<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Here is the IANA letter.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Mark Buell</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:buell@isoc.org">buell@isoc.org</a>></span><br>Date: Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 9:22 AM<br>Subject: Urgent request - Civil Society letter in support of IANA transition<br>To: Mark Buell <<a href="mailto:buell@isoc.org">buell@isoc.org</a>><br><br><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Good morning, Chapter leaders,
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">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.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Today, Kathy published an op ed in The Hill (<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/295021-inaccurate-rhetoric-must-not-short-circuit-internet-transition)" target="_blank">http://thehill.com/blogs/<wbr>congress-blog/technology/<wbr>295021-inaccurate-rhetoric-<wbr>must-not-short-circuit-<wbr>internet-transition)</a>,
and on Tuesday we will be sending a letter to the majority and Democrat House leaders expressing our support.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">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. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">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.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime – my cell is <a href="tel:613-715-3508" value="+16137153508" target="_blank">613-715-3508</a>.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Thanks, <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Mark Buell<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Regional Bureau Director, North America<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Internet Society<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Skype: mark_at_isoc<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/mebuell" target="_blank">
<span style="color:blue">@mebuell</span></a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ISOC_NA" target="_blank">
<span style="color:blue">@isoc_na</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><a href="http://www.isoc.org/" title="http://www.isoc.org Cmd+Click or tap to follow the link" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">www.isoc.org</span></a><span style="background:white"> <u></u><u></u></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Civil Society Statement:<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Statement in Support of Completing the IANA Transition on September 30, 2016<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Signed,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Access Now<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Center for Democracy & Technology<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Open Technology Institute<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Public Knowledge<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>---------------------------------------------------------------<br><span>Joly MacFie <span title="Call with Google Voice"><span id="gc-number-53" class="gc-cs-link" title="Call with Google Voice">218 565 9365</span></span> Skype:punkcast</span><br>--------------------------------------------------------------<br>-</div></div></div>
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