On
the eve of a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on proposals to expand
the International Telecommunications Union's role in Internet governance, a
bipartisan group of Energy & Commerce Committee leaders has sent the signal
that they are definitely opposed to such a move.
House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman
Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.),
Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), and Ranking Member
Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), and Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee
Chairman Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), introduced the resolution (H. Con. Res 127)
that, according to Upton's office would "reject the proposed international
takeover of the Internet and preserve the current 'multi-stakeholder' model of
governance."
The Obama Administration and the FCC are on
the same page. Both having expressed concerns with moving away from the multi-stakeholder
model.
"The Internet has prospered under the
multi-stakeholder model absent the heavy hand of government regulation," said
Walden in a statement. "That model has enabled an Internet that creates jobs,
brings a world of information to your fingertips, allows small businesses
around the world to have a global reach, drives investment and innovation, and
has even started a revolution or two. We should remain committed to the
Internet's collaborative governance structure and reject any international
efforts to bring the Internet under government control."
"This resolution confirms that Democrats
and Republicans both support the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance
and a global open Internet," said Waxman in a statement. "Both the
current and past administrations deserve credit for their efforts to ensure
that the Internet remains a tool for the global dissemination of ideas,
information, and commerce."
According to Republican FCC Commissioner
Robert McDowell, some ITU members have been suggesting U.S. pushback against more
ITU control is election-year politicking. He says that could not be further
from the truth and the alliance of Waxman and Upton and the White House and
Republicans and Democrats on the FCC also suggests that is off base.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding actions to preserve and advance the multistakeholder governance modelunder which the Internet has thrived.
Whereas given the importance of the Internet to the global economy, it is essential that the Internet remain stable, secure, and free from government control;
Whereas the world deserves the access to knowledge, services, commerce, and communication, the accompanying benefits to economic development, education, and health care, and the informed discussion that is the bedrock of democratic self-government that the Internet provides;
Whereas the structure of Internet governance has profound implications for competition and trade, democratization, free expression, and access to information;
Whereas countries have obligations to protect human rights, which are advanced by online activity as well as offline activity;
Whereas the ability to innovate, develop technical capacity, grasp economic opportunities, and promote freedom ofexpression online is best realized in cooperation with all stakeholders;
Whereas proposals have been put forward for consideration at the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications that would fundamentally alter the governance and operation of the Internet;
Whereas the proposals, in international bodies such as the United Nations General Assembly, the United NationsCommission on Science and Technology for Development, and the International Telecommunication Union, wouldjustify under international law increased government control over the Internet and would reject the current multistakeholder model that has enabled the Internet to flourish and under which the private sector, civil society, academia, and individual users play an important role in charting its direction;
Whereas the proposals would diminish the freedom of expression on the Internet in favor of government control over content, contrary to international law;
Whereas the position of the United States Government has been and is to advocate for the flow of information freefrom government control; and
Whereas this and past Administrations have made a strong commitment to the multistakeholder model of Internetgovernance and the promotion of the global benefits of the Internet: Now, therefore, be it 1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, in consultation with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and United States Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, should continue working to implement the position of the United States on Internet governance that clearly articulates the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet today.
