Op-ed Written by Congressman Lee Zeldin (NY-01)
At midnight, October 1, 2016, the United States’ oversight of the internet was given away. With so much focus on the Presidential election, many Americans aren’t even aware that this is happening.
In the 1960s, the United States launched the U.S. Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) project, which was later expanded in the 1980s as a result of U.S. taxpayer-funded grants. As a result of this project, and United States’ leading technology and funding, the modern day internet was created. For the past 18 years, the United States has had oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) through a contractual agreement with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In 2014, the Obama administration formally announced its goal of ending the United States’ contractual oversight of ICANN and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions as an act of international diplomacy. This hastily began a phase of ICANN planning for U.S. withdrawal and future independent ICANN operations. Despite the proposal being incomplete, the contract was allowed to expire on October 1, 2016; giving ICANN sole authority to oversee the World Wide Web’s domain name system (DNS) and placing Internet security currently ensured by U.S. oversight in jeopardy.
This premature transfer concedes American oversight to an entity whose proposed operational capabilities are unassured. The transfer could also embolden countries like China, Russia or Iran to gain access to the oversight of the internet to push their internet censoring policies. Furthermore, this transfer violates the U.S. Constitution. Article IV of the Constitution states that Congress has the power to “…dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States…” Since the creation and maintenance of the internet has been funded by the United States, it is technically seen as property of the U.S. The Obama administration did not have the authority to allow this contract to end without Congressional approval.
Last year, I helped pass the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act (H.R. 805), or the DOTCOM Act. This bill would have prohibited the transfer of the internet until the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information submits a report to Congress that details the transition and ensures that the new plan in place will protect the internet. This bill passed the House with strong bipartisan support, but the Senate never took it up in their chamber. Just recently, a new bill was introduced, the Protecting Internet Freedom Act (H.R.5418), which would immediately cease the transfer of the internet by prohibiting the contract to expire unless specifically authorized by Congress. It awaits action in both the House and Senate, and I’ve been working to get this bill passed. I also joined with my House colleagues in signing a letter sent to Secretary of Commerce Pritzker to urge the Secretary to continue NTIA’s current responsibilities regarding the oversight of the internet. Additionally, a lawsuit was filed on September 30 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by the state attorneys general from Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Nevada. They claim that U.S. states “will lose the predictability, certainty, and protections that currently flow from federal stewardship of the Internet and instead be subjected to ICANN’s unchecked control.” The suit claims that the President does not have the authority to give away the United States’ earned and pioneering role in keeping the internet free and open. Ceding U.S.-led oversight of the internet to the influence of authoritarian regimes like those in China, Russia and Iran contradicts the open and free nature of internet use by individuals all over the world. Elected officials at different levels of government are demanding that the Department of Commerce halt the transfer.
With millions of internet users in New York active in the digital economy, I will continue to support all efforts to stop the internet giveaway. With so many aspects of our lives computerized, there is too much at stake.
Congressman Lee Zeldin represents the First Congressional District of New York. In Congress, Rep. Zeldin serves on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.