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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 316 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 316

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United Nations and other 
 international organizations should not be allowed to exercise control 
                           over the Internet.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 15, 2005

  Mr. Coleman (for Mr. Warner, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Smith, and Mr. DeMint) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United Nations and other 
 international organizations should not be allowed to exercise control 
                           over the Internet.

Whereas market-based policies and private sector leadership have given the 
        Internet the flexibility to evolve;
Whereas given the importance of the Internet to the global economy, it is 
        essential that the underlying domain name system and technical 
        infrastructure of the Internet remain stable and secure;
Whereas the Internet was created in the United States and has flourished under 
        United States supervision and oversight, and the Federal Government has 
        followed a path of transferring Internet control from the defense sector 
        to the civilian sector, including the Internet Corporation for Assigned 
        Names and Numbers (ICANN) with the goal of full privatization;
Whereas the developing world deserves the access to knowledge, services, 
        commerce, and communication, the accompanying benefits to economic 
        development, education, and health care, and the informed discussion 
        that is the bedrock of democratic self-government that the Internet 
        provides;
Whereas the explosive and hugely beneficial growth of the Internet did not 
        result from increased government involvement but from the opening of the 
        Internet to commerce and private sector innovation;
Whereas on June 30, 2005, President George W. Bush announced that the United 
        States intends to maintain its historic role over the master ``root 
        zone'' file of the Internet, which lists all authorized top-level 
        Internet domains;
Whereas the recently articulated principles of the United States on the domain 
        name and addressing system of the Internet (DNS) are that--

    (1) the Federal Government will--

                    (A) preserve the security and stability of the DNS;
                    (B) take no action with the potential to adversely affect 
                the effective and efficient operation of the DNS; and
                    (C) maintain the historic role of the United States 
                regarding modifications to the root zone file;

    (2) governments have a legitimate interest in the management of country 
code top level domains (ccTLD);

    (3) the United States is committed to working with the international 
community to address the concerns of that community in accordance with the 
stability and security of the DNS;

    (4) ICANN is the appropriate technical manager of the Internet, and the 
United States will continue to provide oversight so that ICANN maintains 
focus and meets its core technical mission; and

    (5) dialogue relating to Internet governance should continue in 
multiple relevant fora, and the United States encourages an ongoing 
dialogue with all stakeholders and will continue to support market-based 
approaches and private sector leadership;

Whereas the final report issued by the Working Group on Internet Governance 
        (WGIG), established by the United Nations Secretary General in 
        accordance with a mandate given during the first World Summit on the 
        Information Society, and comprised of 40 members from governments, 
        private sector, and civil society, issued 4 possible models, 1 of which 
        envisages a Global Internet Council that would assume international 
        Internet governance;
Whereas that report contains recommendations for relegating the private sector 
        and nongovernmental organizations to an advisory capacity;
Whereas the European Union has also proposed transferring control of the 
        Internet, including the global allocation of Internet Protocol number 
        blocks, procedures for changing the root zone file, and rules applicable 
        to DNS, to a ``new model of international cooperation'' which could 
        confer significant leverage to the Governments of Iran, Cuba, and China, 
        and could impose an undesirable layer of politicized bureaucracy on the 
        operations of the Internet that could result in an inadequate response 
        to the rapid pace of technological change;
Whereas some nations that advocate radical change in the structure of Internet 
        governance censor the information available to their citizens through 
        the Internet and use the Internet as a tool of surveillance to curtail 
        legitimate political discussion and dissent, and other nations operate 
        telecommunications systems as state-controlled monopolies or highly-
        regulated and highly-taxed entities;
Whereas some nations in support of transferring Internet governance to an entity 
        affiliated with the United Nations, or another international entity, 
        might seek to have such an entity endorse national policies that block 
        access to information, stifle political dissent, and maintain outmoded 
        communications structures;
Whereas the structure and control of Internet governance has profound 
        implications for homeland security, competition and trade, 
        democratization, free expression, access to information, privacy, and 
        the protection of intellectual property, and the threat of some nations 
        to take unilateral actions that would fracture the root zone file would 
        result in a less functional Internet with diminished benefits for all 
        people;
Whereas the Declaration of Principles of the First World Summit on the 
        Information Society, held in Geneva in 2003, delegates from 175 nations 
        declared the ``common desire and commitment to build a people-centered, 
        inclusive and development oriented Information Society, where everyone 
        can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge'';
Whereas delegates at the First World Summit also reaffirmed, ``as an essential 
        foundation of the Information Society, and as outlined in Article 19 of 
        the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that everyone has the right 
        to freedom of opinion and expression'' and that ``this right includes 
        freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and 
        import information and ideas through any media and regardless of 
        frontiers'';
Whereas the United Nations Secretary General has stated the objective of the 
        2005 World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis is to ensure 
        ``benefits that new information and communication technologies, 
        including the Internet, can bring to economic and social development'' 
        and that ``to defend the Internet is to defend freedom itself''; and
Whereas discussions at the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society 
        may include discussion of transferring control of the Internet to a new 
        intergovernmental entity, and could be the beginning of a prolonged 
        international debate regarding the future of Internet governance: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) calls on the President to continue to oppose any effort 
        to transfer control of the Internet to the United Nations or 
        any other international entity;
            (2) applauds the President for--
                    (A) clearly and forcefully asserting that the 
                United States has no present intention of relinquishing 
                the historic leadership role the United States has 
                played in Internet governance; and
                    (B) articulating a vision of the future of the 
                Internet that places privatization over politicization 
                with respect to the Internet; and
            (3) calls on the President to--
                    (A) recognize the need for, and pursue a continuing 
                and constructive dialogue with the international 
                community on, the future of Internet governance; and
                    (B) advance the values of an open Internet in the 
                broader trade and diplomatic conversations of the 
                United States.
                                 <all>
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