Department of Commerce denies 'abandoning the Internet'

The Department of Commerce rejected charges that is abandoning the open Internet by relinquishing oversight of the domain name system.

"This announcement in no way diminishes our commitment to preserving the Internet as an engine for economic growth and innovation," Larry Strickling, administrator of the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), said. "Our announcement has led to some misunderstanding about our plan with some individuals raising concern that the US government is abandoning the Internet," Strickling said. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

He repeated his assurances that the US government won't hand over its oversight role to governments that have tried to restrict the open Internet. "I have emphasized that we will not accept a proposal that replaces NTIA’s role with a government-led or an inter-governmental solution," he said. "Until the community comes together on a proposal that meets these conditions, we will continue to perform our current stewardship role."