Intel joins industry letter supporting IANA transition plan

By Audrey Plonk, global security and Internet policy specialist at Intel

This week, Intel joins industry in reiterating our support for the current proposal to transition stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to the global multistakeholder community.  During my testimony at last month’s House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on the issue, I described why we believe the proposal meets the Administration’s criteria.  I also explained that completing this transition aligns with U.S. business interests by enhancing multistakeholder Internet governance processes in which industry can actively participate.  Multistakeholder governance is the cornerstone of a global, open, trustworthy, stable and interoperable Internet.

As Congress considers the appropriations for Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) we remain concerned about any action that would limit NTIA’s ability to complete the transition in the next fiscal year.  The proposal developed by the multistakeholder community with active participation from U.S. Industry, is widely accepted and supported and the process should continue without any limitation on appropriated funds.  Just this week, in a joint communique from the 14th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation, the Republic of India and the People's Republic of China the ministers “noted the need to internationalize Internet governance and to enhance in this regard the role of International Telecommunication Union.” This transition firmly establishing oversight of the IANA by the multistakeholder community.

Throughout the transition process there has been little disagreement about what kind of Internet we want in the future. The challenge has been the translation of those principles – which describe a global, open, interoperable, stable and trustworthy Internet - into an actionable transition plan that meets the constituent multistakeholder communities’ needs. Fortunately, we have succeeded in developing the plan. Now we must implement it fully to complete the transition.