Kelly Bows Bill Requiring NTIA To Secure U.S. 'Ownership' of .gov, .mil TLDs Pre-IANA Transition
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition got a new legislative challenge in the House Wednesday via the Securing America’s Internet Domains Act (HR-5329). Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., bowed the bill, which would require NTIA to extend its existing contract with…
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ICANN to administer the IANA functions through Sept. 30, 2019, unless the agency can certify it secured the U.S. government's “sole ownership” of the .gov and .mil top-level domains. Kelly’s office is working with several senators to get a Senate sponsor for the bill, a spokesman said. A Senate version of HR-5329 is likely to be introduced within the next two weeks, the spokesman said. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and other members of the Senate Commerce Committee raised concerns during a Tuesday hearing about whether the current agreement between the U.S. government and ICANN was sufficient to guarantee U.S. control of the two TLDs after the IANA transition is complete (see 1605240067). NTIA didn’t comment but previously said it’s working in response to Senate Commerce members' concerns to reaffirm the U.S. government's administration of the .gov and .mil TLDs. Kelly introduced the Defending Internet Freedom Act in 2014 and 2015 (see 1411200021 and 1506040052). The 2015 version of that bill (HR-2251) would require ICANN to adopt a community-driven IANA transition plan and a related set of changes to ICANN’s accountability mechanisms before NTIA would be allowed to proceed with the transition.