House Republicans eye Web handover plan

Congressional Republicans want to put a roadblock in the Obama administration’s plan to give up oversight of a key function in how the Internet operations.

A dozen House GOP lawmakers signed on to the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act introduced by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) on Thursday, which would block an arm of the Commerce Department from handing off its oversight of the system to a global body until a report is issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

{mosads}The bill mirrors legislation that made its way through the House last year, and could presage a major fight ahead of the expiration of the current Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) contract in October.

“The premise of this legislation is simple: Trust but verify,” Shimkus said in a statement.

“Before the Administration makes an irreversible decision, the American people deserve reassurance that the global Internet will remain free from censorship and manipulation by authoritarian regimes,” he added. “Requiring a non-partisan review before the transition moves forward is a commonsense way to guarantee that.”

Last year, the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it would make plans to cede its oversight of the technical IANA system that allows people to visit the websites they type into their browser’s address bar.

Republicans have scoffed at the move, which they say would allow authoritarian regimes in Russia and China to have more control of the Internet, potentially leading to a clampdown in online freedom.

The DOTCOM Act would delay the handover until the GAO issues a report about the pros and cons of the move as well as possible national security and cybersecurity risks that could arise.  

The new bill came the same day the Senate voted to shine a spotlight on Internet governance next week, as the global nonprofit that manages the IANA system is set to meet in Singapore.