US lawmakers are worried over the domain name system (DNS) issue. But they either don’t understand what’s happening, or don’t want to listen to competent professionals, from ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade and Assistant Secretary of Commerce Lawrence Strickling, to independent observers.
This week Representatives Todd Rokita, John Shimkus and Marsha Blackburn submitted a bill to complicate the transition of oversight over DNS from the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the “global multistakeholder community.” After that, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on the “security, stability, resilience and freedom of the global internet,” where Chehade and Strickling testified.
Dissatisfied with the progress, Representative Mike Kelly introduced the Internet Stewardship Act to make the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition a matter that requires Congressional legislation.
It is obvious that the majority of lawmakers do not understand the point at issue, which is the essence of DNS and its technical management. However, speaking about the “critical internet functions” and the danger of backwards regimes suppressing internet freedom could stop the parliament of any country from abandoning control over the DNS zone, especially the US Congress, the Republican members of which will do everything they can to bury any initiative by the Democratic Obama administration.
If Kelly’s bill is approved, the ICANN-proposed multistakeholder model will be laid to rest. Hopefully, this will not happen.
