[discuss] [governance] NTIA statement

Mon Mar 17 22:02:24 UTC 2014

Speaking of politicians, here's a statement from the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation relating to the IANA transition.  No baying for blood; somewhere between the "wary" and "accepting with appropriate oversight" positions I posited below.

Greg Shatan

Thune Statement on NTIA’s Internet Governance Announcement
Republican Press Office - (202) 228-5381
Mar 15 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announcement that it plans to transition certain Internet oversight to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN):

“The U.S. helped create the Internet, and we want to see it grow and stand on its own. It doesn't need a nanny state, or a collection of nanny states, trying to stifle it. It needs – and deserves – a strong multi-stakeholder system free from the control of any government or governmental entity and which keeps the critical Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions insulated from the politics of Internet governance. My colleagues and I on the Commerce Committee will be watching closely to see if the transition NTIA has announced results in an acceptable structure to ensure a stable and free Internet, but I trust the innovators and entrepreneurs more than the bureaucrats -- whether they're in DC or Brussels. 

“While ICANN will convene the process to craft a transition plan for the IANA functions, we need all stakeholders who believe in an open and innovative Internet to participate in the conversation. There are people who want to see the Internet fall into the grip of the U.N. or who would allow ICANN to become an unaccountable organization with the power to control the Internet, and we cannot allow them to determine how this process plays out.”

-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at 1net.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at 1net.org] On Behalf Of Shatan, Gregory S.
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2014 5:36 PM
To: 'Pranesh Prakash'; "Kleinwächter, Wolfgang"; Adiel Akplogan; Seun Ojedeji
Cc: 1 Net List; Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus - IGC
Subject: Re: [discuss] [governance] NTIA statement

You've been watching too much Fox News.  I don't think "American business interests" are "lining up to oppose this."  As with many other issues, there is a diversity of responses in the business community.  Some oppose it, some are wary, some accept it with appropriate oversight and an acceptable outcome.  Some have no idea that this is even going on.

As for Newt Gingrich, I suppose he's a politician, though he hasn't held elected office in almost 15 years.  At this point, he's really more of a well-coiffed "talking head."  He has the same right as every other American to say ridiculous, inflammatory, uninformed things.  He and related Tea Party types might be able to stir the pot for a while, but that all in the nature of things here.  "Giving away the Internet" is just too good a sound bite to pass up.  They'll move on to something more likely to bring in the donations soon enough, if they haven't already.  His ilk return to this from time to time, when something flares up or the other issues get tired.  I expect that (as with business interests), more politicians will be wary or accepting with reservations, and want to see where the process goes, rather than outright opposed.

If the NTIA uses "Snowden" as cover ex post facto, that's "politics as usual."  That's not the same thing as an excuse for starting the transition in the first place.

Greg Shatan

-----Original Message-----
From: Pranesh Prakash [mailto:pranesh at cis-india.org]
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2014 5:21 PM
To: Shatan, Gregory S.; "Kleinwächter, Wolfgang"; Adiel Akplogan; Seun Ojedeji
Cc: 1 Net List; Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus - IGC
Subject: Re: [discuss] [governance] NTIA statement

Shatan, Gregory S. <GShatan at ReedSmith.com> [2014-03-17 17:14:05]:
> I don't think the US needed a convenient excuse for the transition.  Pretty much the opposite -- this was a pragmatic response to an inconvenient set of circumstances.

Snowden allows the NTIA to be a bit more helpless than it otherwise would have been when folks like Newt Gingrich and other American politicians come baying for its blood backed by the American business interests that are lining up to oppose this.

--
Pranesh Prakash
Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society
T: +91 80 40926283 | W: http://cis-india.org
-------------------
Access to Knowledge Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School
M: +1 520 314 7147 | W: http://yaleisp.org PGP ID: 0x1D5C5F07 | Twitter: https://twitter.com/pranesh_prakash

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