The Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House of Representatives (the lower house of the US Congress) has held hearings on transferring oversight over the internet’s domain name system (DNS) from the US Government to the online community. The initiative was proposed earlier by Lawrence E. Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce, which prompted a vigorous discussion of the issue. Many political figures – primarily, Republicans – expressed concern that this move could result in control over the internet being taken over by governments of countries that do not share the views of the United States on freedom and democracy. China and Russia were cited as examples of such countries. Oversight over the DNS was the main topic of hearings at the House of Representatives.
The witnesses invited by subcommittee chairman and Congressman Greg Walden, Lawrence Strickling and ICANN President Fadi Chehadé, assured that the transfer of DNS governance scheduled for September 2015 would be completed without any complications. “I stand in front of you today with a firm commitment that we will run an open, transparent process. We will keep it calm and wise. We have no rush. There is absolutely no rush. It's more important to get it right than to rush it,” Chehadé said. He also outlined the principles of the multi-stakeholder model that must replace control by the US Government. According to this model, an equal vote on all key issues of DNS governance will be given not only to government and research organizations, but also business representatives and all other parties interested in the development of the global network.
Lawrence Strickling noted that the Department of Commerce will not accept any other proposals that replace the NTIA role with a government-led or an inter-government-led solution. Chairman Greg Walden expressed his support. "If there are not sufficient safeguards in place to prevent foreign government intrusion, then this concept should go no further," Walden said.
