19–009 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 112–564 

EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ACTIONS TO PRESERVE AND ADVANCE THE MULTISTAKEHOLDER GOVERNANCE MODEL 

UNDER WHICH THE INTERNET HAS THRIVED 

JUNE 29, 2012.—Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed 

Mr. UPTON, from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H. Con. Res. 127] 

The Committee on Energy and Commerce, to whom was referred 

the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 127) expressing the sense 

of Congress regarding actions to preserve and advance the multistakeholder governance model under which the Internet has 

thrived, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the concurrent resolution be 

agreed to. 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 2 

Background and Need for Legislation .................................................................... 2 

Hearings ................................................................................................................... 4 

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 4 

Committee Votes ...................................................................................................... 4 

Committee Oversight Findings ............................................................................... 4 

Statement of General Performance, Goals and Objectives ................................... 5 

New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures ............. 5 

Earmark ................................................................................................................... 5 

Committee Cost Estimate ....................................................................................... 5 

Federal Mandates Statement ................................................................................. 5 

Advisory Committee Statement .............................................................................. 5 

Applicability to Legislative Branch ........................................................................ 5 

Section-by-Section Analysis of Legislation ............................................................ 5 

Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ..................................... 6 

LEGISLATION

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 

That it is the sense of Congress that the Assistant Secretary of 

Commerce for Communications and Information, in consultation 

with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and United States 

Coordinator for International Communications and Information 

Policy, should continue working to implement the position of the 


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United States on Internet governance that clearly articulates the 

consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States to promote 

a global Internet free from government control and preserve and 

advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the 

Internet today. 

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H. Con. Res. 127 expresses the sense of Congress that the United 

States should continue to preserve and advance the multistakeholder governance model under which the Internet has thrived as 

well as resist the imposition of an International Telecommunication 

Union (ITU) mandated international settlement regime on the 

Internet. The resolution asks the Assistant Secretary of Commerce 

for Communications and Information to consult with the Deputy 

Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International 

Communication and Information Policy to continue implementation 

of the consistent policy of the United States to promote an Internet 

free from government control and advance the multistakeholder 

model of Internet governance. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Pending international proposals to regulate the Internet could 

jeopardize not only its vibrancy, but also the economic and social 

benefits it brings to the world. Nations from across the globe will 

consider changes to the International Telecommunications Regulations at the December 2012 World Conference on International 

Telecommunications in Dubai. These regulations, adopted by treaty, govern the international operation of traditional telephone service. Some countries, however, are proposing to expand them and 

the jurisdiction of the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union to apply to the Internet. 

The Internet has been successful because it has been managed 

under a multistakeholder model in which a number of non-governmental institutions oversee critical parts of its architecture with 

input from private- and public-sector participants. This bottom-up, 

decentralized structure mirrors the decentralized nature of the networks that make up the Internet itself. It maximizes flexibility and 

innovation, helping to prevent any one governmental or non-governmental actor from exerting control over either the design of the 

Internet or the content it carries. That is why the Internet has 

been able to evolve and grow so quickly, both as a technological 

platform and as a means of expanding the free flow of commerce 

and ideas. Deviation from that multistakeholder model weakens 

the Internet, harming its ability to spread both prosperity and freedom. Consequently, there is bipartisan agreement that the United 

States should stand firm in international negotiations and oppose 

any treaty provisions at the WCIT that expand the jurisdiction of 

the ITU to cover the Internet. 

The origins of the Internet and Internet governance 

The Internet finds its roots in ARPANET, launched in 1969 by 

the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to connect universities and research laboratories working on Department of Defense 

projects. Over the next two decades, ARPANET transitioned from 

a government network to include civilian users under the auspices 


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of the National Science Foundation and became NSFNET. As the 

NSFNET grew and standards evolved to connect computer networks, a larger ‘‘network of networks’’ emerged. Then, in 1992, the 

Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act allowed the NSFNET to 

interconnect with other non-governmental networks and opened 

the door to commercial participation. It was at this point that the 

network began to grow exponentially, and the modern Internet was 

born. 

When network use was limited to U.S. government purposes, the 

Department of Defense managed the network. By the 1990s, however, most of the growth was coming from non-military users, and 

the NSF created the Internet Network Information Center 

(InterNIC) to manage both numeric addressing on the networks as 

well as the databases of sites. As the number of commercial users 

grew, Internet addressing and domain name management became 

exceedingly complex. By 1998 these functions were moved completely out of the U.S. government and control of InterNIC was 

transferred to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and 

Numbers, a California non-profit corporation contracted by the Department of Commerce to manage a number of Internet-related 

tasks. 

A series of ad hoc groups form the engineering corps of the Internet. The Internet Engineering Task Force, the Internet Architecture Board, the Internet Engineering Steering Group, and the 

Internet Research Task Force, now collectively organized under the 

international non-profit Internet Society, are run by volunteers and 

all work to create voluntary standards for Internet users to make 

interconnection of all networks easier. 

ICANN, as well as the groups that oversee the creation of voluntary Internet standards under the auspices of the Internet Society, receive input from governments, Internet users, corporations 

investing in the Internet, academics, and engineers that develop 

the technology that makes the Internet possible. The flexibility of 

this governance structure, referred to as the ‘‘multistakeholder 

model,’’ is what has enabled the explosive growth of the Internet 

as a driver of jobs, commerce, social discourse, and innovation. 

History of the international telecommunications regulations 

International telecommunications service is governed pursuant to 

regulations adopted through treaty by the 193 nation members of 

the International Telecommunications Union, the United Nations’ 

specialized agency for information and communications technologies. The ITU was originally chartered in 1865 to organize the 

international regulation of telegraph service. 

The ITU convened the World Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference in 1988 to consider a ‘‘new’’ regulatory framework for the international regulation of telecommunications. 

Among the resulting International Telecommunications Regulations were revisions to the way telecommunications providers pay 

each other for completing international phone calls, often referred 

to as ‘‘settlement rates.’’ The United States Senate ratified the 

International Telecommunications Regulations in 1992. These regulations specifically addressed voice telephony, not data processing 

capabilities, and resulted in large payments to telephone companies 

often owned or controlled by governments. 


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Current proposals to regulate the Internet 

The ITU will consider changes to the International Telecommunications Regulations at the December 2012 World Conference on 

International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai. Proposals by 

Russia and China to establish an ‘‘information security’’ regime are 

of particular concern. They: (1) appear to enshrine an international 

cybersecurity regime; (2) could serve as a justification for countries 

to engage in Internet censorship in the name of national security; 

and (3) seek to authorize regulation of the Internet by an international governmental body within the ITU, replacing the multistakeholder model that has served the Internet and the world so 

well. 

Proposals by a number of countries to regulate rates for the 

international exchange of Internet traffic is also of concern. The 

settlement regime for telecommunications traffic was developed for 

old technology in a less competitive environment, and even then resulted in high rates. It is ill suited to the dynamic and diverse 

technology and more competitive environment of the Internet, especially since the Internet does not adhere to political boundaries. A 

top-down regulatory regime quickly would become untenable. 

HEARINGS

The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a 

legislative hearing on May 31, 2012, entitled ‘‘International Proposals to Regulate the Internet.’’ The Subcommittee received testimony from Mr. Vinton Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist at Google; 

Ambassador David A. Gross, Former U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy; FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell; Ambassador Philip Verveer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International 

Communications and Information Policy; and Ms. Sally Shipman 

Wentworth, Senior Director, Public Policy at Internet Society. 

COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

Representative Mary Bono Mack, together with Rep. Fred Upton, 

Rep. Henry Waxman, Rep. Greg Walden, and Rep. Anna Eshoo, introduced H. Con. Res. 127 on May 30, 2012. 

On June 20, 2012, the Committee on Energy and Commerce met 

in open markup session and ordered the resolution to be favorably 

reported to the House by a voice vote. 

COMMITTEE VOTES

Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes on the motion 

to report legislation and amendments thereto. 

At the June 20, 2012, open markup session of the Committee on 

Energy and Commerce, no amendments were offered and the resolution was favorably reported by voice vote. There were no recorded 

votes. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee held oversight and legislative 

hearings and made findings that are reflected in this report. 


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STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of H. Con. Res. 127 is to encourage the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to consult with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communication and Information Policy to 

continue implementation of the consistent policy of the United 

States to promote an Internet free from government control and advance the multistakeholder model of Internet governance. 

NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY AND TAX

EXPENDITURES

In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee finds that H. Con. Res. 

127 would result in no new or increased budget authority, entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or revenues. 

EARMARKS

In compliance with clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee finds that H. 

Con. Res. 127 contains no earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 

tariff benefits. 

COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

The Committee finds that H. Con. Res. 127 would result in no 

new costs to the Federal government. 

FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

The Congressional Budget Office estimate required pursuant to 

clause 3(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

and section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and the 

estimate of Federal mandates required pursuant to section 423 of 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act were not requested from the 

Congressional Budget Office as this resolution would result in no 

new costs to the Federal government. 

ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this legislation. 

APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to the 

terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or 

accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATION

The resolution states ‘‘[t]hat it is the sense of Congress that the 

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, in consultation with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State 

and United States Coordinator for International Communications 

and Information Policy, should continue working to implement the 

position of the United States on Internet governance that clearly 

articulates the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United 


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States to promote a global Internet free from government control 

and preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model 

that governs the Internet today.’’ 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

This legislation does not amend any existing Federal statute. 

Æ 


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