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Resource Library

Everyone should have access to an open and trusted Internet.
Read our reports, papers, and other documents for insight and vision on how we can get there.

Action Plan 2024

Our roadmap for tackling the threats and challenges for today’s Internet as we look to grow and defend it for future generations.

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2023 Year in Review

The Year in Review shows the steps we took in 2023 to ensure the Internet is for everyone. Learn about the positive difference we made for the Internet.

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Internet Impact Briefs

Shorter reports that analyze how different policies or new technologies may affect what the Internet needs to exist and thrive.

Glossary of Internet Terms

Understand key terms and become fluent in the language of the Internet with our new and improved glossary. 

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Policy Briefs

Our perspective on critical Internet issues, including community networks, encryption, open Internet standards, Internet Exchange Points, and more.

Internet Crossing Borders: Boosting the Internet in Landlocked Developing Countries

Please note that this is NOT the full report, but the Executive Summary with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Case Studies. The full report will be ready soon, stay tuned for the ...

Encryption Brief

Encryption is the process of scrambling or enciphering data so it can be read only by someone with the means to return it to its original state ...

The Year That Was Report

A report on the initiatives and activities of the Asia-Pacific Bureau for 2017 ...

Policy Development Process at the Internet Society

The Internet Society advocates for policies that enhance security and privacy, enable the growth of Internet access, and promote the ecosystem of transparent, multistakeholder Internet governance ...

Unleashing Community Networks: Innovative Licensing Approaches

After more than 25 years of Internet development, there still remains a profound connectivity “gap” in many parts of the world, particularly in developing nations, leaving over half the global ...

Internet Society-Chatham House Roundtable on Encryption and Lawful Access

On 26 October 2017, the Internet Society and Chatham House convened an experts’ roundtable to deconstruct the debate and explore ways to bridge two important societal objectives: the security of ...

Cryptography: CEO Questions for CTOs

Cryptography is a complex topic – technically, operationally, and legally. It requires management and operational focus, with all the attention to planning and resources that implies - even when everything ...

Report from the Field: Post-Hurricane Connectivity in the Caribbean

We ask our community to join with us to both #ReconnectTheCaribbean, and also to work to ensure the networks are resilient to withstand the storms that may hit in 2018, ...

2017 Indigenous Connectivity Summit Community Report

The Indigenous Connectivity Summit, held November 8 and 9, 2017, at Hotel Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was the first Internet Society meeting to focus on connecting North ...

Internet Access and Education

The Internet has immense potential to improve the quality of education, which is one of the pillars of sustainable development. This Internet Society briefing outlines ways in which policymakers can ...

Enabling Digital Opportunities in the Middle East

The Middle East (ME) is an incredibly diverse region with over 350 million people with widely varying states of Internet access and digital readiness. Using research created ...

Policy Brief: Spectrum Approaches for Community Networks

Community networks are built and operated by people in the community; they are the result of people working together, combining their resources, organizing their efforts, and connecting themselves to close ...

Archives

WTSA 2016 Matrix of Resolutions

This chart summarizes the proposed changes to Internet related WTSA-12 resolutions (including new resolutions) in an effort to identify issues, areas of concern, organizations impacted, etc., on a best-efforts basis. Suggestions to ...

Statement for the House of Representatives: “Understanding the Role of Connected Devices in Recent Cyber Attacks”

Statement for the Record

“Understanding the Role of Connected Devices in Recent Cyber Attacks”
United States House of Representatives
Committee on Energy and Commerce
Joint Hearing of the
Subcommittee on ...

Call for submissions by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression

1 November 2016 Question addressed:

Please share information concerning the role of relevant standards and Internet governance bodies in protecting and promoting freedom of expression, and how that ...

2016 Email Marketing & Unsubscribe Audit

The 2016 Audit found that the vast majority of top online retailers have embraced unsubscribe best practices that go beyond mere compliance and have shown improvement since 2014 despite more ...

Overview of the Digital Object Architecture (DOA)

In preparation for the ITU's World Telecommunications Standardization Assembly (WTSA) 2016, the Internet Society received multiple questions around the Digital Object Architecture (DOA) being cited in several WTSA resolutions. To ...

Policy Brief: Internet Invariants

As the Internet becomes an increasingly more pervasive and critical piece of infrastructure, we need to understand both the network’s challenges and opportunities if we want it to continue to ...

Online Identity: Who, Me?

This brief document is the first of a series which is intended to serve as a useful reference for online identity-related topics, and will include links to a number of ...

Policy Brief: Zero-Rating

Recognizing that zero-rating has become a marketing tool for service providers and a policy issue for regulators, the Internet Society aims to provide a general framework for reviewing zero-rating offers ...

Policy Brief: The Internet of Things

Billions of smart devices are expected to come online in the coming decade, bringing with them the promise of global economic opportunities and new innovations that will transform the way ...

IANA Amicus Brief

On September 30, 2016, organizations and individuals within the Internet's technical and business communities filed the attached amicus brief in the lawsuit filed by the Attorney Generals of Arizona, Texas, ...

RW10k: Combating Spam as Network Operators

RW10k: Combating Spam as Network Operators
The Rwanda Information & Communicat ion Technology Association (RICTA) learned a tough lesson in 2016 when their web servers were attacked and used ...

Support for the timely transition of IANA Stewardship

September 12, 2016
The Honorable Charles Grassley
Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary 135 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Ted Cruz
Chairman, Subcommittee on ...

Organization Reports

On annual basis, we publish annual reports (an Action Plan and Impact Report), as well as financial reports, annual financial statements, and Form 990s.

See the Reports