NTIA Opposes Calls for IANA Transition Delay

“Failing to follow through on the transition or unilaterally extending the contract will only embolden the authoritarian regimes that routinely advocate for government-led or intergovernmental management of the Internet via the” ITU, Strickling said in a letter to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Strickling also sent identical letters to Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Dean Heller, R-Nev., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. The senators jointly wrote Strickling in May urging NTIA to delay the transition for an unspecified period to evaluate whether post-transition IANA and related changes to ICANN's accountability mechanisms work as intended (see 1605250051). Strickling said former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and retired Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Cartwright oppose delaying the move, as does the Global Commission on Internet Governance. “The global Internet community, comprised of businesses, technical experts, and public interest groups, support this transition and want to see the United States follow through on its long-standing, well-considered commitment to privatize the domain name system,” Strickling said.

“Absent a unique and extreme set of facts, [the federal government] presumptively will oppose any invitation to the [Governmental Advisory Committee] GAC to join other parts of the ICANN multistakeholder community” in exercising community= accountability powers against the organization's board, Strickling said. He said that allowing GAC to exercise the community's powers “risks converting the GAC's role from that of an expert body providing public policy advice to the Board into an operational role for which the GAC is not organized and at which the GAC likely could not be effective.” Strickling also attempted to ease senators' concerns about a proposed ICANN bylaw that would commit it to internationally recognized human rights. He said the plan “makes it clear that whatever the commitment to internationally recognized human rights, it will be constrained by the mission and core values set forth in the ICANN bylaws.”

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told us Tuesday he's still considering his position on whether the IANA transition should be delayed, acknowledging colleagues' concerns. “We're listening to our members and there's a lot of concern and skepticism about moving forward” with the transition, Thune said in an interview off the Senate floor. “We'll see what that means but there are obviously serious concerns about it at this point.” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is pressing for passage of the Protecting Internet Freedom Act (HR-5418/S-3034), which would prohibit NTIA from allowing the IANA transition unless Congress “expressly grants” the NTIA administrator the authority to allow it (see 1606080044).

The Coalition for Online Accountability (COA), which includes Disney, 21st Century Fox and seven other U.S. entertainment sector entities, raised doubts about the IANA transition via a letter to House and Senate Judiciary leaders. “Significant questions remain regarding ICANN's current readiness to undertake all the roles” that the IANA transition would remove from U.S. oversight, COA counsel Steven Metalitz wrote Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Senate Judiciary ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich. COA focused on ICANN ability to enforce obligations in its contracts with domain name registrars and the possibility the IANA transition could increase the legal risks for country code top-level domains (ccTLDs).

ICANN's record on registrar contract enforcement “has not improved” in the year since Metalitz testified before the House IP Subcommittee on the contracts issue, he told lawmakers. “COA participants have brought to the attention of domain name registrars numerous examples of registrants who are using their domain names to operate sites that are clearly built upon” copyright infringement, he said. Registrars frequently “take no effective action to respond or even to investigate these complaints," Metalitz said. "Although several of these cases have been escalated to formal requests that ICANN investigate violations of the registrars’ contractual obligations to ICANN, most of these request have been summarily dismissed, and none has resulted (to our knowledge) in any adverse consequences for registrars that have turned a blind eye to this massive copyright theft.”

ICANN and Verisign reached an agreement on a post-transition root zone maintainer services agreement (RZMA), said ICANN Global Domains Division President Akram Atallah in a blog post Tuesday. NTIA asked the two entities to work together on a proposal for transitioning agency administration of the Root Zone Management System in parallel with the IANA transition. The agreement includes an extension of Verisign's .com registry agreement to coincide with the term of the new RZMA. The new RZMA requires ICANN and Verisign to work in good faith to ensure the root zone's security, stability and resiliency, Atallah said. The new RZMA will be posted for public comment before the ICANN board will consider approving it, Atallah said. ICANN and Verisign began a 90-day testing period in April on a parallel version of the root zone file to ensure the file would remain reliable after the IANA transition (see 1604110038). Parallel testing of the root zone file is nearing completion, Atallah said.

The possibility that oversight of the IANA functions might not transition to ICANN is “not something we are contemplating,” said Cross Community Working Group to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions co-Chairman Jonathan Robinson during a session Tuesday at ICANN's Helsinki meeting. “Rather, we've been focused on getting ready” for the transition, Robinson said. “I guess there might be a position of go/no go at some point." He said that "probably the most significant items” might include whether the transfer of the IANA intellectual property rights might “in some sense become irrevocable.”