- FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- CONTACT: Ken
Johnson or Pete Sheffield
- Friday, March
30, 2001
- 202-225-5735
-
- Tauzin
Calls for Review of ICANN Contract
Negotiations
-
- WASHINGTON
(March 30) Rep. Billy Tauzin, Chairman of the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, today released
a letter from a bipartisan group of Energy and
Commerce Committee members to the Department of
Commerce Secretary Donald Evans requesting a
thorough review of the contract negotiations
between VeriSign and the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN
).
-
- The
Honorable Donald Evans
- Secretary
- U.S. Department
of Commerce
- 14th and
Constitution Avenues, NW
- Washington, DC
20230
-
- Dear Mr.
Secretary:
-
- We are writing
to you concerning the U.S. Commerce Department's
role in reviewing the recently announced
renegotiation of a 1999 contract between
VeriSign and the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN
).
-
- As you know,
the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and
the Internet recently held an oversight hearing
on ICANN s process for creating new top-level
domains and its role in Internet governance.
That hearing raised questions about ICANN s
domain name selection process and whether it
afforded adequate due process to applicants. We
remain committed to ensuring a competitive and
transparent domain name system that promotes the
interests of the U.S. economy and global
Internet policy and we are eager to work with
the Bush Administration toward these
goals.
-
- We understand
that ICANN has chosen to renegotiate its
arrangement with VeriSign. Specifically, if
approved by the Department of Commerce and the
ICANN Board, the new agreement would eliminate
the 1999 requirement that VeriSign divest either
its retail (registrar) or wholesale (registry)
business. Further, the revised agreement would
provide VeriSign with an additional six year
term for the .com registry, with a presumption
of
- renewal, would
allow VeriSign to extend the .net registry term
to 2006, and would require VeriSign to
relinquish control of the .org registry in
2002.
-
- Without taking
a position on the propriety of the revised
agreement, we want to ensure that any actions by
ICANN support and encourage strong, vibrant
competition. Accordingly, we respectfully
request that the Department fully analyze the
competitive issues that arise as a result of
this agreement. Further, as Mr. Cerf, Chairman
of ICANN, said during our February hearing,
ICANN is a consensus development body which
requires that major decisions affecting the
future of the Internet be done in an open and
transparent manner. Therefore, we urge you to
exercise your oversight authority to ensure that
ICANN s final decision in this matter is made
and implemented in a transparent
fashion.
-
- Thank you for
your consideration of this matter. Please keep
us apprised of developments in this
area.
-
- Sincerely,
-
- W.J.
Billy Tauzin
- Chairman
- Committee
on Energy and Commerce
-
- Fred
Upton
- Chairman
- Subcommittee
on Telecommunications and the
Internet
|
- John
D. Dingell
- Ranking
Member
- Committee
on Energy and Commerce
-
- Edward
J. Markey
- Ranking
Member Subcommittee on
Telecommunications and the
Internet
|
- cc:
Vinton
G. Cerf, Chairman, Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers
|
|
 -
|
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