel booking, which was up 65.4%... Users of microblogs such as Tencent Weibo... fell for the second six-month period in a row, by 1.9% to 275 million. They numbered 331 million at the end of June last year before the government in September started clamping down on "online rumours" which it said threatened social stability... mobile messaging apps such as Tencent's WeChat have since become venues of choice for users who want to express views without fear of retribution."

China Voice: More Internet companies should go abroad - Xinhua | English.news.cn: "During his trip to Brazil last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping, together with his Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff, witnessed the launch of the Portuguese version of China's Baidu search engine. It is not the first time that a Chinese Internet company has launched a non-Chinese search engine, but it is the first time that a Chinese state leader has helped promote its services. More Chinese Internet companies should compete internationally, as they now have the ability and can make the world's cyber environment more balanced and just...."

some Chinese Internet and Technology companies:
http://www.alibaba.com/
http://www.baidu.com/
http://www.jd.com/
http://www.lenovo.com/
http://www.mi.com/ (Xiaomi)
http://tencent.com/
http://www.weibo.com/
more info: Top 30: China's most valuable Internet Companies - Web2Asia 

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STUDY: Internet Users and Website Owners Prefer dot Com Domain Names

New gTLDs #FAIL: Devastating news for ICANN and the new gTLD proponents -- Businesses, internet users, and website owners prefer dot Com web addresses and  do NOT want to visit nor have new gTLD domain name websites -- says a new SCORE Study (excerpts and infographic below):

"How will new gTLDs impact​ small business?

• Four out of five SMB website owners prefer a .com web address over a new gTLD web address
• 81% of SMB website owners believe new gTLDs will be confusing to their customers
• 94% of Internet users feel safe visiting a .com website VS. 33% of Internet users feel safe visiting a new gTLD website

"What do small business owners consider when naming their website?

• 77% of SMB website owners prefer a .com web address over a new gTLD that describes their business
• 79% of Internet users would rather visit a .com web address than a new gTLD one that describes the business
• 66% of SMB website owners prefer a descriptive, longer .com web address to a shorter new gTLD one"

2014 SCORE and Verisign new gTLD Research Study

No wonder they are giving new gTLD domain names away for free ($-0-)!

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ICANN accountability, the public interest, new gTLD domain names

Recently our colleague, John Poole at Domain Mondo, submitted his input to the ICANN enchancing accountability process. In his email, he addressed fundamental issues facing ICANN --

"ICANN asks:

• What issues does the community identify as being core to strengthening ICANN's overall accountability in the absence of its historical contractual relationship to the U.S. Government?
• What should be the guiding principles to ensure that the notion of accountability is understood and accepted globally? What are the consequences if the ICANN Board is not being accountable to the community? Is there anything that should be added to the Working Group's mandate?
• Do the Affirmation of Commitments and the values expressed therein need to evolve to support global acceptance of ICANN's accountability and so, how?
• What are the means by which the Community is assured that ICANN is meeting its accountability commitments?
• Are there other mechanisms that would better ensure that ICANN lives up to its commitments?
• What additional comments would you like to share that could be of use to the ICANN Accountability Working Group?

"Where to start? The central issue and problem at ICANN is how the public interest is so disregarded. Time, and time again, we see examples of this. ICANN's multistakeholder model only contributes to this -- see: http://www.domainmondo.com/2014/05/the-real-problem-with-icann.html . What can ICANN begin to do better? Increase representation of 1) domain name registrants and 2) internet users (often referred to as "consumers") within ICANN, and diminish the presence and voices of those with profit-motives at stake in ICANN decisions, workings and outcomes.

"A real living example of how this plays out within ICANN:

"Is It ICANN's Job To Market New gTLD Domain Names? (go to the foregoing link for the full posting, excerpt follows) --

".... I think it is now clear why the public interest was so disregarded in ICANN's new gTLDs program--

“'The public at large, consumers and businesses, would be better served by no expansion or less expansion' of domains" said Jon Leibowitz, former chairman of the US Federal Trade Commission in the New York Times."

""I really can’t see a legitimate upside where new benefits [of the new gTLDS] outweigh costs, and everyone I mention this to feels the same way. People just shake their heads. It’s all about the money. They [ICANN] are creating these extensions because they can." University of Pennsylvania Wharton School marketing professor Peter Fader, co-director of the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative. (source: Knowledge@Wharton, emphasis added)

"Esther Dyson On New Top-Level Domains: “There Are Huge Trademark Issues” | TechCrunch: "... we are not running out of domains. This is a “way for registries and registrars to make money,” says Dyson. She also points out that “there are huge trademark issues. I just think it is offensive... It will create a lot of litigation.”" [see: Esther Dyson Told ICANN new gTLDs were a mistake in 2011 (video)]

"Tim Berners-Lee: "....when a decision is taken about a possible new top-level domain, ICANN's job is to work out, in a transparent and accountable manner, whether it is really in the best interest of the world as a whole, not just of those launching the new domain. It also means that ICANN's use of the funds should be spent in a beneficent way..."...."

What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to leave comments below.

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