The contract between the US Commerce Departments National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is set to expire on September 30. Cruz, who has scheduled a Wednesday hearing on the transition, has said the proposal will “give away the Internet” to a multinational organization, even though ICANN’s authority is limited to managing the domain name system.
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They are concerned that the new ICANN organisation lacks accountability and will not be subject to anti-trust controls, and claim the government should have sought Congress’ approval before handing over the contract to manage the internet naming system. “We look forward to ICANN convening stakeholders across the global internet community to craft an appropriate transition plan”. “We call on you to address the questions and concerns detailed above and to reconsider the Administration’s current plans to transition the IANA functions on October 1, 2016”.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency within the Department of Commerce, said last month it will go ahead with its plan to transfer supervision of the IANA functions to a multistakeholder body on October 1, in line with a plan first announced in March 2014.
GAO says IANA transition is not a transfer of government property, which would require congressional approval.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is upping the ante in his fight to make sure the U.S. maintains control over the Internet.
As Members of the legislative branch, Congress should stand united to rein in this President, to protect the constitutional authority expressly given to Congress to control disposition of property of the United States.
However, the tech companies wrote that the transition is “ready to be executed”, and that it’s “imperative” that Congress not hold it up.
“The truth is that nobody, including the U.S. Government, has a “control of the Internet” to hand over”, ICANN wrote in a brief.
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In a letter to key Congressional leaders, the Internet Society’s CEO, Kathryn Brown, has urged Congress to allow the IANA stewardship transition to proceed without delay.
