[kictanet] ICANN assures US lawmakers of its long term commitement to a long term formal relationship

[alice at apc.org]

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090923_5203.php?oref=topnews
ICANN seeks to quell concerns on the Hill

By Andrew Noyes, CongressDaily 09/23/2009

The California-based entity that administers the world's Internet
addresses has assured lawmakers it is committed to a "long-term, formal
relationship" with the U.S. government.

It made its pledge in a letter Tuesday, a week before the expiration of an
agreement between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
and National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom told House Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith
and House Judiciary Courts and Competition Subcommittee ranking member
Howard Coble, R-N.C., in the letter that he is working with NTIA to set
guidelines under which ICANN would promise to remain a U.S.-based
nonprofit and continue its focus on transparency and accountability.

The letter from Beckstrom, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who had served as
director of the Homeland Security Department's National Cybersecurity
Center, mirrored written testimony by ICANN Chief Operating Officer Doug
Brent, who appeared at a House Judiciary Courts and Competition
Subcommittee hearing today to vouch for the organization's planned
expansion of top-level domains such as .biz, .info and .us.

ICANN has faced scrutiny on Capitol Hill and among industry stakeholders
as it seeks more independence from federal oversight, as well as the
ability to bring potentially hundreds of new domain names to market.
Beckstrom's predecessor, Paul Twomey, weathered a hostile House Energy and
Commerce Communications Subcommittee hearing this summer.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman and Energy and Commerce
Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., urged Commerce
Secretary Locke in August to press for a set of enduring principles to
"place beyond doubt the value of the current [relationship]" and prevent
any one entity from controlling the underpinnings of the Internet.

Meanwhile, NTIA Associate Administrator Fiona Alexander and senior adviser
Larry Atlas quietly visited Asia, Europe and South America this month to
share details about the path forward for the United States and ICANN with
their foreign counterparts. Key Hill aides have also been briefed on the
new agreement, sources said.afri