The Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM)...
The Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act is intended to “block” NTIA’s transitioning of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, said Greg Shatan, Reed Smith partner and member of ICANN’s Intellectual Property Constituency, by email Tuesday. The…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
DOTCOM Act was introduced last week in response to NTIA’s decision to transition the IANA functions to a global multistakeholder body, said a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1gGRPmJ) from co-sponsor Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Todd Rokita, R-Ind., and John Shimkus, R-Ill. (WID March 28 p9). “America shouldn’t surrender its leadership on the world stage to a ‘multistakeholder model’ that’s controlled by foreign governments,” said Blackburn in the release. “This seems to ignore a number of the points set out in the NTIA announcement, which specifically says that any government-led or intergovernmental led solution will be rejected,” said Shatan, citing Blackburn’s statement. The “implementation of the multistakeholder model to assume the IANA oversight functions hasn’t been proposed” and “the process of developing that implementation hasn’t even been proposed yet,” he said. “Yet somehow, these lawmakers believe they need to pull out jingoistic rhetoric to support wild-eyed claims that the Internet could turn into ‘another Russian land-grab,'” said Shatan, citing another remark by Blackburn from the release. There are legitimate reasons to be “careful and concerned about the IANA transition,” but “these are not good reasons and this type of knee-jerk bill-introducing and hearing-calling does not help the process or the US role in that process,” he said. The transition is “inevitable” and the “writing is on the wall,” whether “one agrees with it or not,” said Laura DeNardis, American University professor of communications and author of The Global War for Internet Governance, in a later interview. “The transition is going to occur one way or another, and it’s better for the United States government to be a key player at the table, making sure that this truly is a multistakeholder endeavor,” she said. The House Communications Subcommittee scheduled a hearing on the subject Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. Blackburn, Rokita and Shimkus didn’t comment.