US SENATE HEARING: Preserving the Multistakeholder Model of Internet Governance

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation full committee held a hearing entitled “Preserving the Multistakeholder Model of Internet Governance”

Hearing Details: Wednesday, February 25, 2015 – 10:00 a.m. EST (US)

This hearing took place in Senate Russell Office Building, Room 253.
LIVE video REPLAY of the hearing available HERE.

Witnesses:

• Mr. Fadi Chehadé, CEO, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – Chehade Testimony 25 February 2015 – FINAL.pdf (124.4 KBs)

• Ambassador David Gross, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP, and former U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State – Amb. Gross Testimony.pdf (27.9 KBs); and

• Mr. Lawrence Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Commerce – NTIA Testimony 02-25-15 SCC Hearing.pdf (84.0 KBs)

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation convened the hearing on Wednesday, February 25, 2015, entitled “Preserving the Multistakeholder Model of Internet Governance.”

Chairman Thune’s Opening Statement

Senators Thune and Rubio Letter to ICANN, July 2014 (pdf)

Committee description of the Hearing:
As the U.S. government considers relinquishing control over certain aspects of Internet governance to the private sector, concerns remain that the loss of U.S. involvement over the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) could empower foreign powers – acting through intergovernmental institutions or other surrogates – to gain increased control over critical Internet functions. Featuring testimony from the U.S. government official assessing the threat to the Internet and the CEO of the organization that currently manages the Internet’s system of unique identifiers via contract with the U.S. government, the hearing will examine the potential benefits and preparedness of non-governmental actors to protect Internet governance functions from attempted interference by foreign governments.