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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 564 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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 packet-switching 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 Machines 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 coordination 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;
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;
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
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) while the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and 
        Numbers (ICANN) has made progress in the areas of transparency 
        and accountability as directed by the Joint Project Agreement 
        (JPA), the unique role ICANN has in the coordination of the 
        technical management functions related to the domain name and 
        addressing system, and the direct effects of the decisions 
        ICANN makes on thousands of businesses with an online presence 
        and millions of Internet users, make it critical that more 
        progress be made by ICANN in areas of transparency, 
        accountability, and security for improved stability of the 
        Domain Name and Addressing System (DNS) and the Internet;
            (2) the private sector's ongoing success in investing, 
        building, and developing the Internet is unparalleled and 
        industry self-regulation must be assured through more effective 
        contract compliance efforts by ICANN;
            (3) WHOIS databases provide a vital tool for businesses, 
        the Federal Trade Commission, and other law enforcement 
        agencies to track down brand infringement, online fraud, 
        identity theft, and other online illegal activity, as well as 
        for consumers to determine the availability of domain names and 
        to easily and effectively communicate with online businesses;
            (4) increased involvement and participation in various 
        ICANN processes by international private sector organizations 
        should be encouraged;
            (5) the United States and other countries should continue 
        to allow the marketplace to work and allow private industries 
        to lead in the management and coordination of the DNS;
            (6) the performance of the Internet Assigned Numbers 
        Authority (IANA) functions contract, including updates of the 
        root zone file, should remain physically located within the 
        United States, and the Secretary of Commerce should maintain 
        oversight of this contract; and
            (7) ICANN should continue to manage the day-to-day 
        operation of the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System 
        well, to remain responsive to all Internet stakeholders 
        worldwide, and to otherwise fulfill its core technical mission.
                                 <all>
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