Senator Burns Queries Legality of ICANN-DoC Relationship:In
a pair of letters written March 21 to the Secretary of Commerce and to the GAO, Senator
Conrad Burns, the Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications of the Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has queried both the adequacy
of ICANN's performance and the legality of ICANN's relations with the U.S. Department
of Commerce.
In one letter, Senator Burns asks the Secretary of Commerce to refrain
from any "hasty actions" and "any major steps to further empower or delegate authority
to ICANN." Meanwhile, the letter to the GAO asks it to supplement its earlier report
on ICANN's formation with a new report focused on ICANN's performance, notably,
whether
the delegation of authority over the domain name system (DNS) from the Department
of Commerce (DOC) to ICANN is legal;
whether ICANN is the appropriate body to
manage the DNS;
whether ICANN has performed well.
The letters build on the
hearing held before Sen. Burns's subcommittee on Feb. 14, and similar hearings before
the House Committee on Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications on Feb.
8.