Senate designates ‘Internet governance awareness week’

The Senate on Thursday afternoon voted to dedicate next week to the awareness of Internet governance.

The resolution, which passed by unanimous consent, is an attempt to shine a spotlight on the Commerce Department’s plans to hand over its oversight role of the back end of the Internet that assigns domain names. 

One in a series of meetings on the issue will be held in Singapore next week. 

{mosads}“It’s crucial that the public know what is at stake, especially considering the political and economic consequences of getting this wrong,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said in a statement. “This resolution is a step in the right direction, and will send a message that the United States remains engaged on the core functions and governance of the Internet.”

Hatch sponsored the resolution along with four bipartisan cosponsors. 

Last March, the Commerce Department announced it would be handing off its oversight and management of the Internet domain name system, which allows Internet users to easily search for websites using unique addresses. 

“There is inherent risk in the transition to a pure multi-stakeholder model of internet governance,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a statement. “This resolution underlines the need to act in a way that, without question, preserves a secure, stable, decentralized and open Internet.”

The department currently contracts that responsibility out to a nonprofit called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The department intends to hand over the reins permanently and has tasked ICANN to oversee a plan to transition away from government oversight. 

Some have worried that the process could allow repressive governments to assert broader control over that governance. The resolution outlines a series of principles for ICANN to follow as it organizes the multi-stakeholder process, including protecting it from “capture by one or more governments.”

The Commerce Department has repeatedly said any proposal must maintain an open Internet and that it would not accept a government-led solution.