[bc-gnso] Hearing tomorrow in US Congress, regarding ICANN and IANA transition

[Steve DelBianco]

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a hearing 17-Mar in the US Congress, House Energy & Commerce Committee: "Privatizing the Internet Assigned Number Authority<https://energycommerce.house.gov/news-center/press-releases/committee-leaders-acknowledge-progress-internet-transition-proposal>”

Commerce Committee leaders made this statement last week:
 “This transition proposal marks a major milestone in the history of the Internet. We thank the entire multistakeholder community for their hard work and attention to this important task,” said Upton, Walden, and Shimkus. "Now we in the U.S. government must do our work. We look forward to reviewing the proposal and to the thoughtful analysis from NTIA as we look to whether this proposal meets the U.S. government's requirements for the transition and the needs of the American people. This final step of removing U.S. government oversight of the IANA functions is irreversible and we must be sure the transition will not harm the Internet or the millions of Americans that rely on it. There are no do-overs. Once the U.S. relinquishes its role in IANA, that’s it, there’s no going back. We must get it right."

The subcommittee invited a cross-section of stakeholders as witnesses:
Ms. Alissa Cooper, Chair, IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group;
Mr. Steve DelBianco, Executive Director, NetChoice;
The Honorable David A. Gross, Former U.S. Coordinator, International Communications and Information Policy, Wiley Rein LLP;
Ms. Audrey Plonk, Director, Global Security and Internet Governance Policy, Intel Corporation;
Mr. Matthew Shears, Director, Global Internet Policy and Human Rights Project, CDT
Ms. Sally Shipman Wentworth, Vice President of Global Policy Development, Internet Society.

My testimony (link<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF16/20160317/104682/HHRG-114-IF16-Wstate-DelBiancoS-20160317.pdf>) is on behalf of NetChoice, but closely tracks the BC position on the Accountability proposal.

Best,
Steve

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