[CCWG-ACCT] SIIA Blog: IANA Contract Extension is the Right Thing to Do

[Grace Abuhamad]

Dear all, 

Here below is a blog from CCWG participant Carl Schonander. We¹ll upload it
to the Wiki blog page <https://community.icann.org/x/XCPxAg>  as part of the
group¹s outreach efforts. Please let us know if you have any blogs of your
own that you would like us to add to the Wiki.

Best, 
Grace

Link: 
http://blog.siia.net/index.php/2015/08/iana-contract-extension-the-right-thi
ng-to-do/
IANA CONTRACT EXTENSION THE RIGHT THING TO DO
<http://blog.siia.net/index.php/2015/08/iana-contract-extension-the-right-th
ing-to-do/> 
August 18, 2015 By Carl Schonander
<http://blog.siia.net/index.php/author/cschonander/>
Yesterday, the Commerce Department¹s National Telecommunications &
Information Administration (NTIA) announced
<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/blog/2015/update-iana-transition>  that it is
extending the contract between the Commerce Department and the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to perform the Internet
Assigned Names Authority (IANA) functions.  The contract will be extended by
one year from September 30, 2015 to September 30, 2016.

Briefly, the IANA functions relate to the Domain Name Server (DNS) system,
which connects names and numbers.  Although this is sometimes described as a
³clerical² function, it is critical to the continued seamless functioning of
the Internet.

SIIA welcomed 
<http://blog.siia.net/index.php/2014/03/siia-welcomes-privatization-of-inter
net-domain-name-function-transition/>  the March 14, 2014 NTIA announcement
to transition the IANA functions to multistakeholder control.  At the same
time, we strongly supported the Administration¹s insistence that the
conditions 
<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2014/ntia-announces-intent-transition
-key-internet-domain-name-functions>  it articulated for the transfer to be
met.  SIIA also considers the Congress¹s oversight role to be important,
which is why we support
<http://www.siia.net/Press/SIIA-Supports-Amended-DOTCOM-Act-of-2015>  the
proposed DOTCOM 
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/805/text>  Act.
The bill requires the NTIA conditions to be met, as well as for a number of
broad ICANN accountability reforms to be included in ICANN¹s bylaws.

The IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) and the Cross
Community Working Group (CCWG) have developed proposals which make
substantial progress in addressing the NTIA conditions.   However, more time
is clearly needed in order to review and perhaps further develop these
proposals.   Currently, for instance, there are important discussions on the
role of governments (the GAC) with respect to its relationship to the ICANN
Board, as well as continued debate on the jurisdiction (California) under
which ICANN operates.  These issues need to be resolved prior to the
transition.

For all of these reasons, it was prudent for NTIA to give the
multistakeholder community more time to create arrangements, which will be
critical for global commerce in the coming years.  But by no means does this
action indicate a lack of commitment to this transition.  The Internet is a
critical resource that has developed into the wonderful infrastructure it is
through a unique distributed governance arrangement best known as the
multistakeholder model.  SIIA remains committed to that vision
<http://www.infoworld.com/article/2868011/internet/keeping-the-internet-free
-means-letting-go-of-icann.html> .


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/accountability-cross-community/attachments/20150819/7e0a04ef/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 5108 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/accountability-cross-community/attachments/20150819/7e0a04ef/smime.p7s>