<div class="lingo_nolink">
<h2 class="story_head"><a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090923_5203.php?oref=topnews">http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090923_5203.php?oref=topnews</a></h2><h2 class="story_head">ICANN seeks to quell concerns on the Hill</h2>
<p class="subline"><span class="byline">By Andrew Noyes, <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/">CongressDaily</a></span> <span class="dateline">09/23/2009</span></p></div>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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</p>