III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 564 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding oversight of the Internet 

Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2008 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. THUNE, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. STEVENS, and Mr. SMITH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding oversight of 

the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. 

Whereas, more than 35 years ago, the Federal Government 

began funding research necessary to develop packetswitching technology and communications networks, 

starting with the ‘‘ARPANET’’ network established by 

the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects 

Agency (DARPA) in the 1960s; 

Whereas, during the 1970s, DARPA also funded the development of a ‘‘network of networks’’, which became known 

as the Internet; 

Whereas the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1987 

awarded a contract to the International Business MaVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:32 May 15, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR564.IS SR564

erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
2 

•SRES 564 IS 

chines Corporation (IBM), MCI Incorporated, and Merit 

Network, Incorporated, to develop ‘‘NSFNET’’, a national high-speed network based on Internet protocols, 

that provided a ‘‘backbone’’ to connect other networks 

serving more than 4,000 research and educational institutions throughout the country; 

Whereas Congress knew of the vast impact the Internet could 

have and the requirement of private sector investment, 

development, technical management, and coordination to 

achieve that potential, so in 1992 Congress gave NSF 

statutory authority to allow commercial activity on the 

NSFNET; 

Whereas today the industry, through private sector investment, management, and coordination, has become a global communications network of infinite value; 

Whereas part of the ARPANET development process was to 

create and maintain a list of network host names and addresses, which was initially done by Dr. Jonathan Postel 

at the University of Southern California (USC), and 

eventually these functions became known as the Internet 

Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA); 

Whereas Dr. Postel’s performance of these functions was initially funded by the Federal Government under a contract between the DARPA and USC’s Information 

Sciences Institute (ISI), however, responsibility for these 

functions was subsequently transferred to the Internet 

Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); 

Whereas ICANN performs the IANA functions, which include 

Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation, Domain Name 

System (DNS) root zone coordination, and the coordinaVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:32 May 15, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR564.IS SR564

erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
3 

•SRES 564 IS 

tion of technical protocol parameters, through a contract 

with the Department of Commerce; 

Whereas, since its inception, the performance of the IANA 

functions contract has been physically located in the 

United States; 

Whereas the DNS root zone file contains records of the operators of more than 280 top-level domains (TLDs); 

Whereas, as of December 31, 2007, more than 153,000,000 

domain names have been registered worldwide across all 

of the Top Level Domain Names; 

Whereas, since 2000, the Internet community has worked toward providing non-English speakers a way to navigate 

the Internet in their own language through the use of 

Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs); 

Whereas, according to ICANN, of the 905 ICANN-accredited 

domain name registrars, 571 of them (63 percent) are 

based in the United States; 

Whereas ICANN intends to introduce approximately 900 new 

Top Level Domains over the next several years; 

Whereas, in January 2007, approximately 51,000,000 domain names were registered, but only 3,000,000 were 

eventually paid for, and more than 48,000,000 were left 

to expire after the 5 day registration grace period; 

Whereas the World Intellectual Property Organization reported in April 2007 that the number of Internet domain 

name cybersquatting disputes increased 25 percent in 

2006; 

Whereas a 2006 Zogby Interactive poll of small business owners found that 78 percent of those polled stated that a 

less reliable Internet would damage their business; 


erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
4 

•SRES 564 IS 

Whereas, understanding that the Internet was rapidly becoming an international medium for commerce, education, 

and communication, and that the initial means of organizing its technical functions needed to evolve, the United 

States issued the ‘‘White Paper’’ in 1998, stating its support for transitioning the management of Internet names 

and addresses to the private sector in a manner that allows for the development of robust competition and facilitate global participation in Internet management; 

Whereas the Federal Government is committed to working 

with the international community to address its concerns, 

bearing in mind the need for stability and security of the 

Internet’s domain name and addressing system; 

Whereas the United States has been committed to the principles of freedom of expression and the free flow of information, as expressed in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, done at Paris December 10, 

1948, and reaffirmed in the Geneva Declaration of Principles adopted at the first phase of the World Summit on 

the Information Society, December 12, 2003; 

Whereas the United States Principles on the Internet’s Domain Name and Addressing System, issued on June 30, 

2005, stated that the United States government intends 

to preserve the security and stability of the Internet’s 

Domain Name and Addressing System (DNS), that governments have legitimate interest in the management of 

their country code top level domains (ccTLDs), and that 

ICANN is the appropriate manager of the Internet DNS; 

Whereas all stakeholders from around the world, including 

governments, are encouraged to advise ICANN in its decision-making; 


erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
5 

•SRES 564 IS 

Whereas ICANN has made progress in its efforts to ensure 

that the views of governments and all Internet stakeholders are reflected in its activities; 

Whereas the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 

Development has issued consumer policy guidelines calling for online businesses to ‘‘provide accurate, clear and 

easily accessible information about themselves sufficient 

to allow, at a minimum . . . prompt easy and effective 

consumer communication with the business’’, and ‘‘businesses that provide false contact information can undermine the online experience of a consumer that decides to 

conduct a WHOIS search about the business’’; and 

Whereas the WHOIS databases provide a crucial tool for law 

enforcement to track down online fraud, identity theft, 

and other online illegal activity, but law enforcement is 

often hindered in the pursuit of perpetrators because the 

perpetrators are hiding behind the anonymity of proxy or 

false registration information: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) while the Internet Corporation for Assigned 

3 Names and Numbers (ICANN) has made progress 

4 in the areas of transparency and accountability as 

5 directed by the Joint Project Agreement (JPA), the 

6 unique role ICANN has in the coordination of the 

7 technical management functions related to the do8 main name and addressing system, and the direct ef9 fects of the decisions ICANN makes on thousands of 

10 businesses with an online presence and millions of 

11 Internet users, make it critical that more progress 


erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
6 

•SRES 564 IS 

1 be made by ICANN in areas of transparency, ac2 countability, and security for improved stability of 

3 the Domain Name and Addressing System (DNS) 

4 and the Internet; 

5 (2) the private sector’s ongoing success in in6 vesting, building, and developing the Internet is un7 paralleled and industry self-regulation must be as8 sured through more effective contract compliance ef9 forts by ICANN; 

10 (3) WHOIS databases provide a vital tool for 

11 businesses, the Federal Trade Commission, and 

12 other law enforcement agencies to track down brand 

13 infringement, online fraud, identity theft, and other 

14 online illegal activity, as well as for consumers to de15 termine the availability of domain names and to eas16 ily and effectively communicate with online busi17 nesses; 

18 (4) increased involvement and participation in 

19 various ICANN processes by international private 

20 sector organizations should be encouraged; 

21 (5) the United States and other countries 

22 should continue to allow the marketplace to work 

23 and allow private industries to lead in the manage24 ment and coordination of the DNS; 


erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
7 

•SRES 564 IS 

1 (6) the performance of the Internet Assigned 

2 Numbers Authority (IANA) functions contract, in3 cluding updates of the root zone file, should remain 

4 physically located within the United States, and the 

5 Secretary of Commerce should maintain oversight of 

6 this contract; and 

7 (7) ICANN should continue to manage the day8 to-day operation of the Internet’s Domain Name and 

9 Addressing System well, to remain responsive to all 

10 Internet stakeholders worldwide, and to otherwise 

11 fulfill its core technical mission. 

Æ 


erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS