U.S. House Subcommittee, IANA Transition Hearing, March 17th Video

      After the Chairman's opening, a recess occurs, the hearing resumes at 48:40 (10:59:11 AM)

The U.S. House Commerce and Energy Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on the IANA stewardship transition, Thursday, March 17, 2016, at 10:15 a.m. EDT (time converter) in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.; the hearing is entitled “Privatizing the Internet Assigned Number Authority.”

UPDATE: Opening Statement by Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (highlighting added):


Committee Leaders Acknowledge Progress On Internet Transition Proposal | Energy and Commerce Committee: March 10, 2016 Press Release: WASHINGTON, DC – "House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), and Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-IL) today acknowledged the multistakeholder community’s proposal to transition stewardship of the Internet Assigned Number Authority from the U.S. government to the Internet community. The committee has been actively engaged in the future of the Internet. “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." On Thursday, March 17th, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing on "Privatizing the Internet Assigned Number Authority” to begin consideration of the proposal. The subcommittee will hear from a cross-section of stakeholders that participated in the development of the proposal." (emphasis added)

Subcommittee Background memo:

Witnesses:

Dr. Alissa Cooper
Chair, IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group
Witness Statement
Truth in Testimony and CV

Mr. Steve DelBianco
Executive Director, NetChoice
Witness Statement
Truth in Testimony and CV

The Honorable David A. Gross
Former U.S. Coordinator, International Communications and Informational Policy, Wiley Rein LLP
Witness Statement
Truth in Testimony and CV

Ms. Audrey Plonk
Director, Global Security and Internet Governance Policy, Intel Corporation
Witness Statement
Truth in Testimony and CV

Mr. Matthew Shears
Representative and Director, Global Internet Policy and Human Rights Project
Witness Statement
Truth in Testimony and CV

Ms. Sally Shipman Wentworth
Vice President, Global Policy Development, Internet Society
Witness Statement
Truth in Testimony and CV

IANA Transition Timeline in Audrey Plonk prepared testimony

Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) has previously announced that the subcommittee will continue its oversight of the administration’s work to transition certain oversight functions of the Internet to "multi-stakeholder governance." “We will continue to exercise our oversight over the administration’s effort to transition its oversight of the Domain Name System to ensure that the Internet remains free and open for all users.” 

More information: https://energycommerce.house.gov/hearings-and-votes and Communications and Technology Subcommittee. Twitter: @HouseCommerce | YouTube channel.

See also on DomainMondo.com:

• News Review: ICANN, IANA Transition Plan, NTIA, and U.S. Congress
• ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade's Last Letter to Dilma Rousseff
• How ICANN and ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé Evade Accountability

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DISCLAIMER

State of the Net: Internet Governance, IANA Transition, EU Safe Harbor

International Perspectives of the State of Governance on the Internet (56 mins) with Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, United States Department of Commerce, NTIA; and Bertrand de la Chapelle, Director, Internet & Jurisdiction Project. 

MODERATOR: Cheryl Miller, Director, International Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Verizon.

High Noon for the IANA Transition (63 mins) PANEL: Steve Crocker, Chair of the ICANN Board of Directors; Alissa Cooper, Distinguished Engineer, Cisco; Steve DelBianco, Executive Director, NetChoice; David Redl, Counsel, U.S House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Greg Shatan, Partner, Abelman Frayne & Schwab; Chris Wilson, Vice President, Government Affairs, 21st Century Fox. MODERATOR: Laura DeNardis American University

The Collapse of the EU Safe Harbor: Assessing the Damage and Exploring Solutions (59 mins) INTRODUCTION: Justin Antonipallai, Counselor to the Secretary with Delegated Duties of Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, U.S. Department of Commerce; PANEL: Andrea Glorioso, Counselor, Delegation of the European Union to the U.S.; Bijan Madhani, Public Policy & Regulatory Counsel, Computer & Communications Industry Association; Meg Jones, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University; MODERATOR: Kelly A. DeMarchis, Counsel, Venable LLP.

See also: Europe’s Top Digital-Privacy Watchdog Zeros In on U.S. Tech Giants - The New York Times: ".... A number of digital-rights advocates, including Mr. Schrems, are also preparing new privacy cases if a data-transfer deal is not reached by Feb. 1. That will most likely cause more problems for American tech giants, pushing Ms. Falque-Pierrotin and her European counterparts to consider new investigations — and, eventually, fines. But her position on protecting personal data continues to appear unwavering. “Does the U.S. provide sufficient privacy guarantees?” she said. “Until now, the answer is no.”"

more info:

• The 12th Annual State of the Net Conference: January 25, 2016, at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center, Washington, DC
• State of the Net - The largest Internet policy conference in the U.S.
• Domain: stateofthe.net
• @SOTN (twitter)

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DISCLAIMER

ICANN Chair to CCWG: "It is a destructive and inappropriate thing to do"

"Thank you Steve [DelBianco], I understand and appreciate the perspective you are coming from, that is from my perspective completely unacceptable, it is a passing of the ball, I understand you are operating under pressure, and I understand that you really didn't want to think hard about it, but nonetheless it is a destructive and inappropriate thing to do." -- ICANN Board Chairman Steve Crocker to the CCWG-Accountability's Steve DelBianco, at the CCWG Webinar Presentation on the Draft Report for Public Comment (August 4, 2015; emphasis added).

Who would have thought the Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) WHOIS Reviews would have been the "hot" topic at the first Webinar held Tuesday on the draft proposal by the CCWG on Enhancing ICANN Accountability? ICANN Board Chairman Steve Crocker was in attendance and unloaded on the proposal insofar as it incorporates the AoC WHOIS Reviews into ICANN's bylaws. 

As of this posting, the transcript from the Webinar was not posted, but the audio and Adobe session are posted and available for review (the "Steve Crocker part" runs from about 55:50 to 1:00:15 on the audio recording). A female voice utters "Wow" after Crocker had finished, which you see referenced in the Chat window text transcript (along with a subsequent exchange between Crocker and DelBianco):

From Chat window (text) transcript (emphasis added):
....
Steve Crocker: (13:55) I have a question re the AoC reviews 
....
Avri Doria: (14:00) an ATRT is schedule for 2016, or at least should be.
Greg Shatan: (14:01) +1 to the "wow" reaction at the end of that [Steve Crocker's] statement.
Jordan Carter (.nz, WP1 rapporteur): (14:01) I think it would be destructive and inappropriate for the CCWG to set itself up as the "fixit" body, trying to sort out all of ICANN's issues and all the specific problems that have been identified in the course of our work. As a group I think we have a lot of confidence in the ATRT3's ability to solve this problem.
McTim: (14:02) +1 to Jordan
Alan Greenberg (ALAC): (14:02) ATRT3 will likely have far less expertise on WHOIS issues than the CCWG does
....
Steve DelBianco [GNSO - CSG]: (14:02) Under the same AOC language, ICANN is about to begin another WHOIS review.  Will that be destructive?  I don't think so.
....
Steve Crocker: (14:04) @Steve DelB: Consistent with my comments, the answer to your question is yes, another whois review on the existing terms would be wrong and destructive. (emphasis added)

ICANN Chairman Steve Crocker is referring to the WHOIS Reviews mandated by the Affirmation of Commitments:

"9. Recognizing that ICANN will evolve and adapt to fulfill its limited, but important technical mission of coordinating the DNS, ICANN further commits to take the following specific actions together with ongoing commitment reviews specified below:
"..... 9.3.1 ICANN additionally commits to enforcing its existing policy relating to WHOIS, subject to applicable laws. Such existing policy requires that ICANN implement measures to maintain timely, unrestricted and public access to accurate and complete WHOIS information, including registrant, technical, billing, and administrative contact information. One year from the effective date of this document and then no less frequently than every three years thereafter, ICANN will organize a review of WHOIS policy and its implementation to assess the extent to which WHOIS policy is effective and its implementation meets the legitimate needs of law enforcement and promotes consumer trust. The review will be performed by volunteer community members and the review team will be constituted and published for public comment, and will include the following (or their designated nominees): the Chair of the GAC, the CEO of ICANN, representatives of the relevant Advisory Committees and Supporting Organizations, as well as experts, and representatives of the global law enforcement community, and global privacy experts. Composition of the review team will be agreed jointly by the Chair of the GAC (in consultation with GAC members) and the CEO of ICANN. Resulting recommendations of the reviews will be provided to the Board and posted for public comment. The Board will take action within six months of receipt of the recommendations.
10. To facilitate transparency and openness in ICANN's deliberations and operations, the terms and output of each of the reviews will be published for public comment. Each review team will consider such public comment and amend the review as it deems appropriate before it issues its final report to the Board...."

For more details, review the Twitter stream of Samantha Dickinson:

CCWG-Accountability, @SDCrocker: Whois review has fundamental flaw & shouldn’t be perpetuated. #IANAsteward

— Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson) August 4, 2015

Webinars of the CCWG-Accountability and the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group proposals will continue over the next few days, more info: ICANN Accountability, IANA Transition, Proposals, Comments, Webinars


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