Greg Walden led Committee to review DOTCOM Act and discuss Transition of Internet Oversight Functions
The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), has scheduled a legislative hearing for Wednesday, May 13, at 2:00 p.m. in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “Stakeholder Perspectives on the IANA Transition.”
The Obama administration last year announced plans for a process that could remove the United States, specifically the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, from its oversight role of critical Internet functions. The administration asked the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), to explore ways to transition responsibility for oversight of the Internet Assigned Number Authority from the United States to the multi-stakeholder Internet community.
Members will hear from a variety of stakeholders to learn more about where the transition stands and what affect it may have on the Internet. Additionally, members will review H.R. 805, the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act, legislation authored by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) that would provide a period of one year for the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office to study any potential consequences before the transition can occur.
The Majority Memorandum, a witness list, and witness testimony will be available here as they are posted.
DOTCOM Act was Introduced in House in 2014
Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act of 2014 or the DOTCOM Act of 2014 – Prohibits the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information from relinquishing or agreeing to any proposal relating to the relinquishment of the responsibility of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) over Internet domain name system functions (including the authoritative root zone file, Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions, and related root zone management functions) until the Comptroller General (GAO), within one year after the NTIA receives a relinquishment proposal developed in a process convened by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) at the request of the NTIA, submits a report to Congress regarding the role of the NTIA with respect to the Internet domain name system.
Requires such GAO report to include: (1) advantages and disadvantages of such relinquishment of NTIA responsibility; (2) any principles or criteria that the NTIA sets for relinquishment proposals, as well as an analysis of each proposal received by the NTIA; (3) the processes used by the NTIA and any other federal agencies for evaluating proposals; (4) any national security concerns; and (5) a definition of “multistakeholder model” as used by the NTIA with respect to Internet policymaking and governance.
