U.S. tech firms urge Congress to allow internet domain changeover
U.S. tech firms urge Congress to allow internet domain
changeover
Reuters By Dustin Volz September 13, 2016
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major technology companies
including Facebook, Google and Twitter are urging Congress to support a plan
for the U.S. government to cede control of the internet's technical management
to the global community, they said in a joint letter dated on Tuesday.
The U.S. Commerce Department has primary oversight of the
internet's management, largely because it was invented in the United States.
Some Republican lawmakers are trying to block the handover to global
stakeholders, which include businesses, tech experts and public interest
advocates, saying it could stifle online freedom by giving voting rights to
authoritarian governments.
The years-long plan to transfer oversight of the nonprofit
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, is scheduled to
occur on Oct. 1 unless Congress votes to block the handover. The
California-based corporation operates the database for domain names such as
.com and .net and their corresponding numeric addresses that allow computers to
connect.
In the Sept. 13 letter, a copy of which had been reviewed
by Reuters before it was
sent, the technology companies said it was
"imperative" that Congress does not delay the transition.
"A global, interoperable and stable Internet is
essential for our economic and national security, and we remain committed to
completing the nearly twenty year transition to the multi stakeholder model
that will best serve U.S. interests," the letter said.
Other signatories include Amazon, Cloudflare, Yahoo and
several technology trade organizations.
Former presidential hopeful Senator Ted Cruz of Texas,
who leads the opposition against the handover, will hold a congressional
hearing on Wednesday to review the transition, which he has criticized as a
"giveaway of our internet freedom."
Tech companies, technical experts and academics have said
the transition is overdue and necessary to keep the Internet open and globally
oriented, and that the proposal includes safeguards against any potential abuse
by any one country.
(Reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by Richard Chang)
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