Testimony
of John M. R. Kneuer
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information
United States
Department of Commerce
Before the
Subcommittee on Communications
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Mr. Chairman,
Thank you and the members of the Committee for this opportunity to testify on the progress of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ICANN and the Department, and international discussions on Internet governance.
The Administration has been engaged in laying out its vision for future telecommunications and information services. The President announced the goal of universal and affordable broadband services for all Americans by 2007. In furtherance of this goal, the Administration has pursued a comprehensive set of policies, including spectrum reform, deregulation, and financial incentives, that have been demonstrably effective. Since the President took office, broadband has nearly tripled with the number of high speed lines growing from 9.6 million to 28.2 million. More Americans today access the Internet through broadband than narrowband connections.
While the Administration is committed to the future growth of this important industry, the Department has also continued to devote significant effort to ensure that the existing foundation of the Internet - - the domain name and addressing system - - remains stable and secure. It was a little over a year ago that Assistant Secretary Victory testified before you about the state of the Administration’s privatization efforts for the Internet domain name and addressing system (DNS) and the Department’s plans for amending the ICANN MOU to further this goal. Today I would like to focus my testimony on the progress made over this past year and the challenges we see for the future.
The Department’s Role and Relationship with ICANN
The Department continues to believe that the stability and security of the DNS can best be achieved through the privatization of and broad, international participation in the technical management of the system. The vehicle for achieving this goal is the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department and ICANN. ICANN, the entity responsible for day-to-day technical DNS management issues, was formed in response to the Department of Commerce’s call for a partner to lead the transition to private sector management of the DNS.
The relationship between the Department and ICANN is defined by contract, not regulation. The Department plays no role in the internal governance or day-to-day operations of the organization. However, under the terms of the MOU, the Department provides oversight to ensure that ICANN performs the MOU tasks and offers expertise and advice on certain discrete issues.
Last year the
Department and ICANN agreed to renew the MOU for a period of three years,
substantially longer than previous renewals, and included several date-certain
milestones aimed at guiding ICANN to a stable, independent, and sustainable
organization. The expectation of the
Department is that this three-year time frame allows ICANN sufficient
opportunity to:
Progress to Date
It is now one year into the agreed three-year renewal period and the
Department can report that ICANN has made progress during the past year towards
meeting the MOU objectives.
Specifically, ICANN is continuing discussions with the RIRs toward
formalizing their relationship and is in the process of developing new
framework agreements for ccTLD operators.
In addition, ICANN, working collaboratively with the Department,
completed a contingency plan to ensure continuity of operations
in the event the corporation incurs a severe disruption of operations, or the
threat thereof, by reason of its bankruptcy, corporate dissolution, a natural
disaster, or other financial, physical or operational event. Further, ICANN has opened an office in
While ICANN has made progress, both the Department and ICANN recognize that much remains to be accomplished in order for ICANN to evolve into the fully stable and sustainable organization that it must be. In this regard, it is critical that ICANN clearly focus on its core competencies and the need to execute the outstanding tasks in the MOU within the remaining timeframe. In addition to making visible and measurable progress on the fundamental MOU tasks (i.e., securing relationships with the RIRs, root server system operators and ccTLD operators), the Department will be expecting ICANN to:
International
discussions on Internet governance
The Department is aware that many in the Internet community
are participating in and closely following the discussions in the United
Nations (UN) World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process related to Internet
governance. The Department is fully
engaged in this activity through the
First, it has been suggested that the responsibility for DNS technical management may shift to a UN agency as a result of WSIS. Let me take this opportunity to clarify that neither the WSIS nor the subsidiary discussions regarding Internet governance are chartered to take action or to yield an international treaty with binding obligations. Rather, the WSIS is a forum for discussions among interested parties that may yield proposals in the area of Internet governance. Further, the Department does not believe that any existing UN body, such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) or the UN ICT Task Force, is qualified to assume the responsibilities currently held by ICANN for the technical coordination and management of the Internet domain name system.
Second, the Department does not approach discussions on Internet governance premised on a debate between the importance of the various stakeholders. Rather governments, the private sector and civil society each has a role to play in advancing Internet development and deployment and should seek to work together cooperatively and productively. For example, private sector entities such as ICANN, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) have important technical contributions to make to this dialogue based on their respective expertise and competencies. Governments represent the collective interests of their citizens when it comes to the broader public policy concerns and user communities often voice their opinion through civil society organizations.
Third, the
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Department continues to be supportive of
privatization of the technical management of the domain name system as envisioned
in the ICANN multi-stakeholder, public-private partnership model. Within the next two years, ICANN must execute
the remaining tasks in the MOU and reach full corporate maturity to assure the
Department and the Internet community that it is able to effectively carry out
its important core technical missions - in a stable and sustainable manner -
into the future.
Thank you and I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.