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==Congressional Hearings on New gTLD==

==Congressional Hearings on New gTLDs==

On  December  8, 2011, Kurt Pritz served as one of the witnesses during Senate Hearing on ICANN's new gTLD  Program. He strongly defended the program against its critics including the [[Association of National Advertisers]], and its anti-TLD off-shoot, [[CRIDO]]. <ref>[http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2131227/icann-attacks-opponents-gtlds-senate-hearing Icann attacks opponents of new gTLDs at Senate hearing]</ref>

On  December  8, 2011, Kurt Pritz served as one of the witnesses during the U.S. Senate Hearing on ICANN's new gTLD  Program. He strongly defended the program against its critics, including the [[Association of National Advertisers]], and its anti-TLD off-shoot, [[CRIDO]]. <ref>[http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2131227/icann-attacks-opponents-gtlds-senate-hearing Icann attacks opponents of new gTLDs at Senate hearing]</ref>

He also attended a similar hearing conducted by the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee- Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on December 14.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/20111214_icann_asked_to_delay_new_gtld_expansion_house_of_representatives/ ICANN Asked to Delay New gTLD Expansion Program at the House of Representatives Committee Hearing]</ref>

He also attended a similar hearing conducted by the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on December 14.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/20111214_icann_asked_to_delay_new_gtld_expansion_house_of_representatives/ ICANN Asked to Delay New gTLD Expansion Program at the House of Representatives Committee Hearing]</ref>

During the Senate hearing, Kurt provided the members of the Senate committee on Commerce Science and Transportation a detailed testimony regarding the program. He highlighted the fact that '''it took seven years for the internet community to develop the program through a careful, transparent and inclusive discussions and debates.''' He emphasized that ICANN received "2400 public comments from 47 extended comment periods that resulted in over 1400 pages of comment summary and analysis, formation of ten independent expert working groups, and 59 explanatory memoranda and independent reports." He also pointed out that world-class experts on intellectual property, economics and Internet security were involved in the development process to ensure a more enhanced protection and solutions for trademark holders, which were reviewed and examined by the internet community and governments. He also pointed out the members of the Senate that ICANN is committed to work closely with law enforcement agencies to protect consumers. He repeated Sec. [[Lawrence Strickling|Larry Stricking]]'s statement regarding the [[Multistakeholder Model|multistakeholder process]] in developing the new gTLD program that,'''"The multistakeholder process does not guarantee that everyone will be satisfied with the outcome. But it is critical to preserving the model of Internet governance that has been so successful to date that all parties respect and work through the process and accept the outcome once a decision is reached."'''<ref>[http://blog.icann.org/2011/12/carefully-constructed-new-gtld-program-moves-forward/ Carefully Constructed New gTLD Program Moves Forward]</ref>

During the Senate hearing, Kurt provided the members of the Senate committee on Commerce Science and Transportation a detailed testimony regarding the program. He highlighted the fact that '''it took seven years for the Internet community to develop the program through a careful, transparent and inclusive discussions and debates.''' He emphasized that ICANN received "2400 public comments from 47 extended comment periods that resulted in over 1,400 pages of comment summary and analysis, formation of ten independent expert working groups, and 59 explanatory memoranda and independent reports." He also pointed out that world-class experts on [[Intellectual Property|intellectual property]], economics and Internet security were involved in the development process to ensure adequate protection and solutions for trademark holders, which were in turn reviewed and examined by the Internet community and governments. He also pointed out the members of the Senate that ICANN is committed to working closely with law enforcement agencies to protect consumers. He repeated Sec. [[Lawrence Strickling|Larry Stricking]]'s statement regarding the role of the [[Multistakeholder Model|multistakeholder process]] in developing the new gTLD program;'''"The multistakeholder process does not guarantee that everyone will be satisfied with the outcome. But it is critical to preserving the model of Internet governance that has been so successful to date that all parties respect and work through the process and accept the outcome once a decision is reached."'''<ref>[http://blog.icann.org/2011/12/carefully-constructed-new-gtld-program-moves-forward/ Carefully Constructed New gTLD Program Moves Forward]</ref>

During the hearing in the hearing in the House of Representatives, Kurt repeated to the members of the Sub-committee on Communications and Technology the seven-years hard work of the internet community in developing the program. He emphasized that the expansion of new TLDs is a measured rolled out with  much better trademark protection mechanisms, it will create more jobs, promote competition and innovation. In his testimony, he sent a message to the Congress and to the critics of the program that the internet governing body has no intention of delaying its implementation which was scheduled on January 12, 2012.<ref>[http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/file/Hearings/Telecom/121411/Pritz.pdf TESTIMONY OF KURT PRITZ, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY, HEARING ON ICANN’s TOP LEVEL DOMAIN NAME PROGRAM]</ref>

During the hearing in the House of Representatives, Kurt repeated to the members of the subcommittee on Communications and Technology that the program took seven-years of hard work from the Internet community to develop. He emphasized that the expansion of new TLDs is a measured rolled out with  much better trademark protection mechanisms, that will create more jobs and promote competition and innovation. In his testimony, he sent a message to the Congress and to the critics of the program that the Internet governing body had no intention of delaying its implementation which was scheduled for January 12, 2012.<ref>[http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/file/Hearings/Telecom/121411/Pritz.pdf TESTIMONY OF KURT PRITZ, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY, HEARING ON ICANN’s TOP LEVEL DOMAIN NAME PROGRAM]</ref>

==Statement Regarding HostExploit's Accusation Against eNom==

==Statement Regarding HostExploit's Accusation Against eNom==