Rep Walden Announces Subcommittee Markup of DOTCOM Act

The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep Greg Walden (R-OR) has scheduled a markup to consider H.R. 4342, the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act of 2014.

The subcommittee will convene for opening statements only on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The subcommittee will reconvene the next day to vote. Authored by Rep John Shimkus (R-IL), the DOTCOM Act was drafted in response to the Obama Administration’s proposal regarding the future of the Internet. The proposal instructs the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to explore ways to remove the United States from its oversight role of the Domain Name System (DNS) and replace it with a different multistakeholder governance model. H.R. 4342 would direct the Government Accountability Office to study the proposed changes and present a non-partisan evaluation before the administration may take action to modify the current DNS.