WASHINGTON-House Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) has called for a hearing next month to examine complaints about how Internet addresses are selected, an issue that takes on added significance for the wireless industry as it combines with the Internet to pursue mobile commerce.
“There have been a number of reports that ICANN’s process to create a new generation of Internet domain suffixes may be thwarting competition in the registration and assignment of Internet domain names,” stated Tauzin and telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) in a Jan. 12 letter to Michael Roberts, president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
ICANN, based in Marina del Rey, Calif., was formed to examine Internet address space allocation.
In November, ICANN approved seven suffixes: .aero, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, .pro and .biz.
Tauzin’s letter to ICANN went out the same day The Washington Post published a story about a California firm-DotTV-whose two $50,000 applications for domain names were rejected.
According to the article, some observers were baffled by why some Internet addresses were approved and others seen as more appealing were turned down. The firm decided to take its case to Congress and advisers to then-President-elect Bush.
“As the committee with jurisdiction over this issue, the committee wants to ensure that this process is fair and open,” stated Tauzin and Upton.
A firm date on the February hearing has not been set.
An ICANN spokesman declined to comment on criticism of its Internet address selection process, saying congressional oversight on activities under the purview of the Commerce Department is not unusual. Commerce has the final word on domain names. The matter is expected to land in the lap of Commerce Secretary Donald Evans after his expected confirmation by the Senate.
In his confirmation hearing, Evans singled out spectrum management as a top priority and acknowledged concerns about America falling behind Europe and Asia in the development of Internet-driven third-generation mobile-phone technology.
Elsewhere, Reps. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Robert Matsui (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to repeal the 3-percent telephone tax, legislation strongly supported by the wireless industry.
The GOP-led Congress came close to eliminating the century-old tax by trying to attach it to different appropriations bills late last year, but each time, the measure was pulled. The bill has bipartisan support and likely will be one of the telecom bills Congress passes this year.
In addition to repeal of the tax-on-talking law, lawmakers plan to consider Internet privacy legislation. Judging from widespread interest in the issue last year, a multitude of privacy bills are expected to be introduced this year.
The high-tech industry is split between those who advocate self-regulation and those who support limited privacy legislation because they believe congressional intervention is inevitable.
Last week, the nation’s top high-tech trade group unveiled a list of principles for uniform standards that would govern privacy legislation.
“Only the federal government is in a position to create uniform U.S. privacy standards and work for international harmonization. Otherwise, online business could face 50 conflicting sets of privacy rules. Consumers and businesses alike would lose,” said William Archey, president of AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association).
AeA said uniform privacy standards will build consumer confidence and boost the Internet.
AeA’s privacy principles for federal pre-emption legislation are:
Provide individuals with notice
Ensure consumer choice
Leverage market solutions
Ensure national standards
Protect consumers in the public and private arena
Don’t discriminate against the Internet
Utilize existing enforcement authority
Avoid conflicting or duplicative standards
In pursuing federal pre-emption legislation, AeA could face resistance from Republicans, who, while supportive of the high-tech industry, support local control.
