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Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Internet Oversight and Stability

On September 30, 2004, the US Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing called "ICANN Oversight and Security of Internet Root Servers and the Domain Name System (DNS)." Representatives of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the US Department of State, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, Verisign Inc., and an Administrator of the B Root Server were invited to testify on these issues.

The Senators briefly questioned ICANN's progress in fulfilling its mandate, but spent more time inquiring about the stability of the root servers, at one point asking the B Root Administrator what keeps him up at night. His answer: root server administration and coordination is working well, it is the end users that are a cause of concern.

Ambassador Gross of the US Department of State testified about the new UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), currently being established under the mandate of the World Summit on the Information Society. Many people across the world, particularly in developing countries, are dissatisfied with the way the Internet is governed and feel some degree of reform is necessary. The Working Group has been given the task of mapping out Internet Governance and suggesting key areas they feel will need appropriate attention.

Despite the earnest testimony of Ambassador Gross, the Senators were apprehensive about the United Nations "meddling" and expressed no interest in the concerns of those who feel excluded in decisions concerning the global Internet. The Senators appeared to come away pleased with the testimony and reassured that the Internet is stable.

For more information, visit:ÊTranscripts of Testimony and Witness List »

October 2004

 

 
 

 
 
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