[NA-Discuss] Fwd: Civil Society letter in support of IANA transition

Joly MacFie joly at punkcast.com
Mon Sep 12 19:57:07 UTC 2016


Here is the IANA letter.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mark Buell <buell at isoc.org>
Date: Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 9:22 AM
Subject: Urgent request - Civil Society letter in support of IANA transition
To: Mark Buell <buell at isoc.org>


Good morning, Chapter leaders,



We are in the final stretch before the expiration of the contract between
the NTIA and ICANN to perform the IANA functions. As I’m sure you’ve seen,
the rhetoric around the IANA transition is ramping up. The Internet Society
(and many of its members) have been active participants in the IANA
stewardship transition process over the last two years, and we’d like to
ensure that our support of the transition is heard by the decision-makers
in Washington.



Today, Kathy published an op ed in The Hill (http://thehill.com/blogs/
congress-blog/technology/295021-inaccurate-rhetoric-must-not-short-circuit-
internet-transition), and on Tuesday we will be sending a letter to the
majority and Democrat House leaders expressing our support.



I would like to request that the U.S. Chapters sign on to the attached
letter from Civil Society in support of the transition. The Chapters have
an important role in this process – as I said, many ISOC members have
worked tirelessly on the proposal to transfer oversight of the IANA
functions to the multistakeholder community. The more organizations we can
get behind the transition, the more powerful our message will be. And, if
you feel it is appropriate, please share Kathy’s op ed on your social
networks.



With a Congressional hearing now scheduled for Wednesday next week, our
timeline is tight. It would be most effective to send the Civil Society
letter ahead of the hearing. Therefore, it would be greatly appreciated if
I could receive your approval to add your chapter’s name on the letter as
soon as possible.



If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime – my cell
is 613-715-3508.



Thanks,



Mark Buell

Regional Bureau Director, North America

Internet Society

Skype: mark_at_isoc

Twitter: @mebuell <https://twitter.com/mebuell> and @isoc_na
<https://twitter.com/ISOC_NA>

www.isoc.org



Civil Society Statement:



Statement in Support of Completing the IANA Transition on September 30, 2016



We, the undersigned, believe it is critical to the future of the Internet
for the IANA stewardship transition to complete on September 30, 2016, with
the expiry of NTIA’s contract with ICANN. Signatories to this letter
include leading civil society organizations dedicated to defending freedom
online.



We believe the best defense against foreign governments exerting control
over the Internet is to finish the transition on time. Critics have
suggested that maintaining the US Government’s role in IANA will somehow
prevent attempts to censor the Internet, but the exact opposite is true.
Any delay would signal to those who want to control the Internet that the
US Government does not believe the Internet really works as designed. It
would tell the world that the historic consensus that exists in support of
the IANA transition is insignificant. And, it would discredit the US
Government’s longstanding support for the multistakeholder Internet
governance model.



Over the past two years, the organizations and individuals most invested in
the smooth functioning of the Internet and the free flow of information
online have come together to produce a transition plan to safeguard the
Internet’s future. Executing this plan now is the best guarantee of the
stability and security of the Internet. Reasserting US Government authority
at the last minute would only fuel foreign governments’ attacks on Internet
freedom and openness, both in inter-governmental fora and via technological
solutions designed to fragment the single, globally interconnected Internet.



The IANA transition does not imply any Internet “give away.” Since the
Internet’s inception, the US government has worked together with
businesses, technologists, individuals, and civil society organizations to
ensure that the Internet remains a tool that can bring about social,
economic, and political change and further the realization of human rights.
These are the same stakeholders that developed the transition plan’s
detailed governance and accountability measures and stand by those measures
today. To suggest that these same businesses, individuals, and
organizations would agree to handing over the Internet to the UN or to
nations that support a government-run Internet is simply not credible.



The Internet is revolutionary because it is a voluntary system. It works
because the parties who run and oversee the infrastructure choose to work
together and trust each other of their own accord. If the US Government
does not keep faith with its commitment to the transition, that will
undermine the trust that all of the parties have in the system. Such
mistrust could lead to much more drastic changes to the Internet than
merely letting the NTIA contract expire, as it is set to do.

Our organizations are dedicated to fighting censorship and defending
freedom. We believe completing the IANA transition on time is imperative
and urge members of Congress to do everything they can to ensure a
successful transition on September 30.



Signed,

Access Now

Center for Democracy & Technology

Open Technology Institute

Public Knowledge









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Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
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