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ICANN's
Plans To Break Ties With the U.S. Hit a
Roadblock as Key U.S. Congressmen Try to Bar the
Exit Door - Planned New gTLDs Could Be Delayed
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In
a major and unexpected development
several key members of the U.S.
Congress today called for the
relationship between ICANN and the U.S.
to be made permanent and strengthened This comes
less than two months before ICANN's current Joint
Project Agreement with the U.S. expires on Sept.
30. Internet Commerce Association
Legal Counsel Phil Corwin put this
breaking news into a perspective in a letter
that will be posted to the ICA
website shortly. In the meantime
here is a copy of that letter: |
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In
a stunning rebuke of ICANN’s assertion that it
had achieved sufficient accountability and
professional stature to justify termination of
its unique relationship with the U.S.
government, the Chairman of the House
Committee on Energy and Commerce as well as
the Chairman of its Internet Subcommittee,
along with eight other Committee members,
dispatched a joint letter on August 4th to Commerce
Secretary Gary Locke urging that the
relationship between ICANN and the U.S. be made
permanent and strengthened. (Editor's
Note: Here is a link
to a .pdf copy of the letter sent by
the Congressmen).
While
the letter is signed only by Democratic members
of the Committee, it follows on the heels of a
June 4th ICANN oversight hearing (see http://www.internetcommerce.org/node/190
) at which ICANN encountered strong
bipartisan criticism. The letter apparently
stems from a feeling that it is time to move
beyond repeated renewals of temporary MOUs and
JPAs – and that the best way to achieve
this is to enter into a strengthened
arrangement under a “permanent instrument”.
The
letter calls for the U.S to take steps to:
-
Ensure that the
Department of Commerce continues in its
present relationship with ICANN.
-
Provide
for periodic review of ICANN’s performance
in a number of key areas – including management
of existing gTLDs and the implementation of
any new ones.
-
Outline steps
to improve ICANN accountability.
-
Create a
mechanism for implementing new gTLDs and
IDNs that assures appropriate
consultation with stakeholders (which we
note, by implication, seems to assert that
such consultation on new gTLDs does not
yet exist).
-
Ensure that
ICANN assure timely public access to accurate
and complete WHOIS information critical
to tracking malicious websites and domain
names.
-
Include
commitments that ICANN will remain a U.S.-based
not-for-profit corporation.
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ICA
Legal Counsel Phil Corwin |
While
Congress cannot bind the Obama Administration,
it would be typical for members of the
President’s party to engage in discussions
prior to sending such a letter to assure that it
is generally well-received. The current Joint
Project Agreement between the
U.S.
and ICANN expires on September 30th, so
the Administration must show its policy hand
within the next few weeks. Should the Obama
Administration decide to request an extension of
the JPA, much less a strengthened permanent
relationship, there is a possibility that
ICANN could refuse to enter into such an
arrangement and that a confrontation could be
ignited. However, as the letter notes in
passing, the U.S trump card is the
separate contract for the IANA functions
of running the root zone servers.
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An
Obama Administration call for a permanent
relationship will undoubtedly set off strong
protests from other nations and
organizations that have called for termination
of ICANN’s special relationship with the
U.S.
In addition to these international
repercussions, the mechanisms called for by
these Congressional Members could well delay
the introduction of new gTLDs.
While
the full implications of this unexpected
communication cannot yet be envisioned,
expectations that the
U.S.
would request a short extension of the JPA in
contemplation of full ICANN independence in the
next year or two may well need revision. All
we can advise is to stay tuned as September 30
approaches.
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