Senator John Thune on ICANN: “There is much oversight that Congress and my committee must do…”

As reported on internetcommerce.org Senate Commerce Committee Plans ICANN Oversight Hearing Elections do have consequences. Last year outgoing Senate Commerce Committee Chairman (D-WV) Jay Rockefeller resisted member requests to engage in oversight on the Obama Administration’s March 2014 announcement that it intended to end the U.S. counterparty role on the IANA functions contract and turn …

Senators Hatch and Blunt call for more awareness on issues of Internet governance

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, and Sen. Roy Blunt, member of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced a resolution Tuesday to increase awareness of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s announced intention to transition its stewardship role over the Internet’s domain name system to the global community. …

IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) announced its transition proposal Assembly and Finalization Process

The IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) announced its transition proposal Assembly and Finalization Process – https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-transition-assembly-finalization-24dec14-en.pdf [PDF, 89 KB]. This document explains the process that the ICG will follow for assembly and finalization of the IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal. It includes information about the ICANN Board’s role in conveying the final transition proposal to …

WSJ: Congress budget bill requires the administration to maintain U.S. oversight of the Web

The U.S. Congress has saved the Internet from President Obama. The White House had planned to end American protection for online freedom next year, but Congress used its power of the purse in the recent omnibus budget bill to nix the plan. That should delay any change at least until 2017. It’s hard to imagine …

Breaking: U.S. Government Funding Bill Delays IANA Transition

By Philip S. Corwin on CircleID: On the evening of Tuesday, September 9th, Congressional leaders unveiled a 1,603 page, $1.01 trillion FY 2015 appropriations bill to fund the U.S. government through the end of September 2015. One provision of the omnibus bill would delay the IANA transition until after the September 30, 2015 expiration of …