i2Coalition Statement of Support for NTIA’s Qualified IANA Transition to Multistakeholder Community

Internet Infrastructure Coalition (i2Coaliton) Co-Founder and Board Chair Christian Dawson released the following statement in advance the DOTCOM Act markup and the upcoming House Judiciary Committee hearing examining the transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) function to the global multistakeholder community:

“i2Coalition has the confidence necessary to endorse and support the dialogue his team is fostering to drive towards a transition of the IANA function to the global multistakeholder community, which will only happen if important qualifications are met.

"i2Coalition supports those who build the nuts and bolts of the Internet, and seeks to foster growth within the Internet infrastructure industry by driving others to harness the Internet’s full potential. We work to promote policies that foster continued development and expansion of Internet business.

"The most crucial of these policies is a continued commitment to Internet governance that takes into account the viewpoints of all Internet stakeholders. This commitment is often referred to as the ‘multistakeholder’ model of Internet governance. Nobody owns or controls the Internet; it is governed by a series of multistakeholder bodies.

"The Internet was created from the bottom up, collaboratively. These processes continue today in a variety of areas: people discussing Internet standards, naming and numbering policies, peering and interconnection and many other technical and administrative issues. One such administrative function is the IANA function, which in practice is a clerical role on the Internet.

"This administrative role, which in no way constitutes ‘control of the Internet’, is a comfort to some and a sign of United States hegemony to others. While we believe in the success of the multistakeholder model of Internet governance, we see increasing calls for change. Those calling for change appear to seek to replace this governance structure with one favoring a top down regulatory approach in which governmental entities, or quasi-governmental entities, dictate rules, regulations and technical standards. Anything that abandons the multistakeholder model of Internet governance can lead to a fractured global Internet, a curbing of economic growth, and a real risk of curbing of free speech throughout much of the world.”