Dotcom Act Clears Senate Commerce

The Senate Commerce Committee favorably reported the Dotcom Act out of committee. That is the same bill the House approved overwhelmingly (378 to 25) on June 23. The bill provides for congressional oversight of a US government handoff of oversight of the Internet domain naming function, while not unduly delaying that transition, say its supporters, which are on both sides of the aisle. The handoff of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) from oversight by the National Telecommunications & Information Administration to a multistakeholder model won't be ready by the Sept. 30, 2015 expiration date of the current contract with ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a nonprofit created by the U.S. in 1997.

The bill requires that Congress get 30 days to vet any transition plan, and take action to block or modify it if it does not pass muster. Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) proposed an amendment that would have required Congress to sign off on the plan before it could be implemented, rather than allowing it to take affect unless the Congress acted to block or modify it. He said the result could easily be that Congress could not get its act together in 30 days and "the Internet would be handed over." He said his amendment would simply reverse the presumption and require Congress to debate and vote on it.