I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4342 

To prohibit the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

from relinquishing responsibility over the Internet domain name system 

until the Comptroller General of the United States submits to Congress 

a report on the role of the NTIA with respect to such system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2014 

Mr. SHIMKUS (for himself, Mr. ROKITA, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. LATTA, Mr. 

BARTON, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To prohibit the National Telecommunications and Information Administration from relinquishing responsibility over 

the Internet domain name system until the Comptroller 

General of the United States submits to Congress a 

report on the role of the NTIA with respect to such 

system. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domain Openness 

5 Through Continued Oversight Matters Act of 2014’’ or 

6 the ‘‘DOTCOM Act of 2014’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. NTIA RETENTION OF DNS RESPONSIBILITIES PEND2 ING GAO REPORT. 

3 (a) RETENTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES.—Until the 

4 Comptroller General of the United States submits the re5 port required by subsection (b), the Assistant Secretary 

6 of Commerce for Communications and Information may 

7 not relinquish or agree to any proposal relating to the re8 linquishment of the responsibility of the National Tele9 communications and Information Administration (in this 

10 section referred to as the ‘‘NTIA’’) over Internet domain 

11 name system functions, including responsibility with re12 spect to the authoritative root zone file, the Internet As13 signed Numbers Authority functions, and related root 

14 zone management functions. 

15 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

16 on which the NTIA receives a proposal relating to the re17 linquishment of the responsibility of the NTIA over Inter18 net domain name system functions that was developed in 

19 a process convened by the Internet Corporation for As20 signed Names and Numbers at the request of the NTIA, 

21 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

22 to Congress a report on the role of the NTIA with respect 

23 to the Internet domain name system. Such report shall 

24 include— 

25 (1) a discussion and analysis of— 

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1 (A) the advantages and disadvantages of 

2 relinquishment of the responsibility of the 

3 NTIA over Internet domain name system func4 tions, including responsibility with respect to 

5 the authoritative root zone file, the Internet As6 signed Numbers Authority functions, and re7 lated root zone management functions; 

8 (B) any principles or criteria that the 

9 NTIA sets for proposals for such relinquish10 ment; 

11 (C) each proposal received by the NTIA 

12 for such relinquishment; 

13 (D) the processes used by the NTIA and 

14 any other Federal agencies for evaluating such 

15 proposals; and 

16 (E) any national security concerns raised 

17 by such relinquishment; and 

18 (2) a definition of the term ‘‘multistakeholder 

19 model’’, as used by the NTIA with respect to Inter20 net policymaking and governance, and definitions of 

21 any other terms necessary to understand the matters 

22 covered by the report. 

Æ 

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