Internet Association Responds To Post-Hearing Questions On ICANN

BECKERMAN: “The transition plan aligns the interests of internet users, prevents capture by any one stakeholder group or government such as China or Russia, and lays the foundation for a stable and secure internet.”

Washington, D.C. – Following his testimony to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation regarding the Internet Association’s support for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)’s plan to transition oversight of the domain name system to a multistakeholder model, Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of the Internet Association, received post-hearing questions from Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). Today, the Internet Association responded to the inquiry.

“The internet industry supports transitioning ICANN from U.S. government control to the self-regulatory model developed through the multistakeholder process,” said Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of the Internet Association. “The transition plan aligns the interests of internet users, prevents capture by any one stakeholder group or government such as China or Russia, and lays the foundation for a stable and secure internet.”

In response to the committee’s question about the ICANN community’s commitment to mitigating Domain Name System abuse through contract enforcement, Beckerman reiterated the internet industry’s support for ICANN’s ability to enforce its contracts with registries and registrars.

“The Internet Association firmly supports the ability of ICANN to enforce its contracts with registries and registrars.  As a group of companies entirely reliant on a stable and trustworthy internet, it is in our interest to prevent abusive behavior in the Domain Name System. Critical to that safe environment is a system in which all stakeholders do their part to ensure illicit activity is minimized.”

Responding to the committee’s question about the potential effectiveness, and subsequent enforcement, of a recently proposed accountability proposal, Beckerman reassured the committee that the provisions have preserved ICANN’s ability to enforce existing contracts.

However the submitted response also notes that “at the same time, it is important to note that ICANN has a narrow technical remit and, as ICANN CEO Göran Marby recently pledged, does not have the authority or capability to ‘interpret or enforce laws regulating websites or website content.’”

To read the full response, click here.

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