US House Communications Subcommittee Approves DOTCOM Bill

On a pure party line vote following a markup with plenty of partisan debate, the House Communications Subcommittee favorably reported the DOTCOM (Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters) Act to the full committee. The vote was 16 to 10. The bill would require the GAO to complete a report on the National Telecommunications & Information …

Second Bill Introduced to block ICANN oversight transition

Barely a week after Representatives Todd Rokita, John Shimkus (IL-15), and Marsha Blackburn (TN-7) introduced the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Bill  in response to the Department of Commerce announcement that the U.S. would relinquish its oversight of the Internet’s domain name system (DNS) to a poorly-defined ‘global Internet community.’ Rep. Kelly has …

35 U.S. Senators led by John Thune and Marco Rubio demand answers on ICANN transition

Apr 02 2014 Thune, Rubio Demand Answers from Administration on Internet Transition Washington, D.C. U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and 33 of their Senate Republican colleagues today sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of Commerce Larry Strickling, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), seeking clarification regarding the recent …

Larry Strickling, Fadi Chehadé, Steve DelBianco and Carolina Rossini to testify in house hearing on ICANN today

The  Energy & Commerce Committee of the United States House of Representatives will host a hearing today on the US giving up its oversight control over ICANN. The issues will border on Ensuring the Security, Stability, Resilience, and Freedom of the Global Internet. The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, …

ISOC Calls for Restoration of Full Internet Access in Turkey

31 March 2014 Internet Society(ISOC) President and CEO Kathy Brown issued the following statement today: We are deeply concerned with recent reports that the Turkish government is mandating curtailed access to key social media sites for millions of users across Turkey. Recent actions to implement the Turkish government’s requirement include the redirection of network routes …

Dirk Krischenowski applicant for .Berlin blazes ICANN over ‘Largely Failed’ TMCH

Internetworld.de, interviewed Dirk Krischenowski of .Berlin who blasted ICANN and the performance of the Trademark Clearing House (TMCH) The article was published in German and we used Google translate. Dirk chatted with the German publication about the recently completed Sunrise period for .Berlin, which is now in available to be registered. In the Sunrise Period …

ICANN’s credibility questioned after the rush to sign .africa contract before IRP determination

The recent ICANN 49 meeting in Singapore saw Akram Atallah, president of ICANN’s Global Domains Division (GDD) and Lucky Masilela, CEO of ZA Central Registry (ZACR) participate in a symbolic signing ceremony that allows the new gTLD “.Africa” to proceed to delegation. The Announcement by ICANN continues that “This marks the first Registry Agreement signed …

US House of Representatives seek review of Obama plan to relinquish U.S. oversight of the Internet

Three Republican Congressmen have introduced a bill that would prevent the US government giving away from oversight of the DNS root zone. In the press release Rokita and Colleagues Seek Review of Obama Plan to Relinquish U.S. Oversight of the Internet. Read the entire Rep. Todd Rokita Press release below Rokita and Colleagues Seek Review …

Breaking: House Republicans draft bill to block Internet oversight transition

A group of House Republicans in a press release introduced a bill Thursday that would prohibit the Obama administration from moving forward with its announced plans to relinquish oversight of the technical side of the Internet’s Web address system. “America shouldn’t surrender its leadership on the world stage to a ‘multistakeholder model’ that’s controlled by …